Is anybody there? Mike Clay’s looking for the missing 100 Freemasons

With the booking deadline for a Building Together seminar at Louth only a matter of hours away Provincial Membership Officer Mike Clay has yet to hear from more than 100 of the people who’ve been sent a personal  invitation to attend.

He said: “The booking deadline is noon on Tuesday 26th, but so far I’ve had just 14 people say they’ll be coming, with 28 apologies. That leaves 103 people who haven’t responded at all. It’s real shame because the Building Together toolkit contains everything a Lodge needs to know when it comes to attracting new members and keeping the ones it already has.  It’s not a stretch to say that it’s the key to securing the future of Freemasonry.

“When it comes to addressing the Membership Challenge, Building Together is a robust, thorough, and powerful mechanism explaining the ‘how’; exactly what it’s been developed to address. It’s much weaker on the ‘why’. Our Provincial Communications Officer Stuart Pearcey has offered this view: “We all belong to a Lodge.  That’s a fundamental and obvious truth – but let’s dig into it. Think about the words. We belong to a Lodge. It doesn’t belong to us. The life-enhancing benefit of ‘belonging’ is something we’re in danger of taking for granted.

“But true belonging comes with responsibilities. All we are allowed to do is hold the steering wheel for a while before it’s someone else’s turn. It’s a responsibility to keep the Lodge on the straight and narrow, and to ensure it doesn’t crash into a ditch. The continuity of shared commitment has helped Albion Lodge Number 9 reach its 275^th anniversary, which it’ll celebrate in October this year – it’s been passed on, pure and unsullied, as each member received it.

“In the past Lodges have been guilty of picking to join Freemasonry the wrong people for the wrong reasons, and not nurturing the ones they have. Better to have no ceremony than to bring the wrong person into Freemasonry. It shouldn’t be like than any more. Building Together gives us all the help we need to pick the right people to take their turn at the steering wheel and contribute to the Membership Challenge, and show us how to look after them once they’re here.

“The ‘why’ we need it is the value of belonging, which is tough to measure – but you’d miss it if it weren’t there. As Joni Mitchell sang in Big Yellow Taxi: “You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone.”

Mike added: “That’s why Building Together is important. When we came into Freemasonry we joined strong Lodges. We have a responsibility to make sure the Lodges we leave behind as just as strong for the people that come after us.”

If you’d like to join Mike’s Saturday morning seminar at Louth on May 30th, you’ll be made most welcome. drop him an email to pmolincs@gmail.com before noon on Tuesday.

Share on Facebook

Tweet

Follow us

Save