Is your lodge successfully retaining its candidates for 5, 10, and more years using ideas which can be employed in other lodges?

 

Can you demonstrate that in numbers rather than by unquantified claims?

 

Sharing that information and how you achieved success will assist other lodges in making themselves stronger.

 

So we invite you to help us all, share your story, and to write for Devotion News.

 

Please include;

• The total number of Freemasons you have initiated over a period of not less than 5 years to the present (the longer the period and the more data the better).
• Number of losses of those Initiates segmented by deaths, transfers to other lodges, resignations and exclusions.
• The number of those Initiates who resigned completely from Freemasonry (ie, did not take up membership at another lodge) or were excluded, segmented to total exclusions and for the resignations, why (where known) they resigned, otherwise recorded as “unknown” (see the “Lost to the Craft” section in the below table for an example).
• The time, day and frequency of your meetings.
• Your total number of members as at now.
• Any other information you think would help people understand your success.

 

And then most importantly, the strategies and structures you employed to retain your candidates.

 

As a guide, this is how I presented some of these facts in a recent article;

 

Since May 2009 to Oct 2016;

 

Total Membership as at Oct 2016	42
Initiations for the period	23
Retained Initiates for the period	15
Retained Initiates in office (incl. 2 stewards)	7
Transferred to another Lodge	1
Lost from the Craft	7
Generally attending in last year	11
Of the lost from the Craft -reasons
Moved interstate	3
Time & Finance	1
Left (FC) after sighting too busy	1
It’s complicated	1
Excluded (Disappeared after initiation )	1
Death	0
Unknown	0

 

The above table should be standardised across articles and hence considered more closely... but frankly, as I am writing in the wee hours of the morning and need to meet the tyranny of deadlines, in the expectation I will not be overwhelmed with responses and it will be several days before I could touch Devotion News again, let’s put the call out to see who responds. Feel free to contact me before writing your submission which might allow for feedback and consultation.

 

We’ll set no word limit, but articles of 1-4 pages are preferred. An image(s) associated with your lodge would also be appreciated.

 

Please submit these to editor@lodgedevotion.net in MSWord or similar.

 

Fraternally

Damien, Editor, Devotion News.