I've been asked to join the Freemasons

[CrunkleFloop]

I've my first meeting since last year next week; this will also be my first meeting since being raised to MM and also as JD

I'm really looking forward to it and hopefully haven't forgotten too much!

[dapprman]

Just found this thread now I'm back from a meeting - got 4 in 5 days (2 craft, two RA). Still feels weird being able to meet again, this was my 4th meeting since lock down was dropped (excluding the Provincial meeting in September). Still got memories of a Stewards Chapter meeting when the rule of 30 coming in to effect and how crowded the room felt at the time with 26 of us present.

Now need to remember I was meant to have stopped eating the cheese course years back and stopped doing deserts when I got an active role.

Anyone else here in Hertfordshire Province (visiting Berkshire this coming Tuesday).

[dapprman]

silverfoxcc said:

Had the first meeting last night. A lovely warm welcome to the Lodge from the members.

now here is something that stopped me in my tracks

I have changed Provinces and in my old Province gained active PADC,and PGsuptWks. and now am a PPGReg.

Had a GO stop and ask me why i haven't changed my old Province PPGReg badge to the new Province!

I said that i have not been awarded any honours...yet,.... so i still wear my current rank

I am sure that our old Sec still wore his London Rank until he got promotion.

The other question that the Sec is checking on is Should i get offered new Honours would i go the the bottom of the queue or get either a PPJW or PPSW the next step up from PPGreg

32 yrs in the craft and i am possibly about to learn something new! or was the GO pulling my leg lol.

you are correct that you should wear your existing badges/aprons until you get an appointment in your new Province. As to rank - under Rule 69a your Lodge can submit you for appointment/promotion to your present level (PPGReg) and it does not fall under the quota your new Province is limited to. It varies from Province to Province, just like how honours are handled in general, I just know in Hertfordshire you would need to have been a member and done sufficient to qualify for a regular promotion.

[Fer]

dapprman said:

Anyone else here in Hertfordshire Province (visiting Berkshire this coming Tuesday).

Where in BERKS are you visiting? If you get a chance you could check out a Windsor 3rd.

[dapprman]

Fer said:

dapprman said:

Anyone else here in Hertfordshire Province (visiting Berkshire this coming Tuesday).

Where in BERKS are you visiting? If you get a chance you could check out a Windsor 3rd.

That does sound interesting. I'll be at Berkshire First Principals at Sindlesham.
(though alas in a very un-PH car).

[Taita]

If you don't know any Masons I guess there is limited routes in?

[The Mad Monk]

Taita said:

If you don't know any Masons I guess there is limited routes in?

Most, if not all, areas of the country are willing to have a chat and give some information about joining.

Google Masonic Province of ------ (the county in which you live) and it should pop up with the local HQ information.

Your profile says 'north west' so I Googled West Lancashire and this is what came up:- https://www.westlancsfreemasons.org.uk/

They are just normal blokes. Come back if you have any questions.

[dapprman]

Additionally there is an enquiry page on the UGLE(*) website, where they have an "I'm interested" section with more information and an enquire about joining form - the results of that are passed to your local area so they can get in touch with you.


UGLE = United Grand Lodge of England - central body who run regular Freemasonry in England and Wales (Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own Grand Lodges). If you are a woman there are also links there for the two English Women Freemason groups, Order of Woman Freemasons and Honourable Fraternity of Ancient Freemasons (HFAF).

[silverfoxcc]

dapprman

Thanks. Thought i was ok lol. must get out the BoC to check on that rule.
I have always been wary of older brethren ever since during mt first go around as WM that i wanted a FC to do the tracing board following a passing and one of the elders poo pooed it No Way .As luck would have it the PGM was having a meeting of all new WM a week later so i asked him if it were ok. Great smile..Yes off course gets the newer guys in for ritual and makes them feel more a pert of it.
Went back to the next rehersal and siad i was going ahead, and was asked by this chap wh osaid you could.. PGM i replied.. and this was his reply 'What does he know'
Got my own back the week before i pulled him to one side and told him that i had reluctantly told the FC he couldn't do it ....and that he was going to take his place..He thought i was kidding until i announced'The tracing board will be delivered by Bro X' his face was a picture, needed several prompts all the GO were tut tutting, and i knew whose side they were on.

[The Mad Monk]

silverfoxcc said:

dapprman

Thanks. Thought i was ok lol. must get out the BoC to check on that rule.
I have always been wary of older brethren ever since during mt first go around as WM that i wanted a FC to do the tracing board following a passing and one of the elders poo pooed it No Way .As luck would have it the PGM was having a meeting of all new WM a week later so i asked him if it were ok. Great smile..Yes off course gets the newer guys in for ritual and makes them feel more a pert of it.
Went back to the next rehersal and siad i was going ahead, and was asked by this chap wh osaid you could.. PGM i replied.. and this was his reply 'What does he know'
Got my own back the week before i pulled him to one side and told him that i had reluctantly told the FC he couldn't do it ....and that he was going to take his place..He thought i was kidding until i announced'The tracing board will be delivered by Bro X' his face was a picture, needed several prompts all the GO were tut tutting, and i knew whose side they were on.

If this is pompous then I am sorry, but I don't think what we do is about "getting your own back". Do what is right, don't do what is not right.

Sorry, but that's it.

[The Moose]

silverfoxcc said:

dapprman

Thanks. Thought i was ok lol. must get out the BoC to check on that rule.
I have always been wary of older brethren ever since during mt first go around as WM that i wanted a FC to do the tracing board following a passing and one of the elders poo pooed it No Way .As luck would have it the PGM was having a meeting of all new WM a week later so i asked him if it were ok. Great smile..Yes off course gets the newer guys in for ritual and makes them feel more a pert of it.
Went back to the next rehersal and siad i was going ahead, and was asked by this chap wh osaid you could.. PGM i replied.. and this was his reply 'What does he know'
Got my own back the week before i pulled him to one side and told him that i had reluctantly told the FC he couldn't do it ....and that he was going to take his place..He thought i was kidding until i announced'The tracing board will be delivered by Bro X' his face was a picture, needed several prompts all the GO were tut tutting, and i knew whose side they were on.

No one comes off well in that anecdote...

[paulguitar]

Do any of ye worshipful brothers feel that Masoning is perhaps a bit pompous and childish, ever, even if only in private?

[The Mad Monk]

paulguitar said:

Do any of ye worshipful brothers feel that Masoning is perhaps a bit pompous and childish, ever, even if only in private?

I don't think pompous and childish are words that I would use. I would certainly agree with anybody, that if you want to give money to charity or do 'good works', you don't have to put on an apron and meet in a specially laid out room.

However I expect you know that you get more out of people if you give them something in return i.e. a raffle will always raise more money than simply asking people to give money to charity.

[DRFC1879]

I think I mentioned earlier on that I've looked at joining societies to do good deeds for charities etc. in the past.

Looking at it as an outsider, the whole thing just seems a bit Walty. Dishing out titles, gongs, ranks and all that gubbins with special code words and "secrets." If it's your bag then crack on but I'd rather just bung a note in a charity tin every now and then!

[paulguitar]

The Mad Monk said:

paulguitar said:

Do any of ye worshipful brothers feel that Masoning is perhaps a bit pompous and childish, ever, even if only in private?

I don't think pompous and childish are words that I would use. I would certainly agree with anybody, that if you want to give money to charity or do 'good works', you don't have to put on an apron and meet in a specially laid out room.

However I expect you know that you get more out of people if you give them something in return i.e. a raffle will always raise more money than simply asking people to give money to charity.

Thank you for the response.

I have a couple of uncles who are masons and it’s great that money is raised, etc, but it is very hard as a (willing) outsider not to cringe a bit when hearing about some of the language, rituals, and eccentric tunics, etc. It seems odd that grown-ups do this sort of stuff, especially in secret.

Having said that, I will add that many years ago I provided the entertainment for a couple of mason events and was treated very well, which means a lot.

[K50 DEL]

The Mad Monk said:

Taita said:

If you don't know any Masons I guess there is limited routes in?

Most, if not all, areas of the country are willing to have a chat and give some information about joining.

Google Masonic Province of ------ (the county in which you live) and it should pop up with the local HQ information.

Your profile says 'north west' so I Googled West Lancashire and this is what came up:- https://www.westlancsfreemasons.org.uk/

They are just normal blokes. Come back if you have any questions.

This is what I did, based on the back of advice in this thread years ago as I don't know any (openly) masonic people.

I had a lovely meeting with my local lodge and was invited to join however as I was based mostly abroad at the time I declined the invite as I didn't feel I'd be able to give enough time.

Now that I'm back in the UK I'll be back to it once all the covid stuff has ended.

[The Mad Monk]

paulguitar said:

I have a couple of uncles who are masons and it’s great that money is raised, etc, but it is very hard as a (willing) outsider not to cringe a bit when hearing about some of the language, rituals, and eccentric tunics, etc. It seems odd that grown-ups do this sort of stuff, especially in secret.

There may be just a grain of truth in what you write. Like many things that evolve it can sometimes be difficult to work out how we got from "there" to "here".

A moment of pedantry, if I may. Our meetings are not secret. You can have a tour of most of the Masonic centres in the country, Freemasons hall in Great queen Street, London has tours all day long. There is a museum there that you can visit. Certain words and signs that we use are supposed to be secret, - they aren't actually secret - they are all on the internet if you want to look.

[dapprman]

Might not mean much to those watching/reading this thread who not Masons, but this morning I saw part of the work Installing our new Worshipful Master being performed by his father. Lodge was Salisbury Union in the Province of Hertfordshire.

[andyjo1982]

Afternoon all

Our lodge is pretty small now, we have, I think 15 paying members, and 4 honorary members. We only started meeting again in September, but we're really struggling for LOI's, with 5, maybe 6 people attending.

Anyone else's lodges struggling with member numbers?

We had a few older members who are just not fit enough to attend now. I think 3 are in their 80's, and the other is now sadly in full time care.

We really want to keep the lodge going, but its going to be a struggle for a few years now. We have a second and 2 thirds left to do, and then we are out of work.

Just interested to hear if anyone else's lodge are having similar problems, and ways to move forward. We've discussed looking into the possibility of merging with another lodge, but haven't got any official word from GL on how to move forward with that.

Cheers

[WRumbled]

andyjo1982 said:

Afternoon all

Our lodge is pretty small now, we have, I think 15 paying members, and 4 honorary members. We only started meeting again in September, but we're really struggling for LOI's, with 5, maybe 6 people attending.

Anyone else's lodges struggling with member numbers?

We had a few older members who are just not fit enough to attend now. I think 3 are in their 80's, and the other is now sadly in full time care.

We really want to keep the lodge going, but its going to be a struggle for a few years now. We have a second and 2 thirds left to do, and then we are out of work.

Just interested to hear if anyone else's lodge are having similar problems, and ways to move forward. We've discussed looking into the possibility of merging with another lodge, but haven't got any official word from GL on how to move forward with that.

Cheers

I'm out and about quite a lot and the numbers just haven't come back yet, anywhere.

My own lodge, 36 subscribing and about 8 honorary, are lucky to get 15 members turning up right now. Part of that is down to some of our younger members being shift-workers, so we're always missing a few, but there are older members who have not come back at all.

5 lodges have closed already, too. Talk of about another 17 (or maybe 12, 17 total) considering their futures.

I guess with your lodge you at least have new members as you've ceremonies outstanding. Any chance of those newer members bringing people in?