ATTRACTING MASONIC LEADERS
This Short Talk Bulletin is adapted
from a paper presented by the late Most Worshipful
Brother Houston A. Brian, Past Grand Master
of Arkansas, at the 1969 Southwestern Conference
on Masonic Education. Brother Brian want to
his Eternal Rest in December, 1977. His widow,
Mrs. Mattie Brian, graciously permitted us to
use it as a Short Talk Bulletin.)
With our population increasing
rapidly, with the longest sustained era of prosperity
in the history of our country, with shorter
working hours and, consequently, more time for
activities of one's choice, it would seem that
membership in Masonry would be increasing steadily.
However, in most Grand Jurisdictions,
we find year after year an alarming loss in
membership. Many of our Brethren are laying
aside the working tools of life. Many more are
giving up their Masonic affiliation by simply
refusing to pay their dues. When we add that
each year finds fewer men petitioning for the
Degrees, the overall situation presents a picture
that is of grave concern to those of us who
realize that no other organization, be it civic
or fraternal, has as much to offer its membership
as does the Masonic Fraternity.
Before we criticize our former
Brethren too severely for allowing their membership
in the Craft to lapse for nonpayment of dues,
perhaps we should take a long, hard look at
Masonry as it is being exemplified in our Lodges
today, particularly in relation to the leadership
qualities of the officers in our respective
Lodges. In doing so, let's attempt to ascertain
the reason for our present dual dilemma of suspensions
on the one hand and the lack of interest in
the Fraternity by nonmembers on the other.
Today young men reaching their
majority are better educated than those of any
generation which has preceded them. They have
been taught by us to spend their leisure time
wisely and to affiliate with organizations that
are run smoothly and efficiently by competent
people with leadership ability. Is it any wonder
that it is difficult to keep them interested
in an inefficiently run Masonic Lodge?
Have you ever observed a business
fail when it seemed to have all the ingredients
for a successful future? Not long ago a new
business opened its doors in an excellent location.
Its owner had ample capital for the venture,
the products offered for sale were good, and
the prices were competitive. Everyone predicted
a bright future for this concern, but in less
than a year it failed dismally. The owner did
not have the leadership qualities necessary
and would not employ the right kind of personnel
to operate the business successfully.
We know that the mission of Masonry
is laudable, that through its teachings good
men become even better men. We have also experienced
the warm fraternal fellowship which the association
with our Brethren and their families affords
us. In view of this, interest in Masonry, from
both within and without the Fraternity, should
be on the increase. Why, then, do we find the
opposite to be true?
Perhaps the fault lies in the
fact that we have allowed our Lodges in many
instances to be run by Brethren who do not have
the leadership qualities necessary for the efficient
operation of any organization, more especially
a Masonic Lodge. I have seen Brethren who would
not even have been assigned the chairmanship
of a relatively unimportant committee in a going
venture of any nature because of their inability
to get the job done effectively serving as Masters
of Lodges with membership in the hundreds. Yes,
in many instances Masonry is using for its leaders
Brethren who would not be accepted for leadership
anywhere else. This is not to cast aspersions
against these Brethren. They are good men and
good Masons, but Brethren who simply should
not be allowed to become Masters of their Lodges
because of their inability to perform the duties
of the office in a Satisfactory manner.
Find a Lodge whose Master and
other officers are leaders in the true sense
of the word, and you will find a Lodge in which
the Brethren value their membership, participate
in the activities of the Lodge, keep their membership
active, and through their actions, in and out
of the Lodge, attract other good men to petition
for the Degrees.
Does the Masonic Fraternity have
within its membership Brethren with leadership
ability; and if so, why do we not put these
Brethren's talents to active use in our Lodges?
In most Lodges the Master and
other officers attempt only to use the Brethren
for ritual assignments. A Lodge is fortunate
if one out of ten of its members will accept
a ritual assignment, and the other Brethren
are usually not given anything at all to do.
Masonry without acceptable ritual
in the opening and closing of the Lodge and
in the conferring of the three Symbolic Degrees
cannot fulfill its true mission as a Lodge.
The Master who has real leadership ability will
see that his Lodge is proficient in ritual.
He will then devote his energies to other avenues
of service, thus assuring his Lodge a well-rounded
program of Masonic activity.
A pamphlet entitled "To Set
the Craft to Labor" has been prepared for
the use of Lodge officers in Arkansas. In this
pamphlet the Master is urged to assign each
Master Mason, within easy driving distance of
his Lodge, one or more specific responsibilities.
This is to be done through committee assignments.
The work of some twenty-five committees is spelled
out in detail for the Master's guidance. At
the end of each committee assignment in the
pamphlet space is provided for the Master to
list the Chairman and the other members of that
particular committee.
The size of a Lodge, the nature
of the community in which it is located, and
the type of activities conducted by the Lodge
will determine how many committees are needed
to carry on an active and sound program of Masonry.
A small Lodge will adjust downward the number
of committee assignments to those which can
best fill its needs. A Lodge with a big membership
may need to increase the number of committees
in order to be certain that every member who
lives nearby will have definite work to do for
his Lodge. The idea is to give the general membership
a job to do and then to exercise leadership
by suggesting to them ideas, projects, programs,
and activities on which they can work through
committee assignments. For this plan to be effective,
the Master should appoint his committees immediately
after his installation and then call upon them
for progress reports throughout the year.
Care should be exercised by the
Master in choosing the Chairmen for the committees.
A well-informed Brother, who is a skilled ritualist,
should head up the Ritual, Lecturing, and Certification
Committees. A Brother who enjoys preparing food
and serving it should head the Dining Room Committee.
A Brother who has the ability to write interesting
news items should chair the Publicity Committee,
etc. Once the membership is working actively
for the Lodge, Brethren with leadership qualities
will emerge.
It is high time that we in Masonry
realize that the Master should be a man with
aggressive leadership. 'For far too long we
have used as a criteria for choosing Lodge officers
Brethren who can quote a little ritual but who
may otherwise evidence absolutely no leadership
ability. These Brethren have never been called
upon for leadership anywhere else and never
will be.
In a thriving small town in Arkansas
there was, until recently, a Lodge hall which
was, to put it mildly, in a sad state of repair.
The roof leaked, there were no rest room facilities,
and the Lodge was heated by unvented heaters.
The Hall was on the second floor of a building
with no cooling facilities, and in the summertime
the heat was unbearable. For more than ten years
the few faithful Brethren who attended Lodge
tried as best they could to devise some method
whereby they could build and equip a new Lodge
Hall. Their efforts were in vain, and the Lodge
continued its steady decline in both membership
and general activity.
A man with leadership ability
moved into this particular town and affiliated
with the Lodge in question. As Master, he had
served his former Lodge with distinction. In
due time he was elected Secretary, and through
his efforts some Brethren with leadership ability
began to attend Lodge. The Lodge elected one
of these aggressive young Brethren Master of
the Lodge.
As his first order of business,
the Master with the help of the Secretary examined
the Lodge membership roll with a view to the
selection of a committee to head up a building
program. They found that the President of the
Bank was a longtime member of the Lodge, that
a successful building contractor and a prominent
realtor, as well as other leaders in the community,
were also members. A general meeting was called,
and these Brethren with leadership ability and
know-how in the fields of building and financing
were invited to attend. Along with the faithful
few who had held the Lodge together for years,
they were asked to suggest ways in which a site
could be secured and a Lodge Hall erected which
would be a credit to both Masonry and the town.
Within a very short time concrete plans were
formulated, and a beautiful, functional Lodge
Hall was erected. Today this particular Lodge
is a credit to the community in which it is
located, and Masonry benefits therefrom. Members
with know-how qualities had been available for
years, but lack of Lodge leadership had failed
to generate interest prior to this time.
In many of our Lodges a Brother
is expected to begin serving his Lodge as an
officer in the station of Junior Master of Ceremonies.
Normally this means that to work through the
chairs and to serve as Master of the Lodge will
take seven years. Most men with leadership ability
are called upon in the community to give of
their time and talents in many avenues of service.
Because of this, many of these Brethren will
refuse to give seven years' service to their
Lodge, but would, in many instances, serve faithfully
for three years. I submit to you that a real
leader can contribute more to Masonry in three
years than a great many of the officers of our
Lodges at present could contribute in three
score years.
In summation, there is no easy
way to attract leaders within the Fraternity.
In fact, there is no easy way to attract a leader
in any endeavor of any consequence. Yet, in
our civic clubs leaders continue to emerge.
In business, leadership asserts itself. In Masonry,
we must learn the knack of involving our membership
in our Masonic activities to the end that leaders
will emerge.
If we do this, interest in Masonry
from both within and without will increase to
the end that our sons and those who come after
them will have the privilege of becoming Master
Masons in a Lodge in which they will value their
membership.
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