Hey Chris yeah Fred what’s a Mason that’s a really good question Fred you’ve reached the internet’s home for all things masonry join Chris and I as we Plum the depths of our ancient craft from the common gavel to the trout nothing is off the table so grab your tools and let’s get to work this is on the level
Well we’re back we are back it is uh on the level with Fred and Chris uh your uh your home for all things masonry well maybe not all things but many things how’s it going Chris eventually maybe all things yeah well hey I’m I am not against all things but uh anyway I’m
Only against some things not all things yes there’s a list we’ll post those things online later doing well thank you thank you how are you today I’m good I’m good brother uh I am some masic stuff here I am ready yes I’m ready to talk uh Masonic as I knock
The microphone over how are you gonna talk to me about it are you gonna be I’m gonna be on the level on the level oh nice plug nice plug okay let’s M let’s minimize the opening banter yes and talk about today’s topic today uh today’s topic is going to be uh making new
Masons and I know that’s uh uh that’s a topic that I think every Lodge is probably you know focusing on and dealing with especially coming out of Co there was a serious downturn in numbers yeah and I know that um you know M the Masonic way is not to advertise you
We’ve everyone seen the bumper stick you know to be one ask one right um and I hear stories about some of the old-timers that tell me that their dad was a Mason uh for many many years growing up and uh you know as they got into adulthood uh they asked their dad
You know how come you never offered masonry to me and he looked him straight in the face and said well because you never asked me right so with that in mind um you know making new Masons uh in this new you know this this this new world of ours you know this uh
Postco uh world where uh we’re we kind of coming out of uh the insanity that we all saw you know and just the absolute uh changing of Lifestyles and the shutting down of economies and lives and all that stuff numbers went way down rolls are down uh people are not showing
Up afterwards who were regularly showing up so uh in this new way uh in this new world uh Chris talk a little bit about making new Masons how do you see it well the first thing I think it’s important to talk about is what is the purpose of
The blue blue lodges in at least in the State of Florida the purpose of blue lodges are to make new Masons that’s what we do that’s what we’re here for okay and traditionally after World War II I think we were at our Peak when all those guys came back and they wanted the
Brotherhood and the companionship and the structure that Freemasonry offered and they blew up our ranks and over time it’s you know those guys have died and and the world’s forgotten about Freemasonry a bit uh it’s not common I work in digital advertising I’m probably the oldest guy in my office one the
Youngest in Freemasonry though nice but the oldest in my office and it’s it’s funny because most of the people that I work with don’t even know what Freemasons are if they know anything it’s because they saw a Nicholas Cage movie and they thought it was cool and
That we have the secrets to wear oh right they really believe the stuff they see in the movies uh or they or they’re or they’re maybe more Orthodox than the religion and in their religion they’ve heard that it’s a bad thing and that’s the only exposure most people have young
People have these days so it’s almost impossible for us to still operate the way we used to if we waited for people to come and ask us who we are and how to join we wouldn’t exist in short order I think and that’s the direction we’ve
Been in in Florida uh when I joined Freemasonry in 2018 uh I asked for the historical records of my Lodge here on Tuttle Avenue and and they they showed me that we average about five new Masons a year the last five years W now how long ago
Was that this is 2018 so the preceding five years averaged about five new Masons per year I think that’s pretty standard and average in Florida there’s some standouts and there’s some definitely on the lower end but I think that’s pretty average and I thought this is really unacceptable you know I’m an
Advertising guy thought right this is is blowing my mind that this this opportunity exists for people today and they have no idea what it is I had no idea what it is I had seen movies myself so I mean we can have a whole podcast
About why we joined and we will but uh I knew nothing about Freemasonry when I came in and it was a leap of faith uh for them to say yeah you got to sign here and you’re going to say all these things and do all these things but I had
No idea what I was getting into I mean I knew generally it was a fraternity uh but you never know until you get in and I think think uh as I talk to people they just want to know that’s one of the reasons they joined they’re curious about the Mysteries they
Just want to know the secrets yeah I think so I agree with that the people that know about it but most of the people these days don’t so we can’t keep operating the way we have in the past and so I got approval from the worful
Master of my Lodge at the time who got approval from the district Deputy who had to get approval from The Grandmaster up to chain it goes just to run a 30- second video on Facebook so we got approval to do that I had a little custom video made it was horrible we
Initiated 24 guys the year that we ran that video ad on Facebook we almost we nearly broke the lodge that year because no one was prepared for how to handle that kind of volume right catechism and all the degree work sure sure especially coming out of like we said coming out of
The the situation this was preco so it was kind of nice you know there was none of that I I kind of separate the now into pre-co and post I don’t even like watching comedy shows or TV shows pre-o I’m like those guys they don’t know the world come
On so this was in the good time preco and uh we we just crushed it and people were looking at us like what the heck are you doing and and and just let me interrupt you this is one3 second Facebook ad 13 second Facebook when when
They ask you what the heck are you doing the answer is not much not much yeah I think we might have spent a few hundred that year and you know initiating 24 guys sounds like a big number but if you knew how many guys we talked to that
Year it was a ridiculous number uh because we didn’t know what we were doing so we wasted a lot of opportunities sure we weren’t organized for sure so we were working way harder than we needed to but that’s how it is in the beginning when you’re proving the
Concept is something so after that year um other logists around us started to ask what we were doing so we started to improve that process and it it took about two years before a Grandmaster in the State of Florida finally came and said hey what the heck’s going on over
Here I’m G to be The Grandmaster in a few months I would love to make this my Marquee thing I just want to push Freemasonry and this was a guy that obviously is a bit more friendly with digital uh you know his thing was let’s not let’s not be those guys on social
Media talking negatively about each other with politics and all this can we refrain from that but he did want to use it in a positive way so those were two good things I mean I loved everything this guy was all about yeah he kind of
Set he set you up for Success oh yeah you know in a big way there yeah yeah they said whatever you need whatever you need and the only thing I said was if you want The Lodges to do this you’ve got to pay for it I think that’s going
To be the big hangup you know it’s hard enough to get people to do things but to pay for things is impossible to get people to do and he agreed no questions asked right so we we didn’t think we’d load more than a few lodges that first
Year because it’s such a difficult thing to get Freemasonry to change and try new things but with The Grandmaster supporting it he really helped us make an impact and we took these traditional ways traditionally right if you were if you wanted to talk about somebody joining Freemasonry you uh you couldn’t
You had to wait for them to ask you in some cases they had to ask twice you had to say no and hope they asked you again in order for them to get it right right yeah can you imagine today if that was are I mean you and I wouldn’t even know
Each other if that was that was a thing today yeah uh I wouldn’t know most of the people I know today and uh so that and you know they were they were doing Billboards spending money on billboards at the time if you can you know I’ve never successfully called a number that
I saw driving 80 M hour on the highway you know I think I’ve seen one of those Billboards have you yeah was it in Tampa I think I think it was up in Tampa in certain markets probably Miami and Tampa a black background yeah yeah okay
Something with a a guy’s face a really good-looking young man’s face because all of us are really good-look oh yes young men here at masonry uh absolutely and some sort of Catchphrase and it it it seemed clever but you’re right at 80 miles an hour you look up oh yeah Mery
Cool cool man Nicholas Cage right on yeah Nicholas Cage right and uh you know they were holding seminars where they were act asking guys hey write down a list of 10 people you might know let’s go ask these guys like that’s how they were operating when I
Came in and I thought this is like caveman technology to us at this point yeah we can reach so many more people in such a more effective way uh and so you know we prove that model so over the last uh year and a half I think we
In the State of Florida I personally have onboarded almost 40 lodges on the program and these lodges are generating hundreds of people per year that are interested and you know the first push back we get is you’re not supposed to advertise Freemasonry or you’re not supposed to you know be pushy and asking
People to join and uh the great thing about our ad is it’s like less than 30 seconds and it highlights the main points of Freemasonry right Brotherhood y like integrity yep and uh working together for the good of your community those are the main points we’re not even
Big on the Mysteries you know which is another reason people do join but it’s also a negative because people see us if they have secrets they must be bad yeah right right yeah um and who doesn’t have secrets yeah we well we all have secrets but remember uh we are not a secret
Society we are a society or fraternity with secrets and for me in the let me just tell you uh my experience uh then maybe we’ll we’ll backtrack a little bit and just kind of go over some the the traditional methods versus the new methods as a as a discussion but for me
Um my great-grandfather apparently was a mason in Scotland in Air Scotland and I have yet to look up you know any any of that information uh I will eventually do that but um so in the back of my mind I always thought it was something I I
Wanted to do and I wanted to check out and the more my uh so my the people in my life told me you know that it’s bad it’s this it’s that the more I wanted to investigate it because that’s just that’s just how I am man don’t ever tell
Me no because I’m going I’m going that way and that’s what I did and I was trying to connect um with Freemasonry so I live in Sarasota Florida and uh wanted to connect with free obviously I did what everyone else does I went online and uh
And just typed in that I after you know maneuvering around I found out that Sarasota does in fact have a lodge the lodge is on Main Street and it is 147 and there is a phone number uh and and uh and an email uh an email prompt to
Put in your information and someone will call you uh how you came in through the website I I originally through the website that’s correct okay and um yeah and Rusty was the one who reached out to me nice uh originally so what happened was my life became super busy
Uh like everyone else’s does and I got busy and uh didn’t drop it definitely was still trying to pursue it but just was super busy uh and um I was at uh I love I’m a advid motorcycle rider and I was at a a biker bar that I go to yes
That’s right I remember you had your Leathers on yeah and first time I met you I’m sitting at the bar and and the Tampa chap one of the one of The Lodges up in Tampa put together a motorcycle club uh and they wear they wear a five-piece patch which is Riders
Association that’s what they called themselves Sonic writers ass yeah and uh so they I went up to them and I said hey man I’ve been trying to get with the you know the lodge and get information and stuff man what do you guys you know just
Trying to get them to say something and they they just completely turned their back on me they’re like yeah you need to talk to your local Lodge wow and uh that’s that’s all I can tell you man it’s like cuz you know we’re all bikers
You know with our Harley and our gear on so we all have to be really cool and uh so that’s biker cool you know get out of here man oh really so which is cool I I totally get it but it prompted me to uh make that phone call uh back to that
Back to that that number that phone call and it was on a Sunday uh and uh during open house and I made the call and I got you Chris on the phone and I was just sitting there at the bar and and we’re talking a little
Bit and you said well you know you said something to the effect of well we’re you know we have an open house right now I’m like what do you mean right now it’s like no we’re here right now at the lodge and I’m like I’m time like the
Pres yeah I’m like I’m on my way man I’m on my way uh so I got on the bike rode down met you and I think brother Jeff Reed was there as well uh and we I just I just knew as soon as I walked through
The door I met you shook hands and looked around at the history and the just the the coolness of it all in my opinion I thought it was just really cool right up my alley uh the mystery behind it and all that and the fellowship uh a fraternity men only um
I’m in sign me up so from there we went forward and it has been an absolute uh blessing on every level for me but um it’s interesting that as I’m telling this story I realize I did not I did not get it through that 30-second
Facebook ad I did see it later you did but here’s the thing I am not I’m not the average guy see I already had in my mind I had a family member who was in it I already had it in my mind to pursue this and and get to that point I think
What what we’re talking about here is that that’s just not really like we said that’s not the that’s not an option anymore most people are too busy most people would consider it if presented correctly you know for what it is because what I’m finding is and I talked
To the seven guys that I went through with and we went through uh ea uh fellowcraft and Master Mason together all seven of us through the entire process and it was it was a great a great thing but they were a lot of them will tell you that and I am getting
Somewhere so hang in there a lot of them will tell you that you know I I was looking for something you know I’m a I’m a guy I work I own my own business I work um I got wife kids responsibilities but there’s nothing in my life that’s
Greater than myself I’m looking for something that you know that is uh you know a tribe I’m looking for my people I’m looking for a place to go and that’s those are the people um that those are the guys that I see that are looking for
It so to me yeah trying to bring this back around in a uh well in a Fred kind of way uh you know you know that’s that’s the people that um that the the new way of reaching men for masonry uh is necessary because of this new man
Who’s out there this man who who doesn’t know he knows that he he he knows there’s something out there you know he’s not looking for a Civics Club doesn’t want to join the rotary nothing against the rotary or anything like that but he doesn’t want to join those kind
Of clubs what he wants to join is a Brotherhood uh you know a a group of men who are focused on the same thing moving in the same direction lifting each other up men I can trust I haven’t had so many men in my life uh that I truly trust uh
You know with the intimate details of my life since I you know since I’ve joined masonry and I have been in church nothing against church I am a a member in good standing of a church I attend every Sunday uh but I I have not found
That there not a group of men you know a Band of Brothers you know I haven’t found it so anyways I’m rambling on here a little bit but tell me tell me what you think man because that’s not really the point of church is it I mean it’s a
Byproduct that’s nice I think of going to church is the social aspect but really there’s a purpose for that which is your salvation that’s the point of why you go and practice your faith whatever it is this is different it’s not about your salvation it’s more about
What you just said you’re concerned with which is improving yourself in the world today how can I be better tomorrow than I was today how can I stop these bad habits that I have how can I control my temper how can I get along better with people I don’t disagree with
How can I be a better father businessman citizen of the country that I live in those are issues that Freemasonry deals with uh and sure there’s a spiritual aspect but no answers are given as to this is the way and I think that’s what’s speci special to me about
Freemasonry is it gives us all the opportunity to explore so many things that are important to us in our lives in our own personal way we’re all sharing the same experience but we’re all take because of our backgrounds and our interest and our history we’re all taking different lessons from these
Things that we can apply into our everyday life and I had a similar experience when I joined um just shocked by the relationships I’ve developed I didn’t expect that I wasn’t ready for that I didn’t even know how bad I needed that in my life you know I was a um
We’re going to get personal now I was a uh I was a only boy in my family I have an older sister and a younger sister and my father was gone from the time I was about four and my mother in order to save money moved back in with her mother
Who lived right next door to her mother so I had uh three four generations of women in my life growing up and being the only manale no men okay no men my whole life so I learned how to get along with women I I do that very easily for
Me it’s second nature I fit in with a group of women I just know how they communicate and I can relate and you know I’m an ally and uh I never had good relationships with men because I never fit in I never learned those skills of
How to be a guy with guys uh and and that’s a sad thing for a kid to not have that experience so I was 40 years old already over 40 years old when I had enough and that was one of the main reasons I wanted to look into fraternity
Because that’s a fraternity of guys I never went to college never had that experience you know started having babies when I was like 10 it feels like actually 19 but very young so I started my own family and and you know once that happens Goodbye World you’re going to
Spend certain Decades of your life just working and changing diapers and doing all that sure so when my kids were old enough that’s when I something called me to reach out to Freemasonry and it was actually a documentary I saw which was great I think it did a big boost for
Free masonry globally um Netflix did a little documentary it wasn’t about the Grand Lodge it wasn’t about the secrets of the Mysteries this documentary was about regular guys yeah I think I’ve seen it and how Freemason re if they had like a guy who’s in a band I think he’s
A singer he’s kind right yeah and I want to say It’s A History Channel yeah it was a History Channel I saw it through Netflix I believe it was and that triggered me I was like look at all these guys and they’re saying the same thing I’m thinking like I just needed a
Place to not be judged to go to explore these things and I didn’t expect much because typically you know real life isn’t what you expect it to be but in this case it exceeded my what I ever thought it could be you know I’ve met so many guys that I
Built just people I’d take bullets for and I truly believe would take bullets for me AB absolutely I can trust them with the keys to my house my wallet and uh so I was very um interested in I was evangelized like I need to tell people
About this I need to get the word out about this and I have the capacity to do that so that’s what drove me wanting to get more members it just be as shamed to see see this just you know through our own uh stubbornness of sticking to not
Not wanting to change just letting it die off just just watching it wither dry up and disappear from the face of the Earth what a shame that would be if I’m I’m here in a place and I can make a potential change so it became my mission
To prove that we could do this well let’s let’s go there let’s talk about what is what is it look like um this this I know that you’re on um a a committee sanctioned by Grand Lodge yeah um and uh you’re bringing you know the
The the the new way of making uh me new Masons to to this new world so tell us just share with us I know we touched on a little bit but give us kind of the the bullet point um idea and where where you’re going to go with it so in Florida
They’ve sanctioned what they call the Florida Grand Lodge marketing reimbursement program uh and this is a way for any Lodge to take a free video that the northern jurisdiction of the Scottish right has put together very high quality good production video that we use on your Lodge’s Facebook page to show in a
Radius usually about 10 miles in some rural areas 25 miles if you live on the beach half of a 25 mile radius is the ocean so you might need to go you know get a little creative but you’re targeting a radius and you’re targeting men of specific ages and you can even
Target men with specific interests with specific ads so in our situation we tend to appeal to exmilitary guys that are First Responders people that are used to being around other men and having those kinds and the structure makes sense so you can Target ads to those kinds of people with
Messaging that speaks to them and you’re going to get a great return on your investment uh we’re paying about $3 per hand raise so every time a guy hits learn more you pay about three bucks for that and uh all you’re really doing it’s no different than if you were had a sign
On the street and you were like Hey we’re here hey we’re Freemasons if you want to learn more step up and I’ll tell you you’re doing that online and so this video people see it in their feed when they’re scrolling through it automatically plays and has a simple learn more button they
Hit learn more and on Facebook they already know your name email and phone number they don’t have to type it in it’s prepopulated it’s very easy MH so they hit learn more they see all their info and they hit submit and then they’re waiting for somebody to call
Them to tell them more about Freemasonry so you call this person and within 10 minutes you know if they’re going to be able to petition a lodge and how interested they are and actually learning more and so what that’s exactly what we do we make sure they lived in
The state long enough that they believe in higher power in the State of Florida you can’t have a felony on your record without being redeemed and having the right to carry um and so we check all those things and if they meet all those requirements tell them all right if
You’re really serious about learning more the only other thing you would ever need to petition a lodge is two brothers from that Lodge to recommend you obviously you don’t know Two Brothers From The Lodge but guess what for us every Sunday at 2 o’clock we do an open
House where two brothers from our lodge are going to be there for an hour and anybody can come and we’re going to talk to you about Freemasonry who we are the history what it looks like the time involvement in your life to join what the commitments are answer your
Questions and show you’re on the lotch and we find about 85% of the people we talk to that make it to that point walk away with the petition or fill one out right there so uh this is a system that we’ve been doing now for I’ve personally been doing for several years it’s
Impossible to fail it works every time well an 85% of people walking away with a petition in their hand is a is an impressive number uh by any metric I credit that to Rusty in our lot he’s good so Rusty and obviously and I think every every no Lodge has a rusty there’s
Only one Rusty but every Lodge has a rusty like yes man in there who would probably be more than happy to uh to put together a Sunday is it Sunday or Saturday it’s Sunday ours is Sunday yeah at 2 p.m. Sunday at two uh and for me it
When I walk through the door like I said when I walk through the door on that Sunday and you were there you shook my hand and uh there was just guys talking and uh it was a good turnout that day yeah and uh I was I was hooked so when
You come it’s like it’s like any other sales and marketing because I’ve done sales and marketing in media for a lot of years um it’s like you said uh where are the people who have already raised their hand and said I’m I’m somewhat interested I’ve heard about it I’m
Looking for something that fits this this idea uh and then from that point once they come on the property meet the people uh your chances of of bringing them into the lodge uh and getting them to fill out a petition and go forward uh are greatly enhanced and uh and this
Would be right here would be the rub uh for the old-timers I say Old-Timers I don’t mean it it as pejorative as it sounds but this would be the rub between you know the traditional method and the new way of doing it because we just had a conversation about Mar marketing uh
Almost like talking about people like their product uh and that kind of stuff and that’s that’s probably why people recoil from this idea they think it cheapens Mason I’m I’m assuming they maybe they think it cheapens masonry in a way where we’re trying to sell something you know we’re the Carnival
Barker out there trying to with the sandwich sign on trying to pressure people into becoming Masons and I I would I just talk a little bit about how that is so not the case with what we’re doing it’s true in one sense I mean we said at
The beginning the purpose of a blue Lodge is to make new Masons yeah agreed and when you make a new Mason there is a monetary number associated with that person to the lodge and to the Grand Lodge you can’t escape that right uh and so I just want to address that it’s true
Um if you if you follow the program and you get about 16 leads a month and you do that every month you’re going to get about 192 leads for the the year if you can get 15% of those people to join your lods you initiated 28 Masons 28 masons
In the State of Florida is our lodge is $100 for each degree they have three degrees you just made $8,400 for your Lodge and you got 28 new sets of hands to help in the events of the lodge so that is a fact that is a thing that
Exists it is making money for the lodge it is making money for the Grand Lodge on the per capita fees is that a bad thing no it’s a reality and a fact that we need those things and it’s also a reality and a fact that those 208 guys
Need Freemasonry in their lives because we’re not we’re not selling snake oil that’s right we’re not selling anything that’s right we’re basically offering a system of tools to help them improve themselves and it works every time for every person that implements them that takes the time and the effort to
Implement them so it’s it’s a real huge value that you are offering to somebody for uh an our lodge I think it’s $160 a year right which is I spend that taking my kids to the movies and you know with all the popcorn and the soda I I can do
That easily in one I think I spend that much on Starbucks hopefully my wife’s not listening to this hey at least it’s just Starbucks yeah right could be worse yeah uh but yeah so there is an aspect of there is a unit value for every person you bring in and that is
Necessary in The Lodges but more importantly than that we have a broken World more broken than it might have been in a long time I agree it’s not just our country it’s not just your state it’s the whole world and you know we have a generation of people that grew
Up with the internet I didn’t have the internet I know you didn’t have the internet growing up nope I had to play with sticks in the mud uh and trade time with my sisters to play sword fighting I’ll play your Barbies you know that was my life deal with humans face to face
Constantly right which is what we’re built to do exactly but you have people in living in isolation from a young age and their only engagement with the world or the bulk of their engagement with the world is through social media everything on social media is fake you only see the
Happy Times the best situations the makeup is done they’re in the perfect lighting that’s the life that they’re growing up in they don’t have real engagement with real people and it’s kind of this generation and the one coming up behind it I feel like is similar in some ways to maybe your
Generation or the guys before you who had zero faith in institutions wanted no part of any organized anything uh didn’t trust the church didn’t trust the state didn’t trust anybody and I feel like these new kids coming up have a little bit of the same kind of thinking as that
Generation where they just don’t trust institutions anymore right yeah with everything on the internet it’s hard for them to know what’s real and what’s not real and so Freemasonry offers all that stuff you get to you have to deal with people just from the time you’re initiated right you’re going to sit
Weekly with people and that maybe they’re going too slow for you maybe they’re going too fast for you maybe you don’t like the guy that’s teaching you you start to learn how you have to deal with people yeah that’s right that’s right um but like we said in our last
Session you get these training wheels that help help you learn how to have those relationships in a positive way uh so you’re offering them what they’ve been missing their whole life they just don’t know we exist so you’re doing the whole world of service by just letting
Them know we’re still here and that’s the whole point of this is just to let the world know that Freemasonry exists yeah this is what we’re about not pushing anything on anybody but just saying hey we’re still here and if you want to learn more there’s a simple
Button to click to get the information you need I I like I like what you said it it reminded me uh of an old sales and marketing saying and that is the saying goes uh sooner or later the dog has to eat and and what that means is that uh
Marketing uh dog food um it was there for a while there was absolutely no nutritional value in dog food at all it was it was basically cardboard um and but the marketing for the dog food was amazing I mean these pictures of dogs running through the farm where the cows
Are and The Meadows floppy puy floppy puppy and the happy family with the kids and everything so you buy this dog food but there came to a point and this was basically in the mid 80s where they were finding out that the dogs were not eating the food and all the marketing in
The world was useless at that point though they spent literally hundreds of millions of dollars on it because sooner or later the dog had has to actually eat the food and I never heard that before and it goes back to back to your statement about you know it’s yeah okay
We’re using some some marketing tactics here uh to try and and tell people in your words Chris you know yeah we’re here we’re still here and this is who we are but once men come into uh a lodge that is generally speaking properly able to receive these men in a in in a
Masonic way um you find out that the dog eats man and the dog eats good once you get in there and this dog certainly has it’s it’s absolutely transformed you know my my life and my outlook on life everything from from church to my relationship with my wife to my work um
Just to the way I process relationships I I come from a pretty hardened background so uh me I’m I’m I don’t suffer foolishness very very easily uh and I’m learning in a in a major way how how to how to be that man so Let’s uh
Let’s finish out with this okay so Lodge you know number 000000 in wherever Main Street um has adopted the has adopted this program uh and it’s it’s it’s working beyond their expectations and they’re really pleased they’re you know they’re hitting they’re doing 30 uh new Masons a year uh
Everybody’s happy what do you do and this will be another podcast but I want to touch on it just a little bit in closing MH what happens when a lodge that was used to having one or two a year come in um and everybody’s kind of setting their
Ways all of a sudden has 30 new Entered Apprentice uh Masons or seven at a time or you know four at a time and now you got a fellow you got a fellowcraft degree going while you’re doing catechism for a bunch of EAS and now you know the Master Mason thing’s coming up
Here so we’re you know and and you guys haven’t really been faithful in doing your rehearsals talk let’s talk a little bit about some of the growing pains that people can expect after the success that we know this program brings so many challenges uh in or it takes a lot of
Work to bring someone through the three degrees of Freemason it really does it really I was surprised from the beginning to the end think about that you’ve got two guys who are going to meet you just to meet you and introduce you uh if you do petition
You’re going to have two people look at the petition um to recommend it into the lodge you’ve got uh the entire Lodge is voting on it and then three men are going to be in an investigating committee who are going to talk to you those three men are going to make a
Recommendation and then the lodge is going to ballot could be a different set of guys how many people were involved just in that process just in getting you to the point where we could say yay or nay right once that happens you need a catechism instructor and a mentor that
Can’t be the same person there’s two more guys uh you’re going to get an EA degree how many people are in that degree that have to do countless hours of memorization and practices 10 maybe yeah plus the guys that are going to come out to see it same with the fellowcraft double that
With the Master Mason degree how many people were involved in that one person’s Journey from the door to the ma first Master Mason stated communication 30 guys 50 guys it’s a huge number if you about it it takes a lot of resources to do this and there
Are lodges that don’t have a lot of resources and that’s why it’s important for us to work together between The Lodges I yeah right because you might not have the resources in your Lodge but I have a few that can help you and so if
We help each other if we send four guys to help you with your degree or we take some of your guys and do courtesy work we can get it done together we have nine lodges in our district it’s very common in our district for Courtesy work to
Happen you know I’ve done work in all nine lodges and degrees helping other lodges and I love it I love going to other lodges and seeing the brothers and feeling the different kind of Vibes that they have alive their LOD than ours great as a newly raised Master Mason I
Have I participated in uh some work down in the in Venice Lodge and and you’re right it is it’s it’s really awesome to be part of a crew that goes down and helps out another crew of men uh to go through it yeah yeah yeah go on go on
Right and so you it’s going to take a community of people to do this in the beginning you you know if you’re we have a lodge that’s a daytime Lodge in our district they only meet once a month they have 30 members bringing in Five
Guys in a year changes them in a massive way right and they don’t have the resources to do it so they need to call for help you got to swallow your ego as a lodge in the beginning and ask for help and get the help you need need to
Get it done because you got to get yourself to a healthy place as a lodge where you can start to do all this stuff you have time for practices people are experienced and knowledgeable that might not be the case for a year it might not
Be the case for two years but if you don’t bite the bullet and ask for help to get it done where are you going to be in 5 years where is your Lodge going to be in 10 years you’re probably going to be merging with another lodger folding
Your doors completely so it’s change or die is what we’re dealing with in masonry um and we’re not talking about changing the tenants or the or the landmarks or the principles nothing like that you know that’s really I think the biggest push back I hear when I talk
About this with people from lodges is we can’t just let anybody into Freemasonry you can’t do that that’ll yeah that’ll ruin it it’ll ruin it that’s not the idea here though no because think of the people that went through vetting you just to get into the lodge like we have
A very solid process that if the brothers follow the process you’re not going to have somebody that’s a problem come into your Lodge but uh you can’t be afraid of the people you don’t know I mean the great thing I love about this program is you know in the past it was
Always who you knew who I knew right so our lodges are very homogeneous they just keep looking like us right which is a they all think like us which is very evident for the the past generation I don’t mean that in a pejorative way but it’s very EV had sure they they there
Was no other way to do it so that’s how they did it they wear the same suits they got the same look on their face and they all vote the same way yeah yeah yeah oh yeah everything is very homogeneous right and Freemasonry isn’t built for that Freemasonry is built for
Uh representing the community and the community isn’t homogeneous it’s different ages different backgrounds different stations in life yeah especially nowadays I mean people are so transient you know and all I mean it’s like when you meet somebody who’s been born and raised in Florida they’re like
A unicorn man I mean that’s like that’s rare it’s like you know you don’t ever see those we’re all transplants from somewhere else you know so that makes that speaks to that that you know that that diverse community and I like what you said about you know the the
Diversity we we are supposed to be a you’re supposed to look at the sideline in a in a you know in an open meeting in a stated meeting and see all kinds of different faces backgrounds people from all around and I think this approach um definitely lends itself more to that
Because it opens up it opens we’re opening ourselves up as a lodge to the community to say here we are like you said here we are you know if you if you’ve raised your hand if you’ve ever thought about it we’re here we’re open come down talk to us we’d love to talk
To you I want to talk just briefly or just close briefly I’m I love old masonry books um we have a library at our lodge that we’re we’re kind of going through and going through all the books and I found this little book um called the key keys sorry the key to
Freemasonry’s growth and it was written by Allan e Roberts who is a prolific um writer in masonry uh in his own right but this book was written in 1972 and uh I want to do a podcast solely on this book someday because it’s so good but um it’s funny to me that in
1972 uh the men in Freemasonry on a national level because he speaks to he speaks to uh um worshipful masters from all over the state and lodges from all over the state um same trouble same same issues same problems same same ongoings you know that uh that we deal with today
Uh they were dealing with then and he he presents a a really comprehensive plan to and that’s what brought this up in my mind to deal with that Onslaught because if you do if you do and we’ll put links down below and we’ll do more and more on
The on the uh uh the the the program that Chris has been talking about that he’s chair chairman of for for the state we’ll do more and more on it we we do desire to get more and more people involved in it and uh to use this
Podcast as a catalyst to get this idea this process this program in front of as many people as possible many lodges as possible um but it’s just interesting to me that this this book right here talks a lot about how do we how do we deal
With uh the numbers that start to come in how do we deal with more people and they they talk about the you know that lack of early Masonic mentorship and training that is so important and we’ll end it on there that’s one of the things
That must be uh must be dealt with in Lodge once you start bringing people in uh you have to train them to be Masonic uh because isn’t it funny this is 74 yeah 1974 so that was the year before I was born and I’m pretty sure every year
Since that was written most lodges are still dealing with that problem like you said y absolutely like those of us that refuse to look at history and what the issues are are going to keep repeating the problems yeah that’s right you have to look at this kind of stuff and and
Implement some lasting change you know we’re only in stations for a year in Freemasonry so our influence on the lodge is our lifetime of influence is somewhat limited and you know if you are a guy who’s taken a chair in a lodge you better live up to the expectations you
Know you’re representing a 300 plus year old fraternity officially probably much longer well I’ve been digging into that more on that later go on oh so much more um you know but it’s our we’re carrying the torch we’re carrying the flame and I don’t want to be the guy that it’s
Snuffed out on my watch yeah that’s right right that’s right I mean I’m here I’m an able-body man I have a passion I’m going to leave it all on the table I have a finite number of years and I’m going to do absolutely as much as I can
And I wish everyone had that mentality we’re not just sitting in a chair for a year to get to the next chair to get the next T title or the next name on our badge uh we’re here for a reason and a purpose you’re here you were put here
For a reason and a purpose this was put in your heart you don’t even know why this is just a calling that we have because our creator is calling us to do something and we’re here and we’re men we’re together it’s our time we got to make the change
That’s what we’re here to do and speaking of diversity you said I like to look out and you see all this difference in the sideline different everything um we have a in the EA degree we talk about the anointment that flowed down you know upon the beard ran down upon
Beard from the Bible it’s from the Psalms that’s right and uh what is the holy ointment I started looking into this why is this a thing why do we keep talking about it and like everything in Freemasonry sorry we’re going over a little this can be on the extras uh the
Afterparty but uh what I discovered was that the it’s simple right can the holy ointment is some oil and some spices right it’s some simple things that when combined together become much more than they were separately they become anointed by God and I think that symbolism is huge in
Freemasonry and we don’t mean literally some of the things that we say often but I started thinking about this and how it applies to Freemasonry and you and I are different a bunch of guys in our lodge are different and individually were awesome but when you combine us together
We’ve created a holy Union that is capable of magic you know like right just like those ingredients that come into the ointment the holy ointment that’s that is placed upon special people and so I think that’s a great example of some of the beauty of symbolism in Freemasonry and how you can
Actually think about this stuff and apply it to your everyday life you know people of different backgrounds and ages uh isn’t something to be scared of when they come together it’s something to be in awe of when you’re all moving in the same direction together right because
Our our commonality you know is uh friendship morality brotherly love you know uh Truth uh the the understanding you know that there are truths uh you know Integrity matters a man should be you know um should be honest hardworking uh he should be a loyal friend um these
Are things that are that are true and good and beautiful and and Freemasonry lays those things out in such a a great way we’re really going on a tangent here this has been uh on the level with uh Fred and Chris and uh this is our second
Podcast we’re excited we are uh two the number two 002 uh we are open we’re here to promote uh the the greatest U fraternity uh of all times that’s that’s why we’re here we we dig Freemasonry uh on such a deep level we want to share it with the world so now
I’m rambling again uh Chris I will see you on the next my brother all right
source
