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          Nelson King, FPS, Editor, 2 Knockbolt Crescent, Agincourt
          Ontario Canada, M1S 2P6. Tel: 416-293-8071 Fax:
          416-293-8634 or CIS: 71202,22
          
          THE TOMORROW OF FREEMASONRY
          by
          H. Edward Struble, MPS
          At almost any gathering of thoughtful Masons, the future of
          our beloved fraternity, is a much discussed subject. It is my
          intention, in the following pages, to set forth my views on
          what I believe is in store during the next thirty years. Actually
          only one of two things will take place. Either The Masonic
          Movement will fade away and be lost, or it will continue to
          exist in one form or another. That is an over simplification of
          the subject but it establishes the premise of this writing.
          First, ponder with me this possibility. Your mail arrives and,
          much to your surprise, there is a letter from Grand Lodge
          and you read . . . 
          "Dear Sir; it is with the deepest regret that I must inform you
          of the death of the Masonic Fraternity. It died last Friday."
          Your first reaction is one of disbelief . . .  then anger--finally
          utter disappointment. You say to yourself, "How could this
          happen? Why wasn't I told earlier this could happen?" . . .
          you read further. The letter explains that the death wasn't
          accidental or a surprise, rather it might have been
          predictable. During the last few years, the organization has
          shown many symptoms of not being well . . . here are a few .
          . . 
          Lack of Energy
          Many officers and members seemed to lack the energy to
          strengthen the organization - not much extra effort was
          displayed such as that extra effort which causes a brother to
          pick up another brother on his way to a lodge meeting, the
          offer to help out at a function or a meeting, volunteering to
          learn a difficult section of ritual or to be a member of one of
          the many vital committees, making no effort to learn to plan
          and execute interesting programs and meetings.
          Loss of Vision
          This was continual, though gradual, members became less
          able to see the opportunities to build and grow with the
          fraternity. Very few could see freemasonry returned to The
          so-called "golden era," when Masonic activities and masons
          were the warp and woof of the fabric of community life.
          Loss of Memory
          There was a tendency to forget about absentee and shut-in
          members, lack of visits to the old timers and the ill by the
          officers of the various bodies, members often forgetting to
          attend lodge meetings and district functions, and Dues
          payment being late or neglected.
          Lack of Communication
          Two symptoms that are practically the same were "difficulty
          with communications" Accompanied by "an inability to hear
          regularly." Masters have not always communicated with the
          members, and vice versa. Calls for volunteers quite often
          were not heard. Requests for changes were not always
          heard by masters. Requests for officers to attend practice
          and training sessions were often ignored. Some past
          masters stopped hearing altogether. 
          Loss of charity
          One of the major breakdowns came with the discovery that
          the organization was suffering from "cirrhosis of the giver"
          (cirrhosis means hardening and contraction) This started off
          gradually, and then became critical. The first signs, were,
          less interest in the regular charitable causes, i.e., Masonic
          homes, veterans programs, orphanages, eastern star
          homes, brotherhood funds, etc. Then followed a reluctance
          to give financial assistance to anyone other than those with
          Masonic connections.
          Loss of Heart
          The final blow was the "loss of heart." First evidence of this
          was the tendency not to be quite as concerned with the
          people in the community, especially the youth."This loss of
          heart" kept the local lodges from attracting new, young vital
          petitioners, and that, sir, is what finally killed the
          organization.
          All right, that was imaginary . . . or was it? Membership
          declines every year. North Carolina has almost 400 Lodges
          with approximately 70,000 members. I understand that a few
          years ago there was a net loss of a couple of thousand
          members. If the membership for an average Lodge in North
          Carolina would be 250 brothers, that loss would equal the
          closing of eight Lodges. This situation is not unique to North
          Carolina. It is wide spread. I know The Grand Lodge of New
          York is busy trying to remedy this with extensive programs,
          as are many more Grand Jurisdictions. The key to this
          decline may be the retort, "Never in my life time," by some
          members every time an innovative or new approach is
          suggested. Freemasonry was not born in its present form.
          Many changes have taken place down through the years
          and they must continue if it is to survive.
          Each year almost every Mason knows of at least one solid,
          useful, dedicated citizen who would be an asset to the
          Fraternity, but who we have been unable to attract. Could it
          happen? Could Masonry die out? Many believe
          Freemasonry will always be here and don't worry about it.
          The same thing was thought of the Grange in its heyday.
          What has happened to the Odd Fellows? What has caused
          the reduced activities in the Demolay? What are we doing to
          make our Fraternity exciting enough to compete with
          Monday Nite Football, the bowling league, World Series, golf
          scores and TV?
          Throughout every Grand Jurisdiction there are many
          Community Colleges and Universities. What, if anything, is,
          being done or can be done to attract, touch, and influence
          the young men that attend those institutions? 
          Whatever happened to:
          Police Square Clubs & Degree Teams
          Fireman's Square Clubs & Degree Teams
          Fellowcraft Clubs
          Past Masters Clubs
          Masonic Bands
          Masonic Parade Groups on Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor
          Day, etc.
          If these things can be neglected and disappear, what is to
          keep the entire Fraternity from following suit? Do the
          weaknesses illustrated above that exist today portend a
          general weakening of the fraternal unity? If it is not to
          happen, it will be because Masons everywhere are being
          forced to face up to the problems, and are now starting to
          look for solutions. Mind you, I said solutions because all of
          us know that there is no one answer to all of the difficulties.
          There is no quick fix, and no one person will have the
          complete solution. What is needed most is an open mind
          and willingness to suggest daring and innovative steps which
          might lead to some solutions. Personally, I am of the belief
          that Freemasonry will survive, but only because the
          Fraternity as a whole will have moved into the 21st century.
          In order to position ourselves to see what I think will happen
          in the next thirty years, let's now consider ourselves in the
          year 2024, looking back to review our progress
          Many things are different, not just transportation and
          communication. A good example of this, there is no longer a
          drug problem with the young. In the year of 2002, The
          Masonic Medical Research Laboratory at Utica New York did
          the basic research, then a consortium of three
          pharmaceutical companies developed a drug that is included
          in each child's preschool immunization program. It is a one
          dose injection that lasts for fifteen years. Any one using any
          of the mind-altering drugs, in any form suffers an immediate
          loss of all body hair for a six month period. Youngsters do
          not care for the identifying appearance.
          The divisive problem of Prince Hall Affiliation thankfully was
          settled, and now all Masons enjoy complete harmony,
          regardless of previous attachments. It came about in the
          year of 2003, prompted by a move made in 1999 by the
          Grand Lodge of Nebraska. They introduced a very simple
          but effective program of each District issuing dual
          membership cards to every member of the Prince Hall
          Affiliation. The Prince Hall Affiliation issued Dual
          membership cards to all of the members of F&AM of
          Nebraska, making everyone a member at large within the
          state. This led to a majority of members of both groups
          affiliating with a Lodge of their choice. This idea was the
          initial step, and other Jurisdictions incorporated it into their
          individual programs. By the year 2003, 95  per cent of all
          Grand Jurisdictions had adopted the program in some form.
           In 1997, a giant step for Masonry was a program started by
          the Grand Lodge of Michigan. A "Reach Out" program aimed
          at college students. Very simply, very effectively, Lodges
          throughout the state contacted the Colleges and Universities
          in their area and set up a program which made sure that no
          students spent a Christmas, Easter, or Thanksgiving holiday
          alone on campus because of the lack of money or time
          required to get back to their homes. The Brothers of the
          Jewish faith took care of Yom Kippur, Hanukkah and Rosh
          Hashanah. The Lodges ran a big PR campaign aimed at
          these students and publicized the program. They spread the
          word with announcements on all the bulletin boards, and
          contacted all of the fraternities and sororities. Masons took
          these young people into their homes for those holidays,
          served them the traditional meal, and arranged for each
          student to make a phone call home. As follow up, each
          Masonic family sent a short letter to the students parents,
          telling them how much they had enjoyed the company of
          their children. This great program spread like wild fire, and
          today is part of most Masonic annual programs.
          In 1998, The Shrine was suddenly faced with a disturbing
          situation. A new health care program was put in place by the
          federal government. The Shrine, rightfully so, had always
          used the fact that no one ever paid for treatment at a Shrine
          Hospital as a strong point in soliciting funds. Now the
          Federal program would pay for the treatment anywhere it
          was given. After a great deal of turmoil, The Shrine decided
          to promote their outstanding facilities and the highly
          professional medical teams which they had assembled, that
          specialized, in problems involving children. Around this same
          time the Shrine started talking in their press releases about
          men who were Masons first, and Shriners second. This had
          always been understood within the Shrine, but there had
          seemed to be a reluctance to inform the general public of the
          fact.
          During the years of 1996, 97, 98, and 99 a gradual change
          turned into a dramatic move. Temples and Lodges started
          making under utilized space available to the communities.
          Day care centers were sponsored by the Eastern Star using
          space other than the Lodge room, to help solve a problem
          common to many communities. Senior Citizens' programs
          were afforded a comfortable place to meet. Increased use
          was made for the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts.
          In the year 2000, at the annual Grand Master gathering, The
          Grand Master of Masons for the State of Indiana put forth a
          suggestion that was destined to change Freemasonry in The
          United States forever. His suggestion was that a committee
          be formed to explore the notion that Freemasonry should
          have a National Cause, worthy of Masonic Involvement, and
          of great worth to all citizens of our country.
          The committee consisted of the Grand Secretaries of New
          York California, North Dakota, and Texas. (Grand
          Secretaries were appointed to insure continuity) The Grand
          Master of Indiana was elected permanent chairman of the
          committee. Their first report in 2001, agreed with the need
          for a National Program, but identifying the cause was not
          settled. The committee was instructed to report at the next
          meeting with a slate of causes narrowed down to four
          suggestions.
          At the 2002 meeting, the committee reported the list to be:
          1. Scholarship Program for the education of young folks to
          become teachers and
          educators.
          2. National system of camps for children.
          3. Scholarship Program for those wishing to become Nurses.
          4. An extensive Research Program to study aging.
          It was decided that each Grand Master would take the list
          back to his Jurisdiction and have the membership decide.
          Each Grand Master in his own way polled his Lodges.
          At the meeting in 2003, the National cause for all Masonic
          Lodges in The United States became Education, with
          scholarships to encourage college enrollment for careers in
          teaching. When it was finally adopted, the Fraternity was
          faced with the monumental task of getting the program
          launched on a national basis. It had to be established,
          financed, administered, and publicized. An umbrella program
          was initiated for each requirement. Each Grand Jurisdiction
          established a Chairman to head up Finance, one to head up
          Administration, and one to head up Public Relations. All of
          this took four years to become nationally operational By the
          year 2007, the program was in full swing. From then on
          Masonic Lodges were mentioned in the same breath as
          Teaching Careers. The Grand Master of Indiana explained
          that he was prompted to think about a national cause
          because of the great success which The Shrine had enjoyed
          with their cause of service to Crippled Children. Everyone
          connected the Shrine with that cause. He felt it was time to
          bring the country's attention to the good which Masons do,
          so that no longer would the public ask "What do Masons
          do?" Financing the project at the Lodge level took a lot of
          imaginative effort. One thing that helped was when the
          National Health Plan took over certain programs that had
          been supported by various Masonic Bodies: i.e., The Knights
          Templar Eye Foundation, and the Order of the Amaranth
          contributions to the Diabetes Association. This action freed
          up many funds which then found their way into the
          Scholarship Program. A series of paintings was
          commissioned that depicted historic Masonic activity. The
          first showed George Washington at the altar taking the
          obligation of the Third Degree. These paintings were made
          into Numbered and signed prints which were offered for sale
          on a limited basis of 2500 copies, assigning fifty to each
          Grand Jurisdiction. They were 16"x 20", well-framed and
          sold for seven hundred and fifty dollars each. This effort
          produced a gross revenue of $1,875,000 and a net of
          $1,675,000 every other year. This amounted to $37,500 per
          Grand Jurisdiction. The original paintings were donated to
          The George Washington Masonic National Memorial in
          Alexandria, Virginia.
          Various corporations wanted to be identified with this
          National Program, and ways were worked out so that they
          could participate without diluting the Masonic credit or
          control. The Scholarship program had a modest start. The
          timetable for growth called for a minimum of twenty
          Scholarships per Grand Jurisdiction for each of the first three
          years, building to an eventual goal of five hundred per Grand
          Jurisdiction. That goal meant twenty-five thousand
          Scholarships a year. Although this goal was not reached, by
          the year 2014, 89% was attained.
          With the national recognition and good will created by this
          program, petitions for membership grew at a steadily
          increasing rate. By the year 2014, there was an increase of
          610% over the national membership in the year 2000. The
          year of 2001 saw that the majority of the Grand Jurisdictions
          had adopted the practice of having candidates elect to
          memorize degree work or not. To make sure each candidate
          fully understood what was taking place, a series of lectures
          was given for each degree. These lectures were fashioned
          after the "Wisconsin Experience" that went into effect there
          in 1990. This activity brought many young men into the
          Fraternity. That was due to the fact that the potential
          candidate for membership was highly mobile and conscious
          of the limited family time available to him. He was oriented to
          a world of extensive information at his finger tips through
          computers, television, and high speed communication. So
          much information was at his disposal that this candidate was
          more comfortable with information management and its
          access, than with full content. Looking back from 2024,
          some problems also come to mind. For example, in 1998,
          The Women's Movement decided that Masonic Lodges were
          Anti-Feminist, since women were not permitted membership.
          They went to court with a suit against the Grand Lodge of
          Washington State in order to force the acceptance of female
          applicants. The case dragged out for two years and, in the
          end, the Masonic movement defeated the suit. Masonry won
          because it was explained that the Masonic Family always
          included the Order of The Eastern Star, Jobs Daughters, the
          Rainbow Girls, the White Shrine, and Daughters of the Nile
          as well as the Scottish Rite, the York Rite, Shrine, etc. All
          these organizations have programs which include wives,
          daughters, sisters and the entire family. The cost of the
          defense was met by Masons sending in one dollar apiece to
          the Defense Fund, a very effective exercise. It allowed all
          Masons a chance to participate.
          Another problem started a great outcry by many Masons
          who belong to the various bodies beyond the Master Mason
          degree. In Illinois in 2008, the Grand Master met with the
          Grand Officers of the York Rite Bodies and the Scottish Rite,
          and with the Imperial Potentate of The Shrine. The subject of
          the meeting was the loss of active members at Lodge Level
          because too many Masons, upon completing the three
          degrees, promptly affiliated with these other bodies. Most
          had very little knowledge of Masonry and the teachings of
          the degree work. The Grand Master was convinced that the
          strengthening pattern of neglect was caused by a dilution of
          time and effort, brought about by premature involvement in
          the higher bodies. He felt that those bodies would be better
          served if new Master Masons were required to remain in the
          Lodge for a given period of time before a petition would be
          considered by any of these bodies. After several meetings
          and heated discussions, they agreed to have it submitted to
          the membership for consideration. At the Grand Lodge
          Annual Meeting the following year it was brought forward for
          a vote and it passed. The ruling called for Master Masons,
          after taking the third degree, to be required to wait two years,
          and to have a record of attending four meetings a year for
          each year, before any petition would be given consideration.
          News of Illinois' new ruling spread instantly and prompted an
          outcry from all points of the country. It was generally
          reported that this move would start a trend that would raise
          havoc with all of these concordant bodies. By 2011 Rhode
          Island, Montana, South Dakota, and New Mexico had
          adopted similar plans. Article after article was written about
          the situation. After the new program had been in effect for
          four years in Illinois, things had quieted down and they
          reported that the results were good and everyone had
          accepted the change. Evidently the plan had a great deal of
          merit, but it would not get National acceptance because the
          pressure brought to bear by the concordant bodies. Time
          has healed the rift and it is rarely discussed anymore. The
          initiation of the National Cause program prompted quite a bit
          of discussion because several members felt that this would
          start a movement promoting a National Grand Lodge. That
          concern was soon laid to rest as the program proceeded,
          with all authority being held by the individual Grand
          Jurisdictions.
          This does not, by any means cover all that will take place
          within Freemasonry during the next thirty years. The
          progress that I visualize will be made, but never at the
          expense of the Masonic tradition, history, precepts or ritual,
          because therein lies our strength.
          The foregoing represents some thoughts, some wishful
          thinking, and, hopefully, some ideas that will prompt others
          to stretch their intellectual Cable Tows. Such effort can only
          bode well for the Tomorrow of Freemasonry.