There is a nip in the morning air, the bow hunters are taking to the woods, pumpkin spice is available in more things than necessary and the Craft is getting back to work.
In most cases Lodges are reassembling after a two month hiatus and the work of Freemasonry unimpaired marches on into yet another season. Just two short years ago there were many who said that the Craft could not weather the pandemic and Freemasonry as we knew it would cease to exist.
During the majority of that first year not much happened with the fraternity. It did continue to exist contrary to some naysayers. In 2021 most lodges crept back into action and began to do some degree work under strict guidelines. Then in 2022 the Craft came roaring back seeming to dispatch a built up demand for degree work....often presenting challenges for the lodges and coming up on the summer break, the degree work really picked up some steam.
So here we are coming off our break for the summer....yes, I know some lodges go dark in the winter months......here in our area the majority are dark for July and August. Now that we have that out of the way...lets take a look at what is happening as the Craft is back working and we are approaching the holidays and the season of Installation of Officers for the lodges in the Grand Jurisdiction of Michigan.
Most lodges have a pretty good idea who will serve as Worshipful Master for the upcoming year. However, there are a great number of lodges who are wondering....."Gees, I wonder who we can get to be Master?" Therein lies the problem plaguing the fraternity as a whole......what are we going to do....who will be willing to take it......what kind of year are we going to have.
Chances are that if an unqualified candidate for Worshipful Master is pushed through, the lodge will suffer through a disappointing year and nothing will happen except for frustration and in most cases the lodge will flounder at best and most likely not grow in number or presence in their community.
Lately I've been inovolved in a number on conversations about the lack of leadership exhibited by some sitting Masters and a number of them are retreads....those who have already had the position and are supposedly Past Masters.
The issue at hand is that there are an alarming number of Masters who can't or won't do their own work. In some cases these brothers are unable to open or close lodge, not to mention not being able to do any degree work. My term for these brothers are placeholders, the unfortunate thing is that this lack of dedication to their lodge bleeds over into other areas such as membership growth, community involvement, fund raising, and the list goes on.
These lodges are now voting on and most likely passing motions to purchase a nice Past Masters Apron to the tune of $400 to $500 and these brothers who will go through the rest of their Masonic career being recognized as a Past Master without putting forth the work and truly earning the title and the accolades associated with the honor. Most of them will never realize that they didn't hold up their end and most will never make an effort to learn any of the work.
Sounding like a typical, old, grumpy, past master; when we had the population and the fraternity was filling a need in society, men who became brothers worked their way up through the ranks, gaining experience along the way. By the time they were in the west they could step in and open the lodge, conduct business, confer degrees, and close lodge. Today these brothers don't fulfill their duties and obligations, and they fail miserably in leading their lodges into the future and make those lodges relevant in the community and the lives of the brothers.
In the installation ceremony the qualifications are outlined succinctly; an expert craftsman of great skill and zealous for the fraternity. It seems unfair for the incoming Master, the brethren of the lodge, and the fraternity as a whole, to install a brother who is woefully unprepared to assume the position of Worshipful Master of a lodge.
The argument in favor of such actions always comes down to there are no brothers who are willing or able to take the position....and we can't keep recycling Past Masters. What is worse a familiar face who can open and close lodge and do degree work or a Warden thst is not qualified to do the work and most importantly LEAD the lodge into the future.
We have a lack of true leaders. If we look at Linden Lodge, WB Scott Wogen is a Past Master but he is a leader and one who can certainly do the work and do it well. Not everyone is cut out to be a leader, and not everyone is cut out to be a ritualist, but one would think to be Master of the lodge the brother should at a minimum be able to open and close lodge. Unfortunately fund-raising is a necessary part of any Lodge being able to survive, property taxes, utilities, and insurance in most cases is more than the lodge collects in dues. Eventually the savings account gets mighty slim without some source of income.
When looking at the neccesary skill sets a Worshipful Master needs to do his job it makes it seem like a near impossible task to find all of those in a brother for that position. He should and has to be a delegater to get the job done. A Master above all has to be a leader and he can't do everything but has to surround himself with people who can and will do what needs to be done. At a minimum ritually be able to open and close the lodge, at a minimum.
Another thing challenging the lodges in our geographical area is a declining population. We just don't have the population numbers to support the number of lodges in this area, unless....we suddenly get some true leaders that will be able to get some of the fledgling lodges back working again.
