Masonic Education in Lodge
>> May 12, 2009
Often I visit lodges and see how they try to integrate education in to the lodge meeting. It bothers me to some degree how some brethren seem to not care or hardly seem interested in the material being presented.
Some lodges seem to be fearful of putting too much educational content out there because they don't want to offend or hear complains about how much time was allocated.
Historically do you think we got together to do nothing but confer degree's and conduct business meetings?
We met to discuss the world, how things worked, how we can improve ourselves and society. So where have we gone wrong, why can't we discuss in gentlemanly fashion the aspects of life that we profess to hold so dear to our hearts?
Every time a Brother stands up to share, he is opening himself up to us all, he's worked at preparing some material or found something interesting that he wished to share, I think that we owe it to each other to indulge in this, support him and try to contribute back with interesting comments or questions.
To put my point bluntly, if we don't strive to excel and develop ourselves and our lodges then we might as well pack up and go home. There is no point in meeting twice a month to recite rituals with varying degrees of accuracy, if we are only giving lip service to our ancient and honourable society.
I challenge all of you to go to lodge, ask the worshipful master if you can speak on a subject of interest and do it with conviction and enjoyment knowing that you have done your part today and encourage others to do likewise!
If you have a success story about how you have integrated educational content in to your meetings and how they are well received then please take the time to comment on this post on MasonicTravels.com so we can get an open exchange of information flowing.
Bro. Ken H. Dennis
May 12, 2009
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3 comments:
The Grand Orient of France has operated in the manner you describe for almost 300 years.
The Grand Orient of the United States was created by Masons who wanted exactly what you describe but couldn't find it in mainstream lodges.
We now enjoy discussions about science, the esoteric, the arts, and current events.
Feel free to visit one our lodges and see what is possible.
Wonderful post. Your advice that a Brother is opening himself up to share something important to him is worth repeating. Thank you!
Implementing education in Lodge is tremendously difficult in a Lodge that meets only once or twice a month. This situation present limited windows through which to present educational material, often to an organization that spans multiple generations, of which one or two may be interested in the material.
I've often puzzled over this, and the best answer I can come up with, is pragmatically disappointing, if not tremendously effective - perhaps the stated meeting is no longer the most effective time/place to present education. I revolt at this idea, on principle I see the Lodge as a community gathering for the expressed purpose of conferring Light (not administration). And while others would agree, yet we cannot all agree on what topics should be presented in the 30-45 minutes we have, 10 times per year.
Which brings me to the part I really like - presenting a paper/topic is one thing. Fostering discussion is another - and it is here that I think we struggle the most. This is where the festive board comes in, and that we've lost it in (American Masonry) is doubly tragic in my opinion.
Rambling in SLC
PotS
J.
Bro Mitchell,
Recently I've attended numerous lodges around the Vancouver Canada area and I'm happy to see that after and during presentations there is a nice open discussion in lodge. The lodge formality is slightly reduced to help facilitate presentations, and Brethren are able to converse in an open forum on a given subject.
It is quite refreshing. Though sadly the membership numbers themselves seem a little lower here, the structure seems to be in place for future development.
Bro. Roark
If you would like to elaborate further about the Grand Orient in an open letter I would love to share it with the site. I have met many brethren from the Grand Orient around the world and I am regularly impressed with their knowledge and devotion to the craft.
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