It appears that we are getting back to doing Masonry again. There also seems to be a little bit of a backup in degree work, a good problem to have. Some lodges are managing this new influx quite well, others have reverted back to the old "rush 'em through" method.
I've been asking for years, "What is the big rush?" Are we in a big rush to get the candidates through their work, so they can stop coming back to lodge, sooner?
I really have to give kudos to WB Scott Wogen and Linden Lodge #132 for managing their candidates in a responsible and productive manner. They have spaced out the work, they have involved the newly made brothers in visiting other degrees and have also supplied candidates for a King Solomon's Club event. In my opinion this is doing Masonry correctly and responsibly.
One lodge attempted to schedule 3 candidates for an Entered Apprentice degree. In my opinion the EA degree and the MM degree are designed to have individual candidates for a reason. The candidate's first experience with Masonic degrees and his last experience with the Blue Lodge degrees should be deeply personalized and geared toward one individual brother.
That did not sit well with the brothers in the area who travel to help with the degree work. The lodge was advised by many including myself that this was not a good idea, the lodge would not aquiesce and scheduled for 3 candidates, only 1 showed, which leads to another dilemma......the absentee candidate.
The absentee candidate is becoming quite the popular character, one which only a few years ago was nearly extinct. Today the elusive absentee candidate can be seen in a variety of lodges and situations. In the case of the 3 scheduled EAs the lodge had 2 absentee candidates.....why is that?
My feeling is that when candidates don't show for their degrees, it illustrates that there has been a breakdown in the 6 steps and a breakdown in the lodge really getting to know the candidate and building a relationship with him before he takes any work.
Especially for the EA degree, it makes one wonder just how committed the man is to joining us and the fraternity. In the words of PGM Lemons, we need to remember that the candidate is joining us we are not joining him. In other words if this is truly important to the man, he will be there or at least make a courtesy call with some sort of excuse.
This all leads to the age old question....are we looking for quantity or quality? As we move forward, we need to concentrate on preparing our candidates before they receive their degree work. Another important factor is not allowing the candidates to languish between degrees, but get them involved all along the way. Encourage them to travel with the other brothers in the lodge, visit other lodges, get them ivolved, but all of this requires leadership.
One thing that always strikes me is when a lodge has a candidate and none of the officers from the Tyler to the Junior Deacon, to the Senior Deacon, to the Wardens and right down to the Master knows the candidates name....and when it gets really embarassing is when the candidate has a difficult name to pronounce, the man's name gets absolutely butchered.....if the lodge truly knows the candidate then they are familiar with his name and if it's difficult to pronounce then the officers of the lodge should have spent enough time with him to learn how to pronounce his name correctly.....so often these actions produce some embarassing times for the lodge and the candidate and demonstrates disrespect and disregard for the man's most prized posession, his name.
One can say what they want about we old grumpy Past Masters....but some things should never go out of style. Showing up for meetings on time, on the right date, properly attired,etc. Joining a Masonic Lodge is a privilege not a right. Men who are truly ready and willing to join the fraternity will demonstrate their desire to be accepted and clearly demonstrate that they are ready to join us and as the EA charge says conform to our tnents and rules that the honor, glory, and reputation of the institution may be firmly established, and the world at large convinced of its good effects.
