How to Hold a Lodge of
Discussion
By W. Bro. Robert W.
Gray, Waverley Lodge No.361, Guelph
Getting The Ball Rolling
Holding a Lodge of Discussion requires only three things:
If a Worshipful Master is
willing to try out a Lodge of Discussion, the rest of the items will fall
quite easily into place. The concept is not a complicated one, nor is the
execution.
Once the Worshipful Master has agreed to host a LOD (Lodge of
Discussion) then the moderator need only find a couple more people to attend
and assist him in getting things started. Some discussion on the topics
prior to the meeting would be of great benefit as the plants can also serve
to keep the conversation going should it start to lag.
The last item on the list is an idea, and here, the sky’s the limit. Topics
for discussion are most effective if they run a little closer to the edge.
Care should, of course, be taken not to offend any brother, nor cause
disharmony in the lodge, but topics that are somewhat controversial in
nature tend to generate more lively discussion than those based on the
merits of, say, Saltine crackers over Ritz. The following is a list of
suggested topics for discussion, though the brethren are free to choose
anything they may feel is relevant to their lodge depending on interest
levels, demographics and location:
Why not discuss religion in
Freemasonry?
Why not discuss politics in Freemasonry?
Why are women not admitted to Freemasonry?
How is Masonry a part of your everyday life?
Why not eliminate the investigating committee and the ballot?
“All The Way In One Day” -- Yes or no?
Is Freemasonry part of the occult?
What are the true origins of Freemasonry?
Why not extend time between degrees?
What are our lodge traditions?
Should Masonry change with the times?
Why Masonry?
Are we failing our newly made Masons?
What is the role of Masonry in today’s society?
Is our dues structure too low?
Do we have to believe in the Hiram Legend?
The Big Night – Implementation In
Lodge
There are a few things to keep in mind when holding a lodge
of discussion. These are guidelines rather than rules, but they have been
developed over the course of a year of trial runs within lodges and come
from what has worked best in that time.
1. The Moderator has the most important job of the night. It is his job to
introduce the concept, to engage the brethren with the topic and to not only
keep the conversation lively and active, but to diffuse any tensions that
may arise from differences of opinion. It is absolutely vital that the
discussions are conducted in peace and harmony.
2. The topic can make or break the evening and it is a delicate balance
between a topic that can be summed up in a few motherhood statements (hockey
and apple pie) and one that will divide the brethren.
3. There is no time limit. The Moderator is at liberty to use his judgment
based on the agenda for the evening. If the LOD is the only item after
General Business, then an hour is not unreasonable. That being said, 10
minutes while the candidate resumes his personal comforts on a degree night
may also be sufficient to get the brethren thinking and talking in the
banquet room after the meeting.
4. Keep the atmosphere relaxed. The Worshipful Master may grant permission
to suspend the use of signs and titles for the duration of the discussion,
if he sees fit. Likewise, gentle humour is also a great means of making
people comfortable with one another and lessens the distance across the
lodge room.
5. Be flexible. Stay on topic as much as possible, but if the general
consensus seems to lead down other avenues, don’t be afraid to follow where
it leads. It’s a great way to find the pulse of the lodge and that
information can be used to structure future discussions.
6. Have fun! Be creative and make the evening one the brethren will tell
their friends about.
Keeping The Ball Rolling – Feedback
and Follow-Ups
It is a suggested that the
Moderator provide feedback forms or questionnaires to the brethren in the
anteroom after the meeting. This is an excellent means of gauging the
success of the meeting and for plotting the future of LOD’s. Submission of
these forms to your District Education Chair (or even a simple email
detailing what you have done and how it went) will also assist in better
ascertaining what works and what doesn’t.
In A Nutshell…
So there it is in a few simple
words. For all of the guidelines above, the greatest is this. Keep it
simple! Be conscious of those things which need to be done to make the
evening a success, but don’t over-complicate things. It is, after all,
simply a conversation amongst the brethren.
So get out there, have fun, get them
thinking, and “Let’s Talk Masonry!”
Running a
Lodge of Discussion
(in 50 words or less)
By R. W. Bro. David J.
Cameron
- Select a topic.
- In advance, ask two men to think about the topic, so they can be
"plants" and when the conversation flags, say something outrageous.
- Have one moderator who presents the topic, gives members permission to
talk without formalities (signs, W. Sir,) and keeps order.
- Watch the miracle.
Learning by Participation
From The Curriculum Group
of The Committee on Masonic Education
No pleasure, no
learning.
No learning, no pleasure.
Wang Ken, Chinese philosopher
The scene is familiar. We
have all been there. The business of the lodge has been completed, minutes
read and approved, accounts passed, reports heard, a ballot taken, when the
Worshipful Master, trying his best to sound enthusiastic, announces,
“Brethren, this evening R.W. Bro. Good Chump (…it is always a senior Past
Master or Past Grand Lodge Officer…) will give us some Masonic Education.”
The groans from the side benches are scarcely disguised as audible sighs,
postures slump, arms are folded, and legs are crossed as the members prepare
to endure another lengthy discourse. Heads begin to nod as the
well-intentioned Brother reads his carefully prepared script with the same
animated verve as the minutes of the last meeting. Little wonder that the
traditional approach to “Masonic Education” gets a bad name in the Lodge.
Yet, Grand Masters tell us that “Masonry and Education are synonymous terms”
and Grand Lodge Committees on Masonic Education continue to emphasize the
crucial role that learning plays in the life of the lodge, the mentoring of
candidates, and the retention of active members.
Bergen Evans once defined a College professor as “one who talks in other
people’s sleep.” There is a better way. It is suggested in an old Chinese
proverb:
What I hear, I forget.
What I see, I remember.
What I do, I know.
Learning is a
participation sport. Real understanding requires participation on the part
of the learner. We only truly know something when we have applied it,
manipulated it, or added to it. Surely there is a lesson to be learned from
operative masonry – the rough ashlar requires “hands on” work to polish and
perfect it.
Do we not tell every Fellow Craft that he is privileged to express his
‘sentiments and opinions on such subjects as are regularly introduced in the
lecture, under the superintendence of an experienced Master … that he may
improve his intellectual powers’? That injunction implies that opportunities
will be afforded to ask questions and enter into free and open discussion of
the meaning of the symbols and allegories embodied in the Rites and
Ceremonies we perform, to explore the philosophy of Masonry.
Nothing focuses our attention quicker and clarifies thought better than a
pointed question. Socrates, the Athenian philosopher (469-399 BCE), used
this method of teaching to question his students The Socratic method or
dialectic question and answer remains a most useful pedagogical tool.
Examine the old rituals. They were cast in the form of
questions and answers, remnants of which are found in the Openings and
Closing of the three Degrees. Over time, these catechisms evolved into the
lecture forms used today – the Junior Warden’s Lecture in the First Degree
and the Senior Warden’s Lecture in the Second Degree.
The basic concept embodied in Let’s Talk Masonry in Masonic Nights at the
Round Table is learning through participation. At a Round Table all places
are equal, and all are equidistant from the centre, where Truth may be
found. There are no inappropriate questions, and there is no one right
answer. All opinions are valid, and there is always more than one
interpretation to be considered. The whole is greater than the sum of its
parts.
Is there risk in inviting questions? Of course, one must be confident in
one’s ability to admit that one may not have the answer. That, however, is
the essence and value of putting these questions on the floor, and sharing
the benefit of the collective knowledge of all participants. Remember, risk
and reward travel side by side. Avoid one and the other will also pass you
by. There is truth in the questions posed by Frank Skully: “Why not go out
on a limb? Isn’t that where the fruit is?” What are we afraid of?
What we discover for ourselves through conversation and discussion, reading
and research is always more significant and permanent. To debate the
validity of ideas expressed, to test the truthfulness of what we read, to
make up one’s own mind what is true – these are the most effective means of
enlightening the mind. “To repeat what others have said, requires education;
to challenge it, requires brains.” – Mary Pettibone Poole, A Glass Eye in a
Keyhole (1938)
Of course it’s easier to stand up and read a paper that has
been prepared. There is no question that there is a place for lectures,
addresses and papers. Much can be learned from eloquent scholars and skilled
orators. We do not all learn in the same way. Astute and capable Worshipful
Masters will employ a variety of means to instruct their Brethren in
Masonry. A well-conducted Lodge of Discussion when pertinent questions are
posed and considered will never be a boring night at Lodge.
Adapted from The Newsletter, Vol. 20 No. 4
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