Younger Masonry
June 6, 2008 – 2:57 amI was sitting in Acanthus Lodge No. 632 in Des Moines on Monday night. I am a new member of Acanthus having dually affiliated in a month or so ago. The officers of Acanthus were conferring an Entered Apprentice degree. And, as I looked around at the officers it occurred to me that almost all of them looked to be men under forty.
This caused me to reflect on the age of members in our fraternity.
While I have no statistical analysis to back this up, my own personal observation from lodges I visit, to Grand Lodge sessions I attend, to the interest of Freemasonry on the internet is that Masonic membership is beginning to become younger again. I see many more young faces in leadership in the Craft, I see a growing interest in fraternity among younger men. And, I see those men being very active in the Craft. Acanthus Lodge should be congratulated for getting these new men involved! They are obviously working hard to involve new members.
Now that we are again getting younger men to consider Freemasonry, we need to make sure we give them Freemasonry. As a fraternal organization we need to reexamine our core principles, remind ourselves of the essentials of the Craft, and make sure we pass on those essentials to the incoming generation.
Younger Masons want Masonic education, and we must give them that. Younger Masons want to understand the power and meaning of our ritual. Younger Masons are looking for avenues for them to participate in the life of the Craft.
When I became a Mason, seven years ago now, I wasn’t looking for another dinner club, or another charity to contribute to. I wasn’t looking for another community service organization. I was looking to become a part of the oldest and noblest fraternity of men.
We need to make sure we give these new young Masons what they joined to get. We need to give them those things that are unique to our fraternity that they can’t get anywhere else. We need to give them Freemasonry.
Related articles:
- The Freedom and Price of Truth
- Masonic Brotherhood and Masonic Tyranny
- The Masonic Society - On the Move! - And AMD
- The Masonic Society
- Comfort in Ritual and Symbol
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