chgregory

Good Morning my Brothers;

Last weeks thread, started by W Brother Les was fun and interesting, so I think we should have one started each Saturday, opening up a thought provoking line of discourse. Not officially debate, but more looking at all sides of the question placed by one of the brothers.

In the Masonic Leadership course, they pointed out to me that there can be no growth with dedication, and no dedication without understanding.

I am certain that I will gain from the wisdom of the noble group, so what do you guys think?

If you want I can pose the second question, or whomever wants is welcome.

I have a suggested line of questioning for this week, but I am not trying to hog the floor. So, I will toss it out and if it sounds like fun we can do it if not someone other than I can make a suggestion.

We spoke a little a couple of weeks ago about the danger of communicating via the web regarding our fellowship. The dangers were exposing too much of the "secrets of freemasonry" in a possibly unverified (and really unverifiable) group. Another was saying something that was wholely improper and unmasonic to a brother because of the freedom available on the web and yet another was not knowing the brothers personally we might be drawn in to an arguement which in the end would be unfriendly, unbrotherly and unmasonic. Ok, the stage is set for my question:

QUESTION: Should I as master of my lodge have an internet web site for the lodge, should it be password protected, are there legal and masonic issues I should consider and to what standards should my suggested web site adhere?

This is a big question and all too real in our lodges. We need to recruit and grow or stagnate. Web sites generate younger and more up-to-date candidates, but there are those pitfalls.....it is on you gentleman to help me solve this issue. It is not a "real world" problem as I am working on creating a new web site for my lodge and a couple of others, but it is a real crisis of choices for many of our brothers.

S&F,

__________________
Cliff Gregory, 32

antoninus9

Membership growth is irrelevant in real Free-Masonry, my brother. This type of growth only leads to money which in turn leads to corruption.

Ten real Masons can do more good in the world than one thousand who are Masons in name only.

Forget about growth and focus on becoming real Masters of the Art. When you have accomplished this neither growth nor money will be of any concern to you.

__________________
Jeff Peace
Lodge des Neuf Soeurs No. 1

chgregory

Hi Jeff,

I am not certain I agree. We all realize that men are mortal, if you only had the 10 finest men on earth without people who were learning the craft and expanding their influence and iterests, than over time they would fail because their number would dwindle.

Last year in my lodge we initiated between 1 to 3 per month, and lost about 1 per month to either passing away, their jobs/families needed more of their time or they were relocating. Our overall number grew by about 15 and of those all are active.

If you want to open a RAC you need a minimum number of companioins; you want want to open a Blue Lodge you need a minimum number of Brothers and if you want to open a Commdery of KT you need a minimum number of Sir Knights....it is called out in Ritual but the reason for the minimum is not so the boys will have company, it is because many hands make light work.

I see to distinct goals in Masonry, first "we are to help make good men better." Second "we are to help ease the burden of all we encounter in the passage through life." Both are noble work, and both are better when done by many.

Certainly, we are in the process of doing good in this world in emulation of those men who built the temples of Europe. At the building of King Solomon's Temple we know "at least from ritual" how many of each level of workman were present. It was thousands. I beleive we should strive to help men become the very best we can, but I also strongly doubt that we can do that without a growing group of men to be the building blocks of our society.

The main thrust of this question is; "Do we want new technology to help us or is it really not going to make a change?"

I kind of beleive that through the generations that masons have lived, as the science and technology have matured, so have the men who joined and lead our fraternity.

As we move into this century, we will be faced with not options, challenges and opportunities. How will we face them and how will our fraternity change.

Brother Jeff, your point is well taken, we certainly can't lower our standards for any form of technology, but we can use new methods to grow and prosper.

One other small point, money is not the object, but it is important to have adequate funds to run your lodge without making it too expensive to endure.

Certainly, having the best men possible is our first consideration, but there are real fiscial issues that must be faced if we are continue.

__________________
Cliff Gregory, 32

Mystic knight

Quality is important, but quality does not happen overnight. Hey, the best Scotch is 40 year-old. It takes time to make good men better. Brother Jeff, your point is true, but two-thirds of Masons today are 60+. W. Bro. Gregory has pointed out that each lodge needs a minimum number of Masons just to function or to start a new lodge, chapter etc. Sadly, we see lodges going dark. This should never happen. Yes, we cannot "recruit," but we can educate and attract young and new members in subtle ways.

We would be fools if we did not exploit the internet and technology for the good of Freemasonry. The question is how exactly to do this. On the one hand we want to attract new members of moral quality to replace all those Masons whom have passed or will soon pass. Also, new blood is regenerating to an organization. However, we must think of security at these sites. The ideal site would allow some "cowans" limited viewing capabilities, in hopes they were sincere about learning more and becoming Masons. But we must be careful. Yes, make part of the site password protected. Like Masonry, use circles of knowledge. Thus, an outer circle for interested cowans, another one for Blue Lodge (broken into EA, FC, and MM) and another for various red lodges. Keeping them separate will improve security. Yes it makes a lot of work. Start your site as a basic one and then build on it.

Concerning the idea that all on the internet site is "unverifiable" I do not agree. You can verify if each and every user is a Mason, what Degree or rank etc, but it takes a hell of a lot of work. So verify a few every week. Email their lodge secretary with the given information and verify all the member has said. There are other ways. If a member says he is an officer that can be confirmed with Grand Lodge. We keep good records. Yes, a lot of work. After verification you can reward the member by giving a higher status at the site. eg. they can see more or do more.

Yes, of course, we want new technology to help us and it really can make a difference if we use it and if we use it right. Here is an example of a software program that every jurisdiction could and should be using.

*It is Ramius Community Zero. *

Some universities use this software for school groups. At first look it seems very simple, but it really is quite complex and could do wonders for Masonry. It is easy to use, for the most part, but you can still learn how to better use it after a couple years of use. Remember, most universities have tens of thousands of students so a jurisdiction with 50 000 or even more would not be too much. In fact, this program is PERFECT for us. Here is what it allows you to do.

You, as founder or administrator, can make different sub groups each with different viewing capabilities and limited abilities in what you can do. Example: one lower group can be called cowans or whatever. Each different area such as Mailing lists, Articles, Discussions, MEMBERSHIP LIST, Database, Media Center, Polls has a Permissions. So you can decide what a cowan can see, what actions a cowan can take or what or where a cowan can write something or post a picture or outside article from the web or whatever. Limitless possibilities.

Next group call it EA. Then FC. Then MM. RA. You get the idea. You could do it by rank. After MM distinguish by member or officer. Then W. Bro. Then Grand Lodge Officers. So many possibilities. Here is how you should set it up.

Let's say the Grand Lodge of Virginia wants to do this. How many lodges does Virginia have? Divide the cost of the program and cost of internet maintenance among all lodges. It should then be reasonable and worth it. Each lodge has their own set up. You can also have secret doors to other lodges. "Affiliate Communities" in your set up. So if you have a sister lodge even outside your jurisdiction you can find a way to do this, especially if that jurisdiction has this same set up. You can do anything and everything with this software. I say it is perfect for us because it would be a Godsend.

Remember the university set up. One program, but used for many, many clubs, frats, sororities and interest groups. We can do the same only with hundreds of lodges within that jurisdiction and other groups such as Royal Arch and Preceptory etc. They too, can help share in the cost. Each lodge, Chapter or whatever can have their own setup, but with links to other lodges if they choose. Grand Lodge can have their own set up with links to all blue and red lodges. These people from Ramius will even customize to meet our specific needs. Think about it. I have used this software system and I stress it would be PERFECT for FREEMASONRY.

Levels of security, but also allowing interested non Masons to have a sneak peek at whatever we deem as appropriate. Once confirmed that the cowan has become an EA with a certain lodge, which of course they would know, the administrator, founder, officer can raise their level to EA or member or whatever. Permissions are set for say Articles in general, but each INDIVIDUAL article has its own permissions so it can be set differently if needed. eg. Who can view it, write comments to article or even write article.

A lodge can have a forum as we have, but in a much more secure and organized manner. You can put up pictures in the media or database part with permissions so only certain sub groups can see if you choose. There is also a noteboard. SO many possibilities. You could put up your summons in the Files section as it allows you to upload various files whether Microsoft or whatever. Files in general has permissions, but each individual file has its own permissions. Think about it.

If I am friends with W. Bro Gregory we can create a digital doorway between my blue lodge and his or between my Royal Arch and his or both. When I enter into his lodge's Community Zero I am in the sub group "Masonic Visitor" or "Fellow Companion from outside jurisdiction" or however you want to label it and vice versa. Think of the possibilities. Sky is the limit with this Ramius Community Zero. It's as if it was made for Freemasons, but most of us have not discovered it yet or put it into use.

Corporations, universities and other groups are using this software. Why aren't we? Do we have to be last at everything? Be first. Be fast. Be fast. Be first. Let's bring Masonry up to speed. We can be ahead of the curve and we should be. We are only limited by our own attitude and ignorance.
We would be fools not to take a good hard look at implementing this software for every Masonic jurisdiction and Masonic organization on the planet. The more Masonic groups that subscribe to this software, the cheaper it becomes. It would be not only an excellent organizational tool with security, but an amazing COORDINATION tool. Currently, we are "loosely coordinated," but with this software we can be a highly coordinated and securely organized efficient wonder.

*This software tool is the one thing we need to bring it all together in one lean, mean and dynamic package. Ramius Community Zero.