Jeffery Paul Pedigo Hiram Lodge #7 Grand Lodge of Tennessee. Concept of Masonic Renewal What does it mean to you now and in the future?

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Patricia Ferguson
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1 Jeffery Paul Pedigo Hiram Lodge #7 Grand Lodge of Tennessee Concept of Masonic Renewal What does it mean to you now and in the future?

2 Concept of Masonic Renewal What does it mean to you now and in the future? Masonic renewal, what does it means to me now? There are several ways to define the concept of renewal. The lens through which I chose to view this concept is that of repairing something, that is worn out, by modernization. Such a modernization needs to focus on three key areas: Orientation and education of the candidate, leadership development for officers, and education and involvement of the membership. This triad could be centered around the Lodge Education Officer or the lodge school of instruction. The orientation of the candidate is critical and it begins with the process he must go through to petition the lodge. The lodge gets one chance to make a first impression and it begins here. The candidate should have multiple chances to meet and get to know several brothers before he asks for and is given a petition. The friendships he begins here will carry him through the first couple of degrees and beyond. The most important Mason to masonic renewal is last mason initiated. Masonry will live or die with him. Go back to your blue lodge and find out who your last mason initiated was. Shake his hand. Get to know him. He is the most important brother in your lodge. If he gets what he is expecting from

3 masonry, or more, his experience will become viral. People will ask him why he looks and acts differently and he tell them it is Freemasonry. Others will ask him how they can become part of that. It will only take a few of these conversations before masonry goes viral and it reaches what Malcolm Gladwell calls in his book of the same title, The Tipping Point. Each last initiate is the most important mason in the fraternity. If you take the time to get to know him, we can change the downward spiral our organization is experiencing. After he is initiated, the Entered Apprentice is going to be overwhelmed by the experience he has just gone through. He needs to be welcomed back to the lodge by a friendly committee of well-informed brethren who can walk him through the degree, if possible do this during a degree practice and let the new brother ask questions. Also, ask him what he was thinking, during the degree, when this or that happened. Have an open dialog about his experience, he will appreciate you asking and you might learn something, as well. These fresh eyes are unfiltered and may provide some valuable insight that can only be gained from that prospective. Assign him a mentor to teach him the lectures or as some lodges do let him know when your school of instruction is open and make sure he gets there. It is very important that you offer him several opportunities to return to the lodge and fellowship

4 while in this stage of his journey. If the school of instruction is well executed the new brother will make several close friends before he is ready for the next degree, these are friendships he may very well keep for the rest of his life. Find out what he is interested in and give him something to do where he is contributing and feels a part of the lodge. Another important facet of masonic renewal is that of leadership development for lodge officers. Not only should the officers of the lodge understand their roles as officers, and of course the next role above them should they be called to serve, but they should also have ample knowledge of the state and lodge code book and bylaws. Not only should the officers of the lodge be proficient in the ritual, they should understand the lessons being taught in the ritual so they can explain them to lesser informed brethren and live the virtues being taught. The perspective from any chair in the lodge is different and you can t really know what it is like until you are in that position but that shouldn t prevent us from preparing willing brothers for the challenges they might face. For example, if one has a foundational knowledge of Roberts Rules of Order he will be more comfortable wielding the gavel for the first time from the East when something unexpected comes up and everybody present will be thankful for this ability to deal with the unknown.

5 With a lodge leadership enriched with useful knowledge the lodge will never be empty. Brothers will be eager to emulate the examples they see at the stations and places throughout the lodge and the lodge will have a long waiting list of brothers waiting to go through the chairs. Find these interested brothers jobs they are interested in on committees, spread the wealth and everyone will benefit. A note of caution here, some eager young masons, new to the officer ranks, may be so interested in being valued as contributing members they will volunteer for everything they can. Wary leadership will be sensitive to this and warn these brothers against burnout. Also, caution new masons about joining too many subordinate lodges during their early masonic careers. When a brother does volunteer for something be sure to recognize him in an appropriate fashion. The leadership development program for lodge officers should not be exclusive to the officers but should also include a personal development program that will help give men tools to be better men. Topics of instruction in addition to ritual and line officer duties, might include: effective delegation, interpersonal communications, time management, how to write a book review, how to read a book, how to build a capsule wardrobe and other manly skills, the imagination here has no limits. And, this is important, some of the membership will not have

6 opportunities for this type of education outside of the lodge and they will reward the investment. If your lodge can accommodate it and surrounding lodges are willing, offer your school of instruction to brothers from other lodges especially those that are smaller and may not have the resources to have their own education programs. Another important aspect is a retention program and that can be reduced to one important concept a rich experience. Give the brothers an excellent meal, an interesting meeting and an enriching experience and they will not only comeback but they will bring others back with them. In the future, Masonic Renewal means being adaptable. Your lodge should have a fresh feel from a technology standpoint. The lodge web presence should be fresh and up-to-date, links should be verified and content kept current. But beyond the social media presence, the mindset needs to be agile, ready to embrace the next new Facebook or Twitter. The subordinate lodges have a role to play as well. They should not be hovering around the alter the day a new Master Mason is raised ready to shove a petition in his hand before the next rite does. But, knowledgeable brothers from these bodies can play key roles in the blue lodge experience. They can be leaders by example at the blue lodge. Wouldn t it be great if your school of instruction was led by York and

7 Scottish Rite Masons and interested brothers ask their instructors where and how they could get more light. That is the way this should work. The blue lodge, the Rites, the Shrine and others should enjoy a symbiotic relationship where the rising tide floats all boats. Each jurisdiction is going to have to examine its bureaucracy and find ways of staying relevant in a world than can change overnight. A biennial session or an annual communication is good for some things but can an organization as world-wide as the Southern Jurisdiction of the Scottish Rite really wait for two years for a proposal to be considered? Not in a world where the attention span is less than the 140 characters of a tweet, and the median tweet is far less verbose 60 characters. Masonic renewal to me now and in the future, is to offer a rich experience to a tech savvy young man, give him a sense of purpose through leadership and education and retain him with personal growth opportunities. To guard against complacent bureaucracy and make our organizations fresh, agile and adaptable.

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