One Day Grand Master's Classes
Our leaders have responded to the membership decline with the innovation of one-day Grand Master's Classes. But are one-day classes a viable long-term solution to our membership problem? Have they even reversed the decline? The answer to both questions is a resounding NO!
In our preoccupation with numbers, we have forgotten the importance of telling our story. Numbers driven Grand Masters seem oblivious to who we are and why we exist. One-day classes are anathema to Masonic tradition, and the single most damaging American innovation to the Craft since the decision at the Baltimore Convention of 1843 to exclude Entered Apprentices and Fellowcrafts from membership. We cannot tell our compelling story, create a passionate belief, and instill a mentality of belonging that a candidate will identify with on a deeply personal level in a mass one day event.
In our preoccupation with numbers, we have forgotten the importance of telling our story. Numbers driven Grand Masters seem oblivious to who we are and why we exist. One-day classes are anathema to Masonic tradition, and the single most damaging American innovation to the Craft since the decision at the Baltimore Convention of 1843 to exclude Entered Apprentices and Fellowcrafts from membership. We cannot tell our compelling story, create a passionate belief, and instill a mentality of belonging that a candidate will identify with on a deeply personal level in a mass one day event.
posted by Richard Graeter at
5:45 PM
1 Comments:
One day classes are an unmitigated disaster for the Fraternity. I was initiated, passed and raised in the traditional manner, and then helped my lodge by taking a role in a one day class. I didn't like the idea when I heard about it, and then after seeing it in action I was disgusted. The basic premise makes no sense to me. If the argument is that the candidates do not have time for the traditional initiation process, then maybe they are not in a position to join. And if the point is that after the one day class these new brothers return to lodge and actually participate and even go into the officer line, my question is where did they magically get all of the free time all of a sudden?
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Anonymous, at March 27, 2013 9:00 PM
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