How’s your Lodge doing in the membership stakes? More members than this time five years ago, or fewer?
Chances are, you don’t at once know the real numbers – but it’s a fair bet that members are slowing slipping away…
Building and sustaining Lodge membership is a bit like the Chinese proverb about the best time to plant a tree being 20 years ago, but the second best time being today.
So if your Lodge hasn’t already started doing it, there’s no better time than now to start reversing the declining membership trend.
But how?
The answers are all in The Members Pathway, which has started the new year with a new quick start guide you can find online here. It’s brimming with information, and if you find yourself just a little daunted, don’t worry – help is at hand. It comes in the form of our Provincial Membership Team, under the leadership of Provincial Membership Officer Mike Clay. Team members are ready and willing to visit any Lincolnshire Lodge by invitation to give an overview presentation of the Members’ Pathway.
Says Mike: “Generally we have two presenters from the team, and what they have to say takes about 30 minutes, followed by an open Q&A session. That allows Lodge members to explore the topic, and parts of it that concern them, in more detail.” To arrange a presentation at one of your Lodge meetings this year, drop Mike a line to pmolincs@gmail.com.
Mike added: “Nothing in the Pathway is compulsory. However, we’ve proved that, correctly and carefully used, the tools it offers are effective and really do work.”
These presentations are in addition to longer sessions, usually on Saturday mornings, which will eventually take place close to every Lodge in the Province, and which anyone interested in membership issues will have the chance to attend. Two sessions have already taken place this season, at Cleethorpes and Louth, and invitations to the others will be sent out to Lodges in due course.
And there’s even more help from a relatively new WhatsApp group, the Lincolnshire Freemasons Membership Forum. With about 60 members, it’s open to any Lincolnshire Freemason with an interest in membership issues, and it’s hoped it will develop into a space in which to exchange ideas about good practice, hints and tips. Mike runs it, and to sign up send your name, Lodge name and number, and mobile number to Mike at pmolincs@gmail.com to be added.