In a press conference  held on the steps of the recently closed Phoenix Masonic Temple, Bob Moray the  Grand Master of all Masons in Arizona attempted to list the reasons why  Freemasonry has failed in the State. Besides being the Grand master of the Masons, Moray is also the CEO of the Phoenix Based Engineering firm, Design  357 with branches in all fifty states. He admitted that he found it hard to  admit failure.

"I have been a Mason for over 20 years.  I never  imagined that I would be standing here today announcing the closing of the  Grand Lodge of Arizona" the visibly emotional Moray began. When asked to cite  the reasons why the Fraternity had finally closed its door he answered by  Saying  "Well, I can tell you that it was not for lack of organization. We have been organized for several hundred years in Arizona. Nor was it for  lack of Masonic programs, philosophy or goals. We have attracted tens of  thousands of New Masons over the past 25 years. One year we had 1,500 new  members join in a single one-day ceremony.  Yet somewhere along the way  that central core those vital volunteers that all organizations need to  survive just stopped showing up."

When pressed to explain his  remarks Moray added "The goal of Freemasonry for the past 400 years is to help  honest, ethical and moral men to become role models in their community. It is  very difficult in today's society for a young man not you yield to the temptation of making a quick buck over doing what he knows is right. We live  in a society that believes in situational ethics. What was right this  morning might not be politically correct this afternoon. Freemasonry formed a  support base for men who chose to walk the less traveled path. Any task no  matter how difficult it is becomes easier to accomplish when men of like minds  tackle it together.

At one time almost one man in ten was proud to wear  a Masonic ring. Today out of a population of 2 billion there are less than  500,000 Masons nationwide that means there is only one Mason for every 4,000  men. And the reason behind those numbers is that we stopped helping each  other. This did not take place overnight but over the past 75 years. It  happened slowly. We were comfortable with our own little group in our lodge  and new brothers were not always someone we felt belonged in that group. They  were not totally ignored we were polite and shook their hands called them our  brother and then went back to our group and forgot about them.  If they  did not come back to our lodges it was deemed that they were not really Masons  to begin with. The sad fact is that we no longer spent the time and effort  to get to know each other people just did not want to walk that extra  mile.

At one time the average Mason had to work for over 30 hours just  to pay his annual dues and was glad to do so. But instead of increasing the  dues as the cost of living went up our members voted to keep the costs down  'For the sake of the Brothers on a fixed income.' Of course, it was never the  Brothers on a fixed income who brought up the issue to begin with.  In  time we noticed that the increasing costs of running our lodges was  outdistancing our income. We needed money. We would not risk losing a brother  by insulting him by asking him to pay his fair portion of our expenses.  Instead we went out and made more Masons. Membership rose and then promptly  fell again as these new members stepped through our revolving doors because  the lodges had forgotten how to grow new Masons.

The final blow was  dealt to our Fraternity in Arizona with these lodges themselves. We began to  put new Masons right into officer positions without instruction, experience or  any guidance. The new officers tried for a while but out of frustration went  from enthusiastic new members to men just going through the motions. Men  who were not properly trained or qualified rose within the ranks and as the  level of qualifications lowered so did the performance of the fraternity in  general and the lodge in particular until there were not enough brothers in  the lodge who knew how to open the lodge or work the degrees. One by one our  lodges have been shutting down for the past 25 years. There are now just three  lodges left in Arizona, one in Phoenix, one in Flagstaff and one in  Tucson." When asked if there was anything he could do to change the trend for  masonry Moray smiled. "Funny you should ask. We have just passed a  resolution in the Phoenix lodge to increase the dues to $500 per year. Those  existing Brothers who cannot afford the increase will continue to pay the  existing dues and allowed to fully participate in the lodge but will be not  have a vote in the lodge. All of the Brothers have made a commitment to  support each other so far as they can without seriously injuring their own  family. No one will be put up for membership until they are fully investigated  and agree to uphold the principals and the obligations of the fraternity.  Failure to do so can result in that Brother being suspended or thrown out of  the Fraternity. "

Asked if he thought the new rules were too harsh  Moray replied, "Those rules are over four hundred years old. We are moving  into the future by going back to our past"

DO NOT misunderstand, we feel that a newsletter to inform, educate and even amuse our members is well worth the cost, but there is a better way to do it for some and at NO COST to the Lodge.

“Corky” has created an “E-Newsletter” on the internet for members who have access to the internet. There is no cost to the Lodge or the member. If you sign up. You will get an reminder E-Mail, every month with a link to the E-Newsletter. Just click on the link and read and reread it at your convenience (even at work?).

There are many advantages to an “Electronic Newsletter”. The online version is not limited in size like 2 sheets of paper in the printed version and There are extra stories, articles, cartoons, unusual photos and special event coverage each month. It is in color and will have color pictures of Lodge events and to illustrate the Masonic articles.

(Note; The birthdays and anniversaries notices will be left out for reasons of personal security.)

You don’t have to “buy a pig in a poke”. Check it out. Go to, http://mastermason.com/WallerLodge/news.htm This months newsletter, the July and August issues are already on the web site and you can read and reread them at anytime Save your Lodge a little money and view a much more interesting newsletter. E-mail Corky at pineilse@swbell.net to be removed from the postal mailing list and added to the internet e-mailing list. You can change back.

Masons, known for their fraternal secrets, have put out a very public call for members in a massive public relations campaign that included a glossy newspaper advertisement encouraging men to "share the secret."

The world's oldest fraternal order also is going high tech, with a Web site. Open houses are planned statewide to coordinate with recruitment - which follows years of declining membership, a problem facing many of the country's once flourishing social groups.

"We have every door in the building open, so they know there is nothing hidden," said Dennis Ward, a member of the Swartz Creek Masonic Temple.

Part of recruitment also is fighting old stereotypes that Masons are some sort of secret society "trying to take over the world," Ward said.

"We're just a fraternity. We're trying to do good things in the community," he said. "It takes a good man and tries to make him better."

There are 16 Masonic groups in Genesee County, each with membership of 124-385 men. On the Web: www.michiganmasons.org.

Would you like a little background music as you read, a different color scheme, more pictures, Masonic poetry? Whatever your ideas are let me know.

Corky

  1st woman: I froze to death.

  2nd woman: How horrible!

  1st woman: It wasn't so bad. After I quit shaking from the cold, I began to get warm and sleepy, and finally died a peaceful death. What about you?

  2nd woman: I died of a massive heart attack. I suspected that my husband was cheating, so I came home early to catch him in the act.  But  instead, I found him all by himself in the den watching reruns on TV.

  1st woman: So what happened?

  2nd woman: I was so sure there was another woman there somewhere that I started running all over the house looking. I ran up into the attic and searched, and down into the basement. Then I went through every closet and checked under all the beds. I kept this up until I had  looked everywhere. And finally I became so exhausted that I just keeled over with a heart attack and died!

  1st woman: Too bad you didn't look in the freezer. We'd both still be alive