Short Talk Bulletin for October 1978
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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 went 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 non-payment 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
non-members on the other.
Today young men reaching their majority
are better educated than those of any genera-
tion 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 long-time 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 of 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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