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Star Letter
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Lodge numbers
I refer to the Star Letter (MQ, Issue
No 13), from Cyril Zipson. At the West London Masonic Centre (WLMC) in Ealing, numbers attending Lodge and Chapter meetings have been declining for many years. This has been successfully offset
by Lodges moving to the Centre from e.g., the Thistle Hotel at Lancaster Gate and the Duke of York’s Barracks.
However, immediately following the formation of the Metropolitan Grand Lodge, the decline has steepened, and since 2002 there has been a decline in excess of 15% in numbers attending meetings at WLMC.
In 1994, of the Lodges meeting at WLMC, 64% had average attendances
of over 30 per meeting, but this had reduced to 15% in 2004. In 1994, no Lodges meeting there had average attendances of less than 15 per meeting, but in 2004, some 27% had average attendances of less than 15 per meeting. It would seem that Brethren from the Provinces are increasingly reluctant to travel into London.
It concerns us that the increase in Grand Lodge dues and Grand Charity contribution planned for introduction
in 2006 may exacerbate this decline
and accelerate the number of London Lodges and Chapters that choose to amalgamate or close, returning their Warrants, and be the catalyst for Brethren to reduce multiple Lodge memberships.
This may prove a classic case of the “Law of Diminishing Returns”: i.e., increases in dues, but fewer Masons to pay them and reduced income. In the annual UGLE accounts, income from Lodges reduced by 5% from 2003 to 2004, but the number of Lodges in London and the Provinces were very little changed (–0.7%).
Perhaps the Board of General Purposes should look at other ways
of increasing income, or reducing expenditure, as we are doing at
the WLMC.
Michael Casey,
Director and Treasurer,
West London Masonic Centre, Ealing
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Costs for elderly members
I wholeheartedly support the star letter
of Cyril Zipson (MQ, Issue No. 13), particularly for its penultimate paragraph, which accurately and very succinctly mirrors the circumstances in which many elderly brethren unfortunately find themselves.
I have been a continuously subscribing member of my Mother Lodge since 20th June 1957. I am not carping, and what I have given in the past has been with a good heart, and it has been an honour and a pleasure to have so given when in receipt of a regular monthly pay cheque.
However, having been retired for 18 years, the cost of my Masonic membership
is not as easily borne as it once was, and this applies to many in the Craft.
Perhaps the time has come for our great fraternity to show its elderly members a little of the charity and compassion for which it is rightly known and recognised throughout the world.
Could not Grand Lodge set up a committee to produce some innovative proposals to deal with this problem? No elderly Brother would take lightly the decision to leave his Mother Lodge, but what is the alternative?
Morris Walker,
Lymington, Hampshire
Attendance problems
I refer to the letter by Cyril Zipson
(MQ, Issue No. 12), and fully endorse
his comments regarding the proposed increases in Grand Lodge and Grand Charity dues. As a Provincial Mason who has been involved in the management of my local Masonic Centre for several years, I have
seen a steady decline in the numbers attending their Lodge.
As the treasurer of the Centre, I have
seen many increases in our outgoings which are passed on to Lodges. All these increases have been well ahead of inflation and, combined with poor attendances at
Lodges, have caused problems for the Centre management.
Part of our strategy was to review the overhead expenditure and to reduce it as
far as possible. Surely Grand Lodge has some fat that can be trimmed?
I know that a number of Brethren are considering reducing the number of Lodges to which they belong. This will have a negative effect on both Grand Lodge income and that of other Masonic Centres, where rents are based on Lodge Numbers.
We could be on the verge of a vicious circle, with resignations and consolidation
of Craft membership leading to further increases and further resignations.
John H. Dilloway,
A secretary replies
I am sure that there was no intention of the Board of General Purposes in their missive (MQ, Issue No. 13) or of your cartoon in your editorial, of all Lodge secretaries being boring, in any of the many administrative duties they perform.
Not the least of these is reading the minutes. I am, however, sure that some, including yours truly, were a little nonplussed and frustrated by your comment, “Reading out the minutes, often at length, to a bored meeting, anxious to get on with the real business of the Lodge”.
What is the “Real business of the Lodge”? You are missing a fundamental aspect of any regular Masonic meeting –
the record of what actually happened.
This is important and should be accurately penned for future reference. Whilst a little judicious pruning will go a long way to ensuring that Bro. Secretary continues to capture the interest of the Brethren in his delivery, there are still
many Brethren, including their visitors,
who like to hear the minutes read.
There is also the additional cost
of postage to consider. Your cartoon, “Rabitting on and on....” did not show at least three out of the four esteemed Brethren wide awake and enthralled by what the secretary was saying (the other Brother listening with his eyes closed to aid concentration), as occurs in my Lodge.
On saving time, what objections are there to holding one ballot to include candidates for Initiation, a Joining Member and an Honorary Member together? There is an absolute block on the practice, which would save about 20 minutes.
Brian Dobson,
Christchurch, Dorset
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Copyright 2002-2007
MQ Magazine
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