Elevator Speeches

There will come a time when you need to explain what the heck Masonry is. Sometimes, you won’t have very long. It’s best to come up with an "elevator speech" for those occasions. My answer is a little dramatic:

The world is an awful place, and there’s not much that we can do about that on the macro scale. What we can do, however, is give men the opportunity to change and improve themselves using moral tools and teachings centered around love of God and love of one another in order to better implement the moral values they already had. By doing this, a man not only changes himself, but the world immediately around him - and sometimes reaching even further than that. So, we can’t change the world on a macro scale, but we can change it many, many times on a micro scale. Masonry is an organized effort to save the world through love, one man at a time.

Funding a Lodge from the Ground Up - V∴I∴ Jason Mitchell

This was all originally written by V∴I∴ Brother Jason Mitchell in the comments of this post. All I’ve done is format it for easier sharing - many thanks to Brother Mitchell for writing this in the first place.

Funding a Lodge/Organization is something that is important to me. I’ve started a Mark Lodge, two AMD Councils, a Black Hat Club, an SRICF College, and been part of the planning for bodies for Athelstan and Acon.

In all that time, I’ve seen:

• seven ways to incorrectly fund a an emerging Masonic body;
• seven ways to incorrectly fund a brand new Masonic body;
• and at least a dozen incorrect ways to continue funding an established body.

Unlike your existing Lodges, the ability to see and take a Masonic organization from idea, to conception, to charter, to sustaining, and probably death, in the case of the Mark Lodge, has been fascinating, because I’d argue less than 1% of masons have ever seen a Masonic organization established from the ground up.

For me, it comes down to this: I don’t care about your sentimental attachments to your (misquoted) ritual, I don’t care about your statistical outliers of that one guy who is great but broke, etc.

I care about funding an organization that is self-sustaining, at least financially, for two, or three, or four generations in advance - with the foresight that there will be expenses and needs thenk, that I cannot even conceive of now. By that, I mean try explaining powered light to someone in the 18th century, or websites and online payments to someone in the 1950s, and so forth.

For me the measure of success, regardless of the actual dollar amount, is that all money coming into the Lodge today, is spent 30, 40, or 50 years from now. The paycheck-to-paycheck cash flow (if you can honestly call it that) is wrong. We are living, we’re barely sustaining - it’s scarcity survival.

What that does mean for Masons today, is whatever that dollar amount is that it takes to fund your Lodge as is, double it - at least - so you’re putting money back into the bank.


Use the following formula to find out what you need to get the Lodge off the ground:

Initial Funding = (Total funding from Part 1) + (Three times the double of the total from Part 2)

or

Initial Funding = P1 + 6(P2)

This will give you everything you need to get the Lodge off the ground, and three years of projected operational costs in the bank. There should be no further purchases to kit out the Lodge, and all the money coming into the Lodge is spent at a later time. If you never spend more than 80% of your income (no zero-sum budgeting), then as a function of time, you will be growing financially.

Oh, and most importantly - build in an exit strategy! Determine now, not later, financial performance thresholds that automatically trigger closing the lodge.

Part III is suggested on-going operational assumptions.

Part I: Getting Started - Outfitting

Here is where you decide, "do I want a solid gold apron, or is a shiny brass one enough, or do I want shiny plastic?" You need to determine:

• what it will cost to legally establish the body, be it fees to the sponsoring/chartering masonic body, legal fees (if incorporation is necessary), bank fees, etc…​
• the total price to outfit the body. Using a Lodge, and assuming you have a building to meet in, and that building has chairs already, that means everything: from aprons to altars, to rods, to jewels, to patents, to ballot boxes, to ritual books - I mean literally everything. You’ll want at least one of everything, possibly two on things that may wear or get dirty.
• prices for boxes to securely store and transport all those things in, unless the building comes with storage, but even then, boxes help protect them in storage, so it’s good to have.
• if you need to insure these effects against loss or damage, and if so, and it requires a down payment, get that number too.
• the total price on all administrative tools: Dues cards, folders, paper clips, pens/pencils, laptop, printer, paper, ink, filing cabinets, desk, pens, envelopes, postage, business/calling cards, website, accounting software, etc - everything the Secretary, Master, and Wardens will materially need to have in their possession for their job (bearing in mind, we’re not talking about having 100 pencils for Brothers who suddenly need one in Lodge).

Part II: Get Going - Operational

Don’t go cheap here. Don’t try to cut corners. Again, you want real costs for real results. This will be expensive.

• What is the total cost of rents for the year? Stated and Special meetings, Educationals, Officer meetings, Everything.
• Are there dining costs the Lodge must absorb? Example: will there be refreshments at officer meetings? If so, there is an operational cost.
• What is the cost of education and training? What books and materials will you need to have for the first 36 months to fully train and prepare candidates, and officers, into Masonry, and the culture of the Lodge? Does your GL require officers to participate in any training/course, etc? This is one of the first places we start cheating ourselves and others. Prepare for the future. Is digital truly equivalent to physical for a new candidate?
• Do candidates get patents and/or presentation Bibles? You’ll need a supply on hand. What is your expected number of EA, FC, and MM?
• What other materials will Candidates receive from the Lodge, to commemorate their Initiation, Passing, and Raising, if any? Again, another number.
• What is the total cost for Lodge communication to members? I’d argue you need physical mailing, plus at least two other forms of communication (email, social media, texting, etc).

Part III: Preparing for the Worst and Other

• Always put 10% of your income into long term savings.
• Always set aside an additional 10% of your income as a buffer for a given fiscal year to cover cost overruns. Unused portions should go into long term savings.
• Assume you’ll never receive any money for degree fees.
• Assume you’ll have 30% voluntary dues compliance before the due date.
• Assume you’ll have an additional 20% within 60 days following the due date.
• Assume you’ll receive an additional 30% dues compliance with costs, 12 months late.
• Never assume more than 80% total dues compliance after any length of time.
• Always match your dues to a firmly establish economic indicator: DOW, COLA, etc., something. Increase dues constantly.
• Never, ever, ever, ever, take cash.
• Always take credit card payments - never pass on the processing fees, that’s a cost of doing business these days.
• Take ACH payments.
• Take EFT payments.
• Take checks.

Destroying the 24-Inch Gauge

It’s been kind of a crazy period of time. Lately, I’ve been really stretching the limits of my 24-inch gauge. I am really enjoying it, but it’s not easy. I love pouring my efforts into all things, especially Masonry, but I definitely need to make sure I take personal time now and then.

I’ve done a less than stellar job of balancing friend groups. There’s more than a few friends who I think about every once in a while and realize, "wow, [X] and I haven’t hung out in a while." I’ve been pretty good about keeping the vast majority of my commitments, but the problem, I feel, now lies in actually arranging those commitments to begin with.

It’s very easy to keep commitments when they’re at lodge. That’s where I’m expected to be, and where I enjoy being. It is a breeze to be there! Having a central location to do stuff makes things very easy. I feel like right now we are also in a huge busy season right now. We’ve had a bunch of raisings and plan on having another one soon, followed by at least one passing, and at least two initiations. There are many brothers in need of instruction, and many ritual parts to be learned.

I feel like I arguably don’t sleep enough. I usually feel like I’m super busy, and that’s why I go to bed so late even though I have to wake up early. That also seems like a ridiculous excuse to try and cover up a severe lack of discipline. Maybe one of these days, I’ll figure it out.

On a more positive note, the Commandery Orders were incredible. This was last month, on the 15th. We had/were a bunch of candidates. I really enjoyed the Order of the Red Cross. The story behind it was really entertaining in both a serious and a light-hearted way. The Order of Malta kind of threw me for a loop, though. It felt like it was super-packed with information that just flew by at astronomical speeds. I will have to sit down with a copy of the ritual and a highlighter in order to properly "unpack" all of that.

I was privileged enough to be the exemplar candidate for the Order of the Temple. I have never experienced anything quite so mind-blowing in terms of ritual. There were parts where I had to keep myself from laughing, parts where I was deeply moved, and parts where my heart was pounding, ready to leap out of my chest in excitement and awe. I once heard the OOT described as "everything you ever thought a Masonic degree would ever be," and I have to say, that’s not wrong. Oddly, I wouldn’t describe it as "life-changing," as I have heard before. This experience profoundly resonated with emotions and convictions that I have held for a while now. There is no course in direction - if anything, there is now only fuel added to the fire in the engine. IN HOC.

Royal & Select Master Degrees

A Cryptic Message

Wow, what a wild ride. I had been given some "hints" regarding the Council degrees, but I still wasn’t prepared. The Royal Master degree in particular was very beautiful! The solemnity of the soliloquiy gave me shivers. There’s a lot that I would like to discuss, but unfortunately most all of that is stuff that I can’t talk about publicly! It was a great experience and I’m still digesting it, so to speak.

Instruction Certification & Royal Arch Degree

Gettin' Official

Well, it seems that I finally went and got myself official. As of Saturday (the 25th), I am officially certified by the Grand Lodge of Texas to teach the memory work for degree proficiencies, and the opening of all four lodges (the fourth being the Lodge of Sorrows).

Initially, I drove all the way to Phoenix Lodge in Weatherford. When I got there, just before the forum (degree exemplification and general Q&A) at 9 am, I was asked, "Hey brother! Are you here for the Commandery Work Day?" My confusion must have beeen pretty evident. I quickly explained that I was there for the exam certification, and was then told that it had been postponed to next weekend. The paper copy of the schedule posted up in the dining hall had been the same one as on the PDF I had on my phone; however, the paper version had a correction on it, in pen. The PDF, naturally, did not have this change.

At this point, I settled in the hallway, hanging out with some brothers I knew and some brothers that I didn’t know, chit-chatting about memory work, Commandery, and a few other things. One brother pointed out to me that Krum (and therefore Krum Lodge’s certification exams) was only an hour and fifteen minutes away. If I hustled, I might still be able to catch the last 20 minutes of the forum, and make it in time for the certification exams.

So I hustled!

I managed to get to Krum Lodge and had a great time. I met some District Instructors, members of the Committee on Work, and all sorts of other brothers. One brother had even heard of the podcast that I put out with some of my lodge brothers! The exams went well, and when I left, I was officially "C-certified."

Last night (Monday, March 27) was also pretty eventful. I managed to double-book myself for both Blue Lodge and Royal Arch Chapter. We had four profiencies in two different degrees in Blue Lodge, and I had my Royal Arch degree scheduled! I had to excuse myself before the last EA profiency, because it was time to go to Chapter. I was really bummed about that, because I am usually the examiner during proficiencies, and I was really looking forwards to this Brother delivering his work.

The Royal Arch degree was absolutely incredible. It was incredibly immersive and I’m still digesting it. I am looking forwards to the next time - when I can participate in it. I would write more about it, but to be quite honest, I have to let it settle a bit before I can competently talk about it! It’s got to be one of my favorite degrees so far, though. I might actually like the experience of this one as an initiate even more than the Master’s degree (although the Entered Apprentice degree still remains my favorite). This was a very physically-involved sort of experience, which I thought was awesome.

Super happy with my experience. I even bought a RAM emblem to put on my car! Very psyched to see what happens in Cryptic Council.

Advanced to the Honorary Degree of Mark Master!

MMM, delicious

Today I was advanced to the honorary degree of Mark Master Mason! I was one of three candidates. It was a fun and interesting experience. The degree team did a great job despite having a bunch of peoople missing - those filling in did very admirably. There was joviality (something very strange compared to my Blue Lodge experience) and quiet, solemn moments. Overall, it was a pretty wonderful time. Next stop: Virtual Past Master and Most Excellent Master!

Handley Lodge Captures the Travel Gavel

Handley Lodge Captures the Travel Gavel

Where the magic happens:

Last night was pretty great!

Fort Worth Lodge had its stated meeting night, and I was pleasantly surprised to see so many visitors - at first only minorly so, then majorly so. I shared the elevator with three or four brothers from Handley Lodge on the way up to our dining hall... Then I quickly realized, as the time went on, that they were coming out in force! Our little dining hall was packed. Handley Lodge brought out 15 brothers to come help take the travel gavel.

The Grand Lodge of Texas (AF&AM) 64th District Traveling Gavel:

The room was abuzz with excitement. Many of the Fort Worth Members were whispering to each other over the food - cooked on the Fort Worth Lodge #148 Smoker, of course - as we were and are totally psyched to get so many visitors. I pro-tem'd the Senior Deacon's part, and began running around the dining hall, collecting names and titles as fast as I could.

The time to file into the lodge room came, and we ran out of aprons! We had to dig in the closet for a third box of aprons. We had a total attendance of 54 brothers. Once visitors were introduced, all first time visitors were given a Fort Worth Lodge pin.

One of my little treasures, the Fort Worth Lodge #148 pin that was given to me the night that I was raised:

We blasted through the regular business, with some minor delays during a slightly more free-form portion of lodge, and then got to the presentation of the Travel Gavel. Unfortunately, I don't have pictures of that, since we were in open lodge at the time (meaning photography is verboten), but it was wonderful. In addition to the travel gavel on the plaque, Fort Worth Lodge has decided to toss in the Mega Gavel as well. Now, in addition to the existing stipulations on the gavel, the Mega Gavel will be travelling with the regular plaque. After our Brother Hando Nahkur played a very stirring piece, we closed out and Hollywooded for the camera. All in all, a great night in Texas Masonry.

A group photo (most of us are in here):

14 of the 15 brothers from Handley, with guest appearance by the Mega Gavel (Worshipful Master of Handley Lodge, Haskell Rogers III, is in the middle with the plaque):

Our pro-tem WM Greg Wright (on the left) poses with some of our brothers from Webb Lodge! We really hope that they are the next ones to get the gavel. Ed (on the right) is a Past Master of both Webb Lodge and Handley Lodge:

Life is good.