the Ontario Mason Magazine

POINTS TO PONDER
“A POSITIVE LOOK AT MASONIC CHALLENGES”
by W. Bro. D. K. Armstrong

This is a continuation of the article from the Spring 2004 issue found on page 29.

At the district level District 1 is actually a little worse off than the province as a whole. Deaths in District 1 for the time frame covered were 46% - a little higher than the province with suspensions also running higher, at about 23% but with resignations lower at about 31% leaving a combined total of “live exits” at around 54%.

Are there lessons to be learned, at either the District or Provincial levels from those Lodges with lower resignation and suspension numbers? I am willing to accept that there is little we can do to prevent the loss of members from death. I am less willing to accept that there is nothing we can do to prevent the loss of members in other ways.

The real challenge for each of us is to assess what some of those reasons are in our own Lodges and devise ways to remedy them. I see tremendous potential for stabilizing Lodge memberships without having to discover the fountain of youth.

As I reflected on some of these questions from the perspective of a BROTHER TO BROTHER coordinator I attempted to place the program within the framework of the statistics I have just recounted.

It strikes me that there is a need for some type of action – what that action is, is less clear to me. As I’m sure you are all aware the BROTHER TO BROTHER program is based on three broad strategic thrusts.
They are:
• Retain – for brethren who have been Lodge members for less than one year
• Revitalize – for brethren who attend Lodge on a regular basis
• Renew – to renew the interest of brethren who no longer attend Lodge.
These three strategic thrusts effectively segment any Lodge into three broad categories, those being Members of less than a year, regular Lodge attendees and those brethren who no longer attend Lodge.

I observed that there wasn’t much problem with our members in the first year. There did appear to be a problem with members in the first couple of years and there wasn’t that much problem with brethren who couldn’t attend but did continue to pay their dues and participate in whatever ways their personal circumstances allowed. Given this identification of a particular problem area the components of the BROTHER TO BROTHER program that would apply would consist of mainly those associated with the Revitalize strategy.

I decided to look at the problem slightly differently. I re-segmented the Lodge membership into four instead of three categories.
The four categories I used are:
• “The Avid Mason”
• “The Monthly Mason”
• “The Special Occasion Mason”
• “The Paper Mason”
I hasten to add that the names for the four segments are not meant to be derogatory. Indeed I see one of the great strategic strengths of Masonry as being the flexibility to allow a man to participate in some way while still tending to his personal and civil obligations. For me, this categorization of Lodge membership brought some new light onto the Retain, revitalize, renew strategy.

The avid Mason is characterized by an especially active participation in Lodge, District and even provincial Masonic activities. Often an officer, frequently a committee member the avid Mason visits, takes an active interest in the affairs of the Lodge and may be routinely instrumental in the performance of ritual.

The Monthly Mason is a regular meeting attendee, will attend some social functions, may take parts in the ritual and can generally be counted on to do a little extra when the occasion calls for it.

The Lodge is visited less frequently by “The Special Occasion Mason”. He may join the Lodge for those special nights such as DD visits or installations. He will generally be in contact with other Lodge members outside of the Lodge and can sometimes be called on to make specific contributions such as piece of ritual work.

“The Paper Mason” came to my mind because the relationship with the Lodge is primarily defined by paper – an annual dues cheque coming to the Lodge and a series of Summons and newsletters going from the Lodge to the member. This member may have difficulty in physically attending Lodge due to schedule, poor health or other pressing priorities. They are typically a supporter of the Lodge in spirit and often financially even though they may not have been in the Lodge in years, or in some cases
decades.

This segmentation led me to contemplate a slightly different goal for the Lodge BROTHER TO BROTHER program, namely:
“The goal of Brother to Brother for Lodge of Fidelity is to assist brethren, desiring to do so, in moving up or down from one segment to a higher or lower one and to support brethren who, for whatever reason, elect to remain in the segment they’re currently in.”

Within each of these segments there may be brethren who fi t into a pattern of retain, revitalize or renew. The characteristics of any one of the strategies may differ depending on the current state of brethren within the category. For example attendance at a workshop of some type may be sufficient to revitalize an avid or monthly Mason whereas a more appropriate revitalization activity for a “Special Occasion Mason” or a “Paper Mason” might be a “Rusty Masons evening” or a more social occasion. Also within each category there may be brethren who are preparing to “move up a notch”, others preparing or being forced to move down a notch and still others quite content where they currently are. This as I said before is one of the great strengths of the craft – flexibility. Where we may be denied some flexibility in other areas such as geography or “advertising” for members the Craft has retained the most important flexibility of all, that applicable to the individual Mason.

This perspective on the make-up of our Lodges also provides flexibility in how we view the behaviour pattern of the modern Mason. A more traditional view would look at the new initiate as a “Monthly Mason”, often moving on to become an “Avid Mason” and then with increasing age and “time in” moving back down to a “Monthly Mason”, perhaps then to a “Special Occasion Mason” and finally to a “Paper Mason”.

A slightly different view would see the various segments and their associated behaviours as levels of participation without, necessarily, any forward or backward progression but simply a series of activity levels, each with its own demands and rewards.

This perspective leads me to realize that the loss of a Mason through resignation can occur at any level of participation if his needs and wants aren’t being recognized. The retain, revitalize, renew tenets of the BROTHER TO BROTHER program need to be customized for each of the levels of participation because in each of the segments there will be brethren who are preparing to move to a different segment and those planning on remaining in the one they are currently in, at least for the time being.

Again, the challenge for us as Masons is to assess the needs and wants of our particular Lodge memberships and to develop and implement programs or activities that address the unique interests of smaller groups of members. This is unlikely to be a “big bang” approach – a single social event that attracts all or nearly all of the Lodge membership or a single program launched for the entire Lodge membership. This, in a way is both good news and bad news. The good news is that there are many ways to appeal to groups of Masons at varying levels of participation. The bad news is that it takes additional effort to assess and develop the various ideas that may occur.

Despite our best efforts there will still be resignations and suspensions. The Craft cannot possibly be all things to all men.

Masonry has moved from a “mass market membership” type of approach where “one size fits all” types of programs and paths of progression through the Craft to more of a “niche market membership”.

The statistical homework I’ve done has convinced me of the need for programs like BROTHER TO BROTHER and others. Extending the 3R’s of the Brother to Brother program by applying them to a slightly traditional view of the Masonic life cycle, if you will, has provided me with insights that I hope can broaden the application of the program framework. I have also recognized that success in retaining, revitalizing and renewing members will be more likely to occur as a series of small victories rather than fewer large ones.

As I indicated at the beginning of this talk I am pretty sure I’ve provided few, if any, concrete answers to some of the challenges that currently confront Masonry. If, however, I have imparted some knowledge that can be useful to Masons throughout the District or if my own contemplations and insights can be incorporated into the thoughts and experiences of others for the good of the Craft then I will count it as one of those small victories.

Thank you, Good Evening
Presented: November 18, 2003