Special Report - Where Now

Special Report from South Coast Region 11

February 2000

Where Now?

History is usually made by a series of past recorded events.

By learning about our past one would be able to make better decisions by which influence we will shape our future. From time to time is wise to momentarily stop in our quest to plan ahead and evaluate past events.

Perhaps one of great historical masonic events in our Jurisdiction, the importance of which passed almost unnoticed to the majority of the Brethren, happened just a few years ago.

Masonry in New South Wales took a great step in 1988 when the Grand Master, MWBro. Ronald Lewis H.Johnson assumed the leadership and instituted, as part of his contribution to Freemasonry, the Commission for the Future for the United Grand Lodge of NSW.

The Commission for the Future was formed to recommend the implementation of changes in order to strengthen Freemasonry in NSW, to improve its image, and to try to restore some of its former glory. The idea to form the Commission for the Future was originally conceived during the planning of the Centenary Celebrations and a recommendation from the Finance Committee in October, 1988 to the Board of General Purposes was adopted by the Board.

This Commission established the following seven goals:

To stabilize Membership and achieve Membership growth thereafter;

To maximize (through rationalization) the utilization and enhancement of Masonic buildings;

To improve the image of the Craft in the eyes of Freemasons and non-Freemasons;

To create a greater public awareness of Freemasonry;

To streamline the administrative and management functions of Grand Lodge;

To maximize the utilization of The Masonic Centre, Sydney;

To develop a policy for Grand Lodge Fees and Dues consistent with Membership growth and sound financial management.

The Commission presented its Final Report on November, 1990.

Perusing through the Commission's Final Report, one can see that the membership problem held the key to the Commission's deliberations. The Commission reported "that it may sound too simplistic, but if a solution could be found to halt the erosion of the Craft consistently diminishing membership, Freemasonry will be in a healthier state."

The Commission reported that "it did not seek to provide all the cure for the Craft's ills, but a vital step towards halting the outflow of members and establishing a vision for the future." The Commission was on target in its summation of our problems

Some of the recommendations were;

To obtain professional advice in Public Relations;

The erection of prominent masonic signs on masonic buildings;

To unify some of the current Masonic Charity Bodies to cut administrative costs;

To adopt a short and more convenient "Trading" name;

To establish a Mission Statement;

To investigate the reasons behind the resignation of members from the Lodges;

To encourage Brethren who had called off to re-affiliate;

To continue the positive support of the Lodges to the Ladies Auxiliaries and Masonic Widow's Associations;

To encourage the care of and the continuing involvement of Masonic Widows within the social life of the Lodge;

That it be mandatory for the mode of dress to be stated on all Lodge Notice Papers;

That Worshipful Masters be encouraged to admit visitors, if practical, at the beginning of Lodge meetings;

That Lodges be encouraged to introduce the practice of keeping all Brethren of the Lodge well informed by the use of a regular newsletter;

That the Strategic Planning Group be charged with carrying on the work of the Commission for the Future.

In 1992, the Grand Master MWBro. Noel Frederick Dunn took in the process of consolidating the gains flowing from the Commission for the Future by implementing a Strategic Planning Group, necessary to bring Masonry in New South Wales into the new millenium as a dynamic and growing organisation.

Planning was then and it is now a very important part of Freemasonry as it is for every organisation. It could represent the crucial point between success and failure.

During my working years as an Engineering Planner for one of the Australian major airlines, good planning was the difference between aircraft on the ground losing revenue, and success with satisfied passengers and profits.

Masonic planning in NSW before 1988, even though not necessarily neglected, was not used as a long-term strategy. We only have to look at our lodges to understand the situation of Freemasonry in general.

We were then enjoying a tremendous period of membership growth; we had so many candidates that our main problem was in how to contain membership to a reasonable level. We only have to listen to some of our older Past Masters and the "gluttony" in which they refer to the extraordinary number of initiates during his Mastership, with no consideration to the fact that "many" sometimes does not equate with "better", that there was a race as to who could initiate more members, and that making members does not always commensurate with making good Masons.

Finances were not a problem with the influx of new members and to see a lodge preparing a financial budget was unheard of.

We did not have time to educate our members, as there was not sufficient time in our lodges for lectures or masonic education. We needed to organise emergent meetings to be able to cope with Degree Work for new candidates. We may have neglected the old Brethren for the new members.

We did not even notice when the membership started to decline. I don't believe many of us recognised that it was not a temporary trend and assumed it was just a periodic cycle without becoming aware that it was the world that was changing around us.

People started to live faster, become more affluent with more time to spend on leisure activities, a great leap in instant communications, and suddenly we became conscious of the real danger of evolving into an organisation without relevancy.

Even within our Lodges there is certain amount of irrelevancy, as candidates can hardly wait one month between degrees, often unprepared for the examination, with many brethren taking Office shortly after having been Raised, with Masters not elected on merit but because they are MM's and not PM's.

How can we demand excellence from our MM's when the Master is reading the Degree work? How can we demand excellence from our DGIWs when they were not good Masters? This is of course a generalised view and not an expression concerning particular individuals.

There are two different types of planning, strategic and tactical planning. Whilst tactical planning is good for taking advantage of short term opportunities as theyarise, such as the Freemasonry courses for U3A members, sponsorship of outside organisations, Surf Life Saving, Tidy Towns, etc. one must take into consideration the benefits of long term strategic planning if we are to achieve success, and for differences to be made.

In tactical planning if we find that one occasional programme is showing a desired result, we should endeavour to translate it to long range planning for any noticeable impact. In the same vein, if a good programme does not seem to be working at first, we should investigate the reasons for the failure, or its lack of complete success. Small tactical changes may be required, as it may be a good idea.

But let us be aware that planning, tactical or long range must not be limited to the increase of our membership, however membership targets need to be maintained but not at the cost of quality, as without a viable membership and its inherent financial resources we would not be able to support quality activities.

One must be aware of the needs of modern society, as what worked for our forefathers, may not necessarily work today.

To be more visible in the community is imperative. We only have to look into the past and observe that the periods of expansion coincided with membership quality and visibility within the community

To attain these goals and to support the efforts and the success of the strategic Planning group, we should now address specific areas such as;

To be more vocal in the real problems affecting the environment or society in which we live, such as Drug Addiction, Domestic Violence, Youth Unemployment, etc. If this is to be done, it must be on significant issues of ethics and as non-political statements, perhaps undertaking a programme to alleviate a particular problem.

To work in close co-operation with other Masonic Orders, including organisations as Order of the Eastern Star, Amaranth, De Molay for Boys, and Rainbows for Girls, and not forgetting to reach out and form partnerships with civic organisations for joint projects in the community.

So we must assume that for any organisation to grow it must provide something of value to its members, and that the members must perceive its value. What is value for some members, may not be recognised by other members. An education campaign to that effect may be necessary.

To provide "real" benefits to our members or "value for money". I was recently asked to formulate an opinion about our Grand Lodge Web Page site. My answer was that

it did not represent value for money. Masons "surfing the net" are using time, efforts and money to get something in return. In our web Site they can only get some information easily obtainable elsewhere.

The Internet being a medium without frontiers, masons and non-masons may visit our site from all over the world looking for research material. I believe some masonic or historical lectures about our State should be included, together with Masonic and Non-Masonic activities and news, i.e. the sale of the Paralympic Tickets, Surf Life Saving events connected with our sponsorship, etc.

Masonic education and leadership training must be central to our objectives. The proposition from the Member's Board to be placed before the meeting of RGCs in February 2000 with regards to Regional Masonic Education and Leadership training is a prime example of good vision and sound management.

We must improve communications (or masonic understanding) within and outside our organisation, and that means between our Grand Lodge and Lodges, between lodges, and between our Jurisdiction with other Sister Constitutions. If we are to attract and retain members, communication is an essential requisite.

The importance of communicating at every level cannot be underestimated. Recently I was talking with RWBro. George James, PAGM, who said that perhaps we are talking about our problems only among ourselves with the inherent dangers of becoming introverted in our views, that it may be the time to consult with people with unbiased opinions.

The new, (and I hope the future generation will follow) are used to "transparency" or open communications, and we must be seen as more open to the public as there is a tendency to associate lack of information with suspicious intent. Any member has the right and the obligation to understand the working of the organisation to which he belongs.

To maintain a sound financial basis. This cannot be maintained with the current dues paid by lodge members. Virtually all lodges within our Jurisdiction are facing serious financial problems. The problem is amplified by the fact that for many years' membership dues were not increased to keep up with inflation, and now the dues structure have become so ingrained in our members that raising dues to the levels of 50 years ago would be an impossible task.

We have had now for several years a Mission Statement, are we implementing it or how are we going to implement that vision? Many of the Brethren may be well informed, but is the cross section of the membership aware? I would like to see the Mission Statement published in the Book of Constitutions.

This is the time to reflect and ask ourselves, "where now?"

What kind of organisation should we be in the future? This is perhaps the most difficult question. What will be our position in today's society and in 20 or 30 years hence? With no wish to ignore financial viability and funding of worthwhile projects, how important is the number of members? And how are we going to bring the necessary changes to become an organisation of excellence before it is too late?

I know that many are wary of change and of innovation, of moving away from the faithfully tested path, but lets remember our Grand Master's motto "Dare to be different".

There are many other basic questions we should address.

On reading our rituals, constitutions, and mission statement, we are offering most of the things that a decent society needs and desires, however, we are being seen in many quarters as an irrelevant organisation.

If we take notice of surveys, we find that men in the age bracket between 35 to 40 years of age are looking for organisations involved in community service projects, with strong wishes to be part of a fraternal association and usefulness to society. We have an organisation, proven by more than 300 years of existence providing fraternal ties and encouraging its members to follow the moral values, so much in decline today. If only for that we should be respected in the community. But are we really? It may be respected as a venerable institution but coupled with irrelevancy in modern society.

Perhaps it was our fault in not recognising 30 or 40 years ago that our society was changing rapidly and we ignored the signals doing very little to move our organisation with the times.

We are still tending to cater for the elderly Brethren while in most cases ignoring the needs of our younger members, and this not only in the Lodge Room, but in the Festive Board and in the organisation of social activities. To clarify, in the Lodge Room, an old Past Master's word carries more weight than a younger MM.

In the Festive Board we ignore the needs of younger people coming straight from work to a simple diet of chips and peanuts with stale sandwiches and cordial for a drink. The elderly brethren, having been retired from the work force, can have a nice early dinner at home before going to lodge and no need of other but light refreshments.

As Social activities, I wonder how many lodges cater for the needs of young children. Have many lodges considered that family values have changed? An average family used to be the father going to work, children to school, and the mother attending the family needs and house chores. Today this concept has changed with the advent of mixed families in which both parents may have been divorced and both are going to work, while other people mind the children. These families needs to expend more time with their children, and social activities organised by the lodges should reflect this situation.

One of the biggest problems is IMAGE or public perception of Freemasonry. There are rotten apples in any organisation, but if a Mason falls in disrepute everybody will believe that all Masons are the same, but if, for example, the same problem affects a member of Rotary, Lyons or St John's Ambulance it will be considered by the general public, or the press, as an isolated case. Ministers of different branches of the Christian faith could cite the same example of the power of the IMAGE and perception of the media and the public with cases related to sexual indiscretions.

We may not like it or agree with it, but these are the realities of good and bad image. It is very difficult to change them in a short period and thus highlight the importance of long range strategic planning as compared to tactical planning. We can endeavour to change the image of Freemasonry day by day, but it will be a difficult task to change it in a short period. Work and constant dedication is required as well as quality membership.

Every masonic project must be evaluated not only against the benefits to our members, but to the community in general and considered very carefully to achieve a maximum impact.

Good relationship with the media and political leaders, regardless of political bias, must be carefully nurtured.

Many Masonic Buildings, one of our windows to the world, may require extreme capital expenditure due to the present condition after years of neglect or the aspiration of masonic presence in every big town would not be possible.

Many Brethren are of the opinion that as our membership is contracting, so should the number of lodges. And while I agree again about the problems associated with financial viability, I have seen very small lodges working in a happy and harmonious atmosphere, whilst big lodges are constantly struggling with the membership attendance and lack of interest. Small Lodges have a role to play in Freemasonry, especially in small country communities where everyone knows and helps each other.

One of the many positive aspects was the change of the word Temple for Lodge Room and Masonic Temple to Masonic Centre as there was a strong ecclesiastic connotation, leading people to inquire what kind of religion Freemasonry was. It is hard to believe that so many Brethren still call it Temple with such dogmatism.

Now that the electronic age has arrived, we must help with the "new" communications concept to many of our members. I have not an accurate figure, but I am aware that Australia is among one of the most advanced countries in personal computers ownership. More masons than ever before are making use of the IT (information technology). They "surf the net" for Masonic Papers, forums, chat rooms to discuss Freemasonry, etc.

As more members are active in this area, they become more masonically educated and gain more confidence and become better equipped in answering questions about the Craft, especially in response to critics. However, at the intermediate level of Craft Management (i.e DGIWs) this item is ignored at DGIWs conventions and not touched at all. If we assumed that only a 10% of our members owns a computer, we have at least 2,500 extremely well informed members.

With the impetus of this new technology at our hands, we can use it to our advantage, for example;

Preparation of Lodges and District membership databases, even though many lodges are reluctant to participate on the opinion that it may breach the confidentiality of its members.

District and Regional Web Pages linked not only to our Grand Lodge but Grand Lodges overseas

Providing documents in CD format to Lodge Secretaries, DGIWs, RGCs, etc.

Paperwork that could be downloaded and processed in a paperless environment between Grand Lodge and Lodges via e-mail for immediate response.

The Grand Lodge Library could provide at small charge library catalogs, or even books on CD format. Even some of the books now long out of print. With modern scanning procedures this will not prove such a difficult task. Some members may prefer to receive the "NSW Freemasons" in CD format.

A video tape of the Grand Lodge Museum, with an over voice explaining some of the most important exhibits as well as a video tape of the Sydney Masonic Centre Tour.

Lodges and individual Masons should be encouraged to donate Masonic books to public libraries. At present the only books available on this subject are the ones criticising the Craft.

We have at present Lodges of Research, Lodges of Instruction and Historical Societies as well as many Masonic associations. Consideration should be given to the encouragement for the formation of special electronic masonic interest groups, such as Philatelic, Photography, or even gardening, to form their own chat rooms.

One of the great things about Freemasonry is that everybody has a niche in our organisation. It is not geared only for Ritualistic inclined Brethren, but for Historical Researchers, Administration, Ceremonial, and even for brethren who have reached certain declining age and are content to sit in the sidelines and watch the proceedings. Everybody paid dues and we must provide for their immediate needs.

The Grand Master recently announced that he commissioned the Deputy Grand Master to prepare a submission with regards to work in different degrees within our Jurisdiction.

One of my masonic contacts overseas, the Deputy Grand Master of a European Grand Lodge provided me with information about the success of such a scheme.

They are working with ceremonies based on the Emulation Rite, the Ancient and Accepted Rite, the Scottish Primitive Rite, the Scottish Rectified Rite and their own ritual. The candidate is informed of the differences for him to make a choice before his initiation, which tends to provide more interest in Freemasonry.

The Grand Master is providing us with a golden opportunity by visiting our region in March 2000 where every member can offer suggestions in an open forum directly to the Grand Master.

One may find that some suggestions can only be implemented at Grand Lodge level, some by our own Lodges and many of our suggestions undertaken by dedicated individuals. One must remember that nothing happens if one doesn't help to make it happen.

Finally, I believe the future of Freemasonry in this Jurisdiction is in providing good and sound leadership in bringing fundamental changes in the perceptions of our activities. Changes need not necessarily be a threat, as changes have always been occurring through generations. It will be up to every Brother in this Jurisdiction and not the work of few individuals.

February, 2000

Juan Carlos Alvarez, PJGW
Regional Grand Counsellor
South Coast Region 11