For years I hear the stories about how well the fraternity grew after WWII. But now, the chatter is about how the membership has been shrinking dramatically. The various bodies of Freemasonry are scrambling to find new ways to invigorate the influx of new members. But who will be these new Masons?
The Scottish Rite recently commissioned a survey of members and of the general public to get their impressions of Freemasonry and the direction they see it heading. There are many people out there that have never even heard of Freemasons and of their charitable deeds. They hear about Shriners Hospitals, but many did not know they were Masons. The polled membership too has been concerned about the decline in membership, but are not sure of what to do next.
It is true, there were large numbers of men coming out of the war that were looking for that same camaraderie that they experienced in the service. Freemasonry offered what they were looking for and much more. Men sought out Masonry. However, since the late 60s men were not wanting to take part in the same organizations that their fathers were members of. These young men were looking for ways to rebel against the establishment. The number of new men joining the fraternity was getting fewer and fewer.
The membership that joined after the war are now getting older, and sadly their time in this life has been cut short by the threads of time. We have newer and younger members joining, but who will be the next big wave of Masons?
The young men just getting out of high school or college seem like a great outlook for membership drives. However, many of them are just now trying to find themselves and how they can make a difference in society. They are now just starting their careers and possibly families. There are other distractions along the way as well. How much time can these young men put towards joining a fraternity and being active?
A good outlook may be towards the aging Baby Boomers. They have been in their careers for years now, and their children are now just starting to leave home. These men may be reaching the age of retirement as well. After their careers have completed, what will they work on next? How can they contribute their knowledge and free time to better society? Will these men consider joining Freemasonry? Will they become the next big wave of knowledge and experience to motivate the younger members?
In 2017, the Grand Lodge of England was filmed in a 5 part series called Inside the Freemasons. The series looked at the various parts of Masonry and gave a small glimpse of the thoughts of new men joining. The most interesting was the 5th part of the series where it was discussed about the rise in membership in England and how this came about. Turns out that the Grand Lodge of England was promoting towards University, getting the young men excited about the fraternity and the value. The Lodge near Oxford University was the most successful as it is heavily populated by students and professors.
This is an interesting thought! I originally thought that we may do better by looking at the now retiring in their careers Baby Boomers. However, since we started getting new members from a local university, these new young men have been inviting their friends from the fraternity they were engaged in college. Once they have found that Freemasonry was similar in fashion to what they already experienced in college but with far more to offer, they started inviting their friends. We have doubled or even tripled the number of new members in our lodge this last year because of it.
This is very good news. Not only will be looking to an influx of older men, we can also expect to see a new resurgence from the younger men from university! Freemasonry has seen the bottom of membership decline, and we are not ramping up to a great new decade. May we continue to support these new members in their journey to gain more light!