Princeton Lodge #38

Chicken Bbq on July 20th

Princeton Lodge will be having their 13th annual Chicken Bbq on Sunday July 20, 2008 from 12:00pm to 5:00pm. Donations are $15 for adults, $5 for children, children under 6 are free.

Please tell your friends and family about this fun filled event. We look forward to seeing everyone there.

June Trestleboard

The June Trestlboard is now online. Please click on the link on the left that says "Princeton Lodge #38 Trestleboard"

Around the District

Announcing Palestine Lodge #111 Table Lodge
When: Thursday June 5, 2008
Where: Palestine Lodge #111
345 River Road, (County Rt. 605), Montgomery Twp., N.J.
Special Guest Speaker:
MW John M. Colligas, Grand Master of Masons for the State of New Jersey.
Menu:
Pork Loin, Baked potato, Vegetables and Salad
Cost: $15
Time: 6:30pm Social Hour, 7:30pm Gavel will drop.
For More info contact 732-421-2402

bill krzewick
palestine lodge #111

Discussion Article

TIPS TO INCREASE MEMBERSHIP                   

by W:.Tim Bryce, PM, MPS                    
                    timb001@phmainstreet.com                    
                    Palm Harbor, Florida, USA                    
                  "A Foot Soldier for Freemasonry"                   

"If the community doesn't know about you, they can't say anything about you, and ignorance breeds misconceptions."
- Bryce's Law

Within Freemasonry we have an interesting paradox, whereas most of its members admit membership is a significant and growing problem, nobody seems to be interested in doing anything about it, particularly Grand Lodges who offer little in terms of direction.  Basically, the responsibility is relegated to the Craft Lodges who are not necessarily trained or equipped to effectively promote membership.  Soliciting the general public is generally frowned upon in most Masonic circles, yet there are some Grand jurisdictions where you can approach a person if you believe him to be a worthy candidate. 

If we were truly serious about membership, we would do such things as advertising or offer a bounty to our current members to bring in candidates.  Then again, this might not produce the type of people we want.  Instead, we need to develop a program of disseminating information to the public to encourage qualified candidates to take the initiative to contact us.

Since we really cannot wait for the Grand Lodge to lead us in membership, what can the Craft Lodge do on their own?  Plenty.  The following are ten suggestions for your Lodge to try:

 

1. Appoint a Membership Committee, complete with chairman, members, funding,     and direction.  Do not assemble another frivolous Lodge committee that     doesn't do anything.  Appoint a committee that will actually chart a     course of action and guide the Lodge accordingly.

    

2. Improve Freemasonry's image in your community - this is needed to leave a positive     impression about the Masons and your Lodge.  This can be done by doing a variety     of simple things:  clean up your Lodge building, participate in community parades,     civic groups, schools, little league, youth soccer, etc.  IMPORTANT - It is simply     not sufficient to give money to these organizations, you must get people to     volunteer their time in some capacity.  And by all means wear a Masonic symbol     (e.g., shirt, hat, etc.) to indicate you are members of your Lodge.     You may also want to post a Masonic sign regarding your Lodge at the city limits     to denote when your Lodge meets.  But if the community doesn't know about you,     they can't say anything about you, and ignorance breeds misconceptions.

    

3. Improve relations with the allied and appendant bodies of Freemasonry, after all,     they are in the same boat as the Craft Lodge is in terms of membership.  Try     cooperating on membership projects.  If you scratch their back, I am sure     they will scratch yours.

    

4. Improve your Lodge's presence on the Internet.  All of your young candidates     know how to surf the web, so you want to capitalize on this rather inexpensive     media.  If you haven't got a web page, get one.  If you've got a web page,     update it (nobody trusts an outdated web page).  Post your latest news and     announcements, and maintain a positive and progressive image.  Also be sure     to include a section on Membership.  Finally, make sure your meta-tag words     for your web site are updated and that your web page is properly registered     with the various search engines.

    

5. Host Public Events to show Freemasonry in action.  Perhaps an open house to     discuss what Freemasonry is (and isn't), or to recognize local community     leaders (e.g., teacher of the year, fireman/policeman of the year, etc.).     You may also want to host a sporting event, such as a softball game or     golf/tennis tournament for charity.  By allowing the public to hobnob     with you, they may be more inclined to join you.

    

6. Prepare and distribute a flyer to describe what Freemasonry is and how to     join.  A comparable version of the flyer should be made available on the     Lodge's web site.  I'm not necessarily advocating mass mailings of the flyer,     but I would make it available to anyone who would like to pick one up.  If     your Lodge is participating in a local community event, you may want to     distribute the flyer at a table or booth.  Most libraries also allow such     flyers to be distributed as well.

    

7. Circulate your Lodge newsletter to "germ carriers" around the community,     such as civic leaders and educators to make them cognizant of your     plans and activities (which they may want to join in).  Such people will     inevitably talk about your Lodge.  Also, perhaps it is time to upgrade     the looks and content of your newsletter.  Make it look more progressive     and add meaningful material, not the same, dry, inconsequential articles     each time.

    

8. Post key Lodge dates on community calendars, either on the Internet or     in the local newspaper.  Candidates and Brothers visiting your area     cannot visit your Lodge if they do not know when it meets.

    

9. Write and post newsworthy Masonic articles either in local newspapers     or on the Internet.  There are some free PR posting facilities available     to you, such as PR Leap (https://secure.prleap.com/) among others.

    

10. Approach college fraternities, military bases, and DeMolay Chapters     to discuss what Freemasonry is all about and perhaps hold joint projects     with them.  I discussed this some time ago under, "Masonic Farm Clubs."

Your biggest challenge in terms of membership is repairing your broken lines of communications with the community, other Masonic bodies, and your candidates. If they are informed and impressed, they will come.

This list is not all inclusive.  I'm sure there are many other activities you can perform at the Craft Lodge level.  I just wanted to demonstrate there are many simple things you can do to improve membership.  In the end, your membership is based on your willingness to address the problem.  Pretending a problem doesn't exist will not help, nor will ignoring it.  But I guess some people have to wait until the doors finally close for the last time before they recognize that a problem exists which, of course, is too late.

Keep the Faith.

NOTE:  The opinions expressed in this essay are my own and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of any Grand Masonic jurisdiction or any other Masonic related body.  As with all of my Masonic articles herein, please feel free to reuse them in Masonic publications or re-post them on Masonic web sites (except Florida).  When doing so, please add the following:

Article reprinted with permission of the author and www.FreemasonInformation.com

Table Lodge Tickets

The Worshipful Master is trying to get a head count for Table Lodge on June 6th. Could you please click the comment button below and let him know how many tickets you have sold/ how many people you know are coming.

New Discussion Forum

Princeton Lodge has a new Yahoo Group discussion forum. To enroll please click on the link below.

PrincetonFreemasonry-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Welcome to Princeton Lodge's New Web site

Welcome to Princeton Lodge #38's new web site. This new interactive site will allow members to have a place to communicate, find out what is going on, and learn about the history of our lodge.

Prospective members will have the ability to find out about our lodge, contact us, and communicate through this site. We also will have picture albums where we can showcase recent events.

We now have the capability to discuss anything we would like via our blog as well as communicate about volunteering for events or schedule a rehearsal. For example, if we needed to have a rehearsal, members could answer in the comment section whether they were available and at what times.

Click on comments below to try out this feature and tell me what you think so far. Remember, this is just a skeleton of what the site will look like when all of the content is added.