There seems to be a renewed interest into Freemasonry these days, however we have yet to see enough of a growth to keep the Officer Stations filled with non Past Masters. Every year we must vote our conscience and pick the line of Officers we want to run the lodge for the ensuing year. But whom do we choose, and from what pool of men that can we look to that have shown interest?
Some of our newer members just don’t have the availability to step into a long term commitment. The way it has always been, as soon as you decided to step into the Officer Line, it was a minimum 7 year commitment. Then assuming you had any interest in helping out in the District Officer Line, that would entail another 5 years of commitment. Add in a slim potential that you will be asked to help out in the Grand Line, that would total nearly 20 years of commitment from the first day you said, “Sure, I can help out and join the Officer Line!”
Until we get to a point where we have a large pool of members chomping at the bit to take a leadership role in our Lodges, we need to think more practically about how the various Officer Lines work. What if there was a way for a Brother to step up and try out a few years in the leadership roles before deciding that they had the proper availability to serve their Lodges. My idea is to have the full time commitment to your Lodge start at the later stations, called the Platform Officers Stations.
For the Blue Lodges, this commitment would not be binding until you accepted the position of Junior Warden. All the places in the lodge prior to JW could be filled by willing brothers in an ad hoc manner. They can try out a position in the line one year, and then move on to a different one. Knowing that they could step down out of the line if life called to them for other commitments. I feel that if you remove the expectation to put in 7 years straight, you could find a larger pool of brothers that just want to help out and stay available to their jobs and family. Especially newer younger brothers who are just now starting their careers and building a family.
I have heard recently, that the District Officer line is having difficulty in finding brothers to step up and help out. But I know there are many brethren willing to help, but not able to add that extra layer of commitment over and above what they are doing in Blue Lodge. If you remove the requirement for the lower stations to be a Past Master and allow brothers to be able to accept one of those positions off and on, you may just find that more are willing to step up to help out. The caveat for the District Line, the brother must be a Past Master before accepting a station equivalent to the JW, SW and WM of that line at which point they would be committing to a three year service to the District (assuming so voted in).
I believe this can work, because we have tried something similar in my Lodge. I have sat as Master of the Lodge 5 times as I watched brothers come and go. I have always said to them, I want them to be an active member of their Lodge but I am also willing to work with them on their job and family commitments first. My stipulation, no brother will accept the station of JW until he is sure he is ready for the full three year commitment to the lodge. While it has been a struggle in recent years to fill all the stations, I have seen many brethren that would not have dreamed of being in the Officer Line at least attempt to help out in the lower stations. They get to “try it out” so to speak. The ones that like being in the Line, tend to stick with it and move through the chairs. It is only recently that we have seen a surge in membership and this upcoming year will be the first time in a long while where all the potential brothers to a station will be non Past Masters and non plural members!
So, let’s give it a try. Set the stage for when the commitment should start for a brother. For a struggling lodge, I suggest the final three stations. Then as the lodge starts to grow and the interest in the Officer Line grows, move the commitment out to SD, then down to JD and so on. Let the brethren show us they can be an asset in the Officer Line, but also give them the freedom to be a father, husband and dedicated worker!