CO SIGN! i am from a LARGE family of masons and masonic concordinate bodies and i may not be catholic but my dad, his dad and his dad's dad were masons and catholic

i have TONS of masons on both my mom and dads side and you are not rushed or offered a bid you ask one to be one. you get a petition and you fill it out and moreless after you go thru a "investigation" ( nothing really but Q&A)your in if you can walk talk and breathe these days. The masonic lodges are faultering because they are very old men and not enough younger men to come after them.

for example.....i am a jobs daughter and in our lodge we have JD, Rainbow and demolay as well as masons and eastern star, Hi 12 and royal arch......me and ONE (1) mason are the same age ( early 30s) and the rest of the youth group advisors and the groups mentioned above are late 50s and above. 2 mid 30 somethings and kids and older ppl

I mean Jobs Daughters this very summer at supreme just voted to bring the age level down..... these masonic bodies need youth and new blood to survive they would be foolosh to not admit someone in unless they are really really bad ppl.

Co-sign!!

I was also in a masonic family! Granddad was a MM and Hi Twelve and Grandmother is an OES. Mom and aunts were Jobs, but I never had the chance to be Job's Daughter, but was a member of the International Order of Rainbow for Girls and am a member of Eastern Star.

We had the same problem with membership. The IORG assembly that my OES chapter sponsored we voted to close down because we were losing girls. I did not know that Job's was looking at lowering the age limit. When I was active with the youth organizations, we saw that the groups were losing members as well at all levels. At one time, when I first came into OES, there was a 25 year age difference between me and the next youngest members.

We cannot let these wonderful groups die out. It's good to see men interested in the Lodge so that potential family members can be active in their respective groups.

Fraternally,

Cheryl
OES

Not a problem at all. I've been a Mason for five years (this September 30) and an Alpha Sig for 20. I've really enjoyed being a part of the 'world's oldest fraternity'.

As a Master Mason, once you learn the secret modes of recognition you can visit any Masonic lodge in the world, provided your dues are current and the lodge is in fraternal relations with your home Grand Lodge. I've had the opportunity to visit lodges in Oklahoma, Texas, Nevada, Florida and Mexico.

WOW!!!,
So it seems to me that being part of two "Fraternal" organizations really don't bog you down, you can be active in both and still enjoy life. I am very excited about joinning and everyday it seems as if I learn something new. The more information you guys give me the more and more anxious I get and being on 22 I will be the second youngest person in the lodge...as someone said it is mostly made up of older men.

Fraternally,
D

It's more the rule rather than the exception that the local lodge is composed mostly of older gentlemen (average age for a Masonic Lodge is about 65), but more and more younger members are joining. One lodge I regularly attend has quite a few younger members; at my mother lodge I was the youngest active member when I was raised (at 34). At the lodge where I am a perpetual member (Will Rogers Lodge #53, AF & AM, Claremore, OK), one past master was only 24 or 25 when he was installed as Worshipful Master. He currently is a deputy grand lecturer in the Grand Lodge of Oklahoma.

What really impresses the older brethren is if you can pick up on the ritual work and lectures quickly. With the help of my instructor, he taught me the Texas work so well that I was able to 'self-examine' myself (asking both the questions and answers) of the ritual of all three degrees, one of the few in my mother lodge that have done so. (It was a pain in the a** but very satisfying.) Three weeks after being raised to Master Mason, I sat in for certification as an instructor in the ritual work and passed. Sure enough, I was quickly put to work on a degree team or two.

Currently, I am the Associate Patron of the local Eastern Star chapter (Plano #703 OES) and if all goes well and I don't screw it up, I hopefully will be elected Worthy Patron (the highest position a man can hold in an OES chapter) next year. I've also started up the officer line in two lodges, but work had forced me to drop out of the line. Eventually I'll get back into the line at one of the lodges.

What OES chapter are you in ,in Oklahoma? when i was living in OKC i tried to get to a few oes chapters but was busy with being bethel guardian in OKC.....

Nope, my OES chapter is in Plano, Texas. I did have the opportunity to visit Claremore Chapter #93 OES in Claremore, but I was too busy with other Masonic activities, not to mention being an officer in Will Rogers Lodge. (I was Junior Steward in 2000-2001 and Senior Steward in 2001-2002).

There's a really cool documentary called Inside Freemasonry brought together by John Wesley Chisholm (a journalist) on Vision TV. Since Vision TV tends to replay its shows often, those Canadians interested might want to check it out.

This documentary is really good PR for freemasons, but it does reflect over onto secret fraternal organizations quite well as they try to explain why there is ritual, symbolism and "initation". They interview a lot of "general public" about their views on the subject as well as following two or three new masons during their first three degrees.

Very interesting documentary.

I am being raised this monday
 

To All,
Thanks to all for the information and motivation. I have been going through the degrees and I am learning a great deal about myself and the people around me. It has made all the difference. This Monday after I complete my proficiency I will be raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason, so wish me luck and I continue my studies.

V/r & Fraternally,
D (FC)

Congratulations on your accomplishment! I am an Eastern Star, so I'm glad to hear about a young man entering the Masonic Lodge. You are needed.

when you get out...
 

When you get out of school and settle in a community, why not
take a look at the Jaycees and/or Elks (Moose, Eagles) as well
as the Masons?
Service clubs do good work, too...like Kiwanis, Rotary, Sertoma,
Lions, Exchange, Optimist, Ruritan, Civitan, etc. They are as a rule
dining clubs with a particular mission, fun, too.
You will immediately rise to the top of each of these groups, if you
want to...'cause you have had the greatest experience and the
most wonderful preparation by having been a Greek in college.
Now, go out and change the world, right the wrongs, and I wish
you godspeed. And we NEED you...
Erik P Conard, Exhausted Rooster of Jaycees, Life Member of the
Scottish Rite (32 degree), Life Member of the Elks, Sertoma.
And it will all be fun, not to compare with our Fraternity life, but
a positive contribution to our society.

WOW!
Is there anything Erik Conrad didn't do? :) I will definitly look into all of those different organizations as time permits. I know for sure that I want to do Scottish Rites and York Rites before I venture out any further. Thanks to all for the support..TONIGHT IS THE NIGHT!! Any suggestions anyone?

You're getting your EA degree tonight? Congratulations, my soon-to-be Brother!

Once you are raised to the Sublime Degree of a Master Mason, you will be cornered by everyone and their uncle for you to join the Masonic appendant bodies. While the ceremonies for the Scottish Rite, York Rite and the Shrine are impressive, it would take a lot of commitment if you wish to become active in these organizations as well as in Blue Lodge.

I'm a member of both Scottish Rite, York Rite and the Shrine, but am currently inactive in those bodies. It took the better part of my free time attending meetings and ceremonies. Eventually I'll get back to them, but first I have to complete my term as Associate Patron and Worthy Patron in Eastern Star before I focus my time in other organizations. I might consider going through the chairs in my local Blue Lodge afterward.

NO NO NO!!! Tonight I am being raised to the sublime degree of Master Mason

Whoops! My bad... Congratulations on your raising to MM! Below is a poem that neatly sums up your duties and responsibilities as a Mason. I'm proud to say that I've memorized this poem in its entirety (except for the preamble) and is my gift to you from one Brother to another.

THE MASON'S TIES AND DUTIES

M.W. Benjamin Hadley, PGM of the Grand Lodge of Maine wrote this poem. Some Masonic jurisdictions use this same poem at the end of the MM degree with only minor variations. This is the version used in Oklahoma. The optional preamble below is recited before the poem in Maine.

It must indeed be gratifying to know that you are at last a Master Mason, and once you have affixed your signature to the Bylaws of this lodge, you will have sealed your allegiance to the oldest and greatest fraternity in existence, one that encircles the globe and whose influence for good is never ending.

Only yourself know the particular reason that you chose to become a member of this grand and noble order. It might have been the prompting of idle curiosity. That being true, you should now be well satisfied. It might have been for financial reasons. That being true be at once undeceived, for Freemasonry offers no financial benefits to any of its members. It might have been for social aspirations. That being true, you are now afforded the opportunity to acquaint yourself with many interesting and intelligent gentlemen. It might have been because a relative or close friend (can also name the relative such as father, brother, etc. as appropriate) is a Mason and expressed a desire that you should become one also and follow in their footsteps. That being true, it is not only an honor to you, but to the fraternity as well.

But, be the reason that it may, there are two great questions that still confront you. Will you be worth anything or nothing to Freemasonry and, will Freemasonry be worth anything or nothing to you? The answers lie within you yourself, for if you will apply to your own life the lessons that you have received in the three degrees, it will make you a better citizen, a better father, a better son and a fonder husband… for:


In Mason’s Lodge, with darkened eyes,
And cabletow about me
I swore to hele (pronounced: hail) all mysteries
That Masons keep, that Masons prize;
All Brothers’ secrets whispered low,
All words they speak, all things they do
In mystic manner taught me.

CHORUS

On yonder book, that oath I took
And will I break it? NEVER!
But stand by this (1), and this (2), and this (3),
Forever and forever.

I swore to answer and obey,
All summons sent me duly.
By Brother’s hand or Lodge array;
I swore that I would never stray.
From ancient laws and rules that bound
Freemasons in the days renowned,
But would observe them truly.

REPEAT CHORUS (4), (5), (6).

I swore to help with generous care,
All those in sorrow hidden;
The Brother on the darkened square,
The mourner with disheveled hair,
The orphan doomed, alas, to stray
Upon a cold and wintry day
While tears gush forth unbidden.

REPEAT CHORUS (7), (8), (9).

I swore to deal in honesty
With each true heart around me;
That honor bright should ever be
Unbroken bond ‘twixt you and me;
No wrong, no guile or cruel fraud
Should ever loose the noble cord
By which my vows have bound me.

REPEAT CHORUS (10), (11), (12).

I swore to guard the portals close
Of the Masonic Temple;
And purge the quarries of their dross,
And build the mystic walls of those
Of bodies perfect, honest hearts,
Of minds matured in moral arts,
By precept and example.

REPEAT CHORUS (13), (14), (15).

I swore the chastity to shield
Of woman true and tender;
Of Mason’s widow, wife and child,
His mother, sister undefiled;
Each pure and innocent whose love
Makes Mason’s homes like that above,
I am their sworn defender.

REPEAT CHORUS (16).

Brethren:
These are your vows, be they your cares;
And may such aid be given
In answer to your honest prayers,
That you may ever do and dare
All God’s gracious laws enjoin,
So when life’s evening shade declines,
Your life may be found in Heaven.

FINAL CHORUS

On yonder book, that oath WE took
And will WE break it? NEVER!
But stand by this (1-3), and this (4-6), and this (7-9), and this (16),
Forever and forever.

NOTE: The numbers in parentheses cover Masonic esoteric work and, for obvious reasons, cannot be published openly here. Master Masons will know what these mean.