These are MY opinions and in no way, shape, or form an official position.
I suppose to look at the future, one has to reflect on the past, survey the present, and plan for the future.
My Masonic travels began in 1974 at the ripe old age of 13. Through joining the Order of DeMolay in Flint, I also became acquainted with the Flint Masonic Temple. At that time there were 5 Blue Lodges, 2-3 OES, 2 Jobs Bethels, all of the York Rite bodies with an enormous Commandery, and many other appendent Masonic bodies as well.
The DeMolay and Jobs were called upon numerous times to help at various Masonic functions. The Flint Masonic Temple was bustling at least 6 nights per week. It was amazing to see all of the people in the Temple going in different directions for different reasons. Friday evenings were truly spectacular, the amount of activity was startling as I look back on it.
In the heat of the moment in my young mind, this is how it had been for years, and would of course continue on in years to come........ or would it?
If I remember right around 1976, one of the lodges in the building seemed to have problems with attracting members and getting the ones that they did have to participate. That lodge was CA Durand lodge. As DeMolay boys we were always recruited to "pull chairs" for all of the installations. Despite our youth we were able to "see" that CA Durand was in trouble and treading water at best. Eventually in the early 2000s CA Durand ceased to exist and merged with Flint 23.
Being born and raised in Flint, I remember when Genesee county was a growing concern. If I recall correctly at one time during the hay-day GM employed somewhere around 80,000 people in our area. This does not take into account all of the small businesses that were created and thrived for years because of GM. Today I've heard that today GM employs about 8,000 in our area.
Through the years GM downsized dramatically, which in turn caused the closing of many other small businesses in the area that depended on GM and it's workforce. The population of Genesee county was about 450,000 in the 70s into the early 80s.....that population today is roughly 425,000.
By looking at lodge numbers we can ascertain that the oldest lodge in the area is Flint 23 and the newest lodge is 571.....I look forward to hearing from some of the old timers about consolidations, or moving which caused a higher number to be assigned.
Going from the Millington/Vassar down through the east and Welfare Lodge to the south by Linden over to the west by Byron up north to Montrose and over to Mt.Morris we take in over 20 lodges. Flint, Byron, and Fenton being the oldest, next are Genesee, Davison, Flushing, and closing out with Otisville, Fellowship, and Morning Star......remember brothers strictly by lodge number.
As we survey present day situations several things are different than in the past. First, although the population numbers for the county are less dramatic than I thought, we have 25,000 less people in the county but about 72,000 less people employed by GM. People still live here but work in other areas of the state and commute farther than before.
Second, the fraternity of Free and Accepted Masons missed out on an entire generation of men for the most part. We are seeing an influx of men becoming members in the 24-35 age bracket. The interesting thing is that these brothers are joining because their grandfathers were Masons. With the age of information they are researching the fraternity that their grandfathers belonged to and they want to become a part of that. In some cases these brothers are bringing their fathers in who missed out on the opportunity because they didn't want to do what their dads were doing.
Third, we have lost Masonic population throughout the entire state of Michigan. Our numbers have shrunk dramatically, due in a large part to death of those "joiners" largely comprised of WW2 vets. This is affecting a big majority of lodges throughout the state and particularly our area because of the large number of lodges we enjoy in our neck of the woods.
Fourth, expenses are killing our local Masonic lodges. There are three primary expenses which continually increase regardless of membership. Property taxes, insurance, and utilities. We came very close during the Granholm administration in getting relief on the property tax issue. The bill got to her desk and she promptly vetoed it in favor of keeping that tax base. Insurance only guarantees one thing rate increases, seems that every year this expense rises. Most of our buildings are older and poorly insulated and the utility bills continually go up, never down. These three costs can put a lodge out of business very quickly. One lodge in the area which sold their building figured that it cost the lodge about $36,000 per year just to unlock the doors. Take that $36,000 and divide it out by 10 regular meetings....comes to $3600 and 10 members for a business meeting is $360 per member for the business meeting. Naturally those numbers go down as the number of meetings go up, but let's assume they only held their 10 monthly business meetings.........those are the figures.
Let me relate something that WB Carl Davis said that makes the most sense of all of this. His synopsis goes something like this; We have all of these lodges that meet the first or second week of the month for their business meeting to read the communications, pay the bills, and determine how to raise the funds for taxes, insurance, and utilities. Then they spend the next 2-3 weeks traveling around the county to do degrees.....then they go back to their buildings and have their business meeting, then they disperse throughout the county for 2-3 weeks doing degrees and back again to their individual buildings....this gets repeated at least 10 times per year..........WHY?
Some wise man said, "Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity."
There seems to be a lot of talk these days about this lodge is struggling or that lodge is struggling. The fact is that the majority of our local lodges are struggling in one form or another. Their challenges can be quite varied. First and foremost are finances....taxes, insurance, and utilities. Second is membership or the lack thereof. Third is member retention and participation...are we meeting the needs of our members?
The 800lb gorilla in the room is the number of lodges in our area. Are they truly needed ? When this discussion arises suddenly members come out of the woodwork. Many argue that their lodge "building" represents their heritage and that their grandfather did the brick work on the west side of the building or that their uncle installed the cabinets. Others make the claim that the lodge needs to stay in that particular community to continue the work in that community.....more often than not when challenged about what contribution that lodge has made to the community......the answer is usually vague and there is no true community project at work present, past, or future.
We have 20+ lodges in our area...AD20 and others....but basically in our travels there are 20+ lodges that pay taxes, insurance, and utilities. Granted some lodges currently share buildings with other lodges so the number of actual buildings are right around 15. The lodges that share facilities also share expenses for the building, but sometimes one lodge may be more solvent than the other and carries more of the weight.
Do we need 15 Masonic Lodge buildings? Could we be stronger and leaner if we had say 6-8 lodge buildings? Could we make more of an impact on new members if the number of lodges were reduced and the membership combined? Would the frequency of recycled line officers and WMs be reduced?
One thing is certain the combined expenses of 15 buildings is much greater than 6-8 buildings....and what affect would this have on dues?
I'm going to use the Flint Masonic Temple as an example. First let me say that to lose that building would be hurtful to me because I grew up there. The sad reality is how can 3 lodges and a few appendent bodies handle the burden of the expenses of just keeping that building going. Taxes are high, insurance is high because of the age of the building, and the utilities are out of this world. The building needs an electrical update which would be $500,000-$750,000 maybe.....there is no air conditioning.....it needs new windows but by it being a "historical" building certain guidelines have to be met to replace the windows which makes it cost prohibitive.....turns out the historical designation did one thing tie the hands of the temple association in relation to updates.
Now if that building was home to say 7-8 lodges as opposed to only 3(which by the way all have their own individual struggles) could those 7-8 lodges support that building adequately? My guess is no. If 7-8 lodges occupied that building their combined membership numbers would equal the membership numbers of about 1.5 lodges during the heyday of that building.
There are some great examples of what a Masonic building needs to be. On one level, with adequate kitchen equipment, and a dining/social hall....much like Swartz Creek, Vienna, Mt.Morris, and Otisville.
Let's look at Millington/Vassar both lodges are working hard and share the same building. The building is in good repair but challenging for those with infirmities. Also, Otisville is a few miles away and on one level. The argument can be made that Millington and Vassar take part in their communities, but Vassar is several miles from Millington and they had to give up their building in Vassar a number of years ago.
As we travel down we have Welfare Lodge on Genesee Rd. very nice facility but again a challenge for those with infirmities. They have a wonderful new kitchen, but how is membership?
Goodrich owns a building and they occupy the upstairs with emphasis on stairs.....a lot of them to get to the lodge. This building needs some freshening up and I'm sure taxes, and utilities present a financial burden. Moving on over to Grand Blanc, a very nice facility with plenty of stairs but they do have stair-lifts in place which make it easier to maneuver. Again, taxes are sure to be substantial given the area.....and can the waning membership afford it on their own. The good thing is that they seem to be involved in some community projects.
Continuing on south to Holly/Fenton.....an extremely old building which I'm sure is very expensive to heat, could use some updates, and has no parking. It seems that these two lodges could join forces and become much more effective and probably in a newer building on one level instead of multiple levels.
Linden lodge in my opinion is a model lodge. The activity level is high, dues are low and the building is in good repair. Like many of the older buildings it has more than it's fair share of stairs but does have a stair-lift I believe.
Moving over to Swartz Creek which is also home to Morning Star is housed in a terrific building on one level. The location of the building makes it a prime place to become involved in the Swartz Creek community. Morning Star serves many of the retired Masons in the area and a large part of the membership of this lodge is plural members from other lodges. Swartz Creek seems to be challenged lately with retaining officers in the moving line. Perhaps this building could accommodate at least one other lodge.
Traveling on northward we have Flushing Masonic Temple which is home to Flushing Lodge and Genesee Lodge. A very nice building plagued with stairs. The situation of this lodge also makes it a prime candidate for community involvement. The two lodges which occupy this building seem to be having their own individual struggles with Flushing Lodge coming along nicely and Genesee Lodge trying to find it's way. Genesee 174 was once the policeman and fireman lodge in the days of old at the Flint Masonic Temple. There have been rumors that these two lodges are thinking of joining forces. Again, this is a building that could serve the needs of another lodge or perhaps instead of two lodges joining forces, three lodges could join together.
Moving along we come to Vienna in Clio...again another fantastic example of the building which serves all. This is a very active lodge...however they work tirelessly at fish dinners and such to keep things going....they take an active part in the community.
Now on over to Mt.Morris.....thanks to the forefathers of this building for keeping it all on one level. We are maintaining and keeping our head above water as far as finances, but it is always a challenge. We try to stay busy with monthly breakfasts and some community fund raising breakfasts throughout the year. We would very much like to do more. I'm sure we could accommodate another lodge.
The time is nearing for the Masons of this area to make some tough decisions. All of the challenges in the above paragraphs could be easily overcome with an overwhelming influx of new members, but then we have learned the lesson of quantity over quality. WB John A. Arnould, God rest his soul, was always fond of saying nothing that 10-12 new members could make better. Those words speak volumes but when we do get those new members are we vibrant enough and active enough to keep their attention?
What will Masonry in our area look like in 5 years? My guess is much different than it appears today. With the erosion of population and the workforce in our area....contraction takes place everyday whether we realize it or not.
In my mind(which is the size of a pea) Masonry will be downsized as far as physical buildings go. Remember the lodge is the lodge whether they meet in a dedicated building, a rented facility, in a tent or in the woods. The brothers are the lodge.
I feel that by downsizing, the membership becomes concentrated and more powerful thus meeting the needs of the brothers coming into the fraternity. Who knows after consolidating and concentrating there may be a need once again for more lodge buildings to accommodate the growth.
