Business In The First Degree

Q: Was awful glad to see that motion passed! The younger brethren will be more encouraged to stick with things, if they have some sense of belonging. I went for my ea-and spent some time before attending lodge again. I felt kind of a let-down, not being able to attend lodge after getting my ea- and think that if we want younger brethren to attend- this is the way to do it. Victoria Columbia has a thriving membership- and the candidates keep on coming ;^) I guess you can't argue with success- although I know some of the long-time brethren were not in favour of the change.

A:I think it would be a good thing for US Masonic Lodges to also have their business on the EA degree. Most Lodges throughout the world do. I guess traditions die hard, with Masonry being one of the strongest traditions. Whether that's true, Michael, I can't be sure. What it does is give them an idea how the organisation they've joined runs because they can see it in action instead of spending months away from their bros. An Apprentice is supposed to learn. The best way to do that is in lodge. The same thing happened to me. It took about a number of months between degrees (my first was in Nov. and my 3rd in May) and if the lodge cared I had joined, I never would have known. My sponsor called me once, almost two months after the 1st degree; I never heard from anyone else. And indeed still aren't. One of our old PMs ranted to me about it last night -- "It's an ancient usage and custom. It's always been done that way. Innovation." The same tired old and highly inaccurate excuses people trot out when they don't want anything to change (though they'll allow lodges to change through

deterioration). Our lodge, as you may know, was formed by Australians so they could have a lodge just like back home. Back home, they can conduct business in the 1st degree. They always have. The ritual is designed that way. The only reason the business was changed in BC had nothing to do with all the reasons you hear against it now - it was done solely and strictly by a fiat of a GM to copy the American jurisdictions. He said so in his ruling of 1893. Remember he came from a lodge which earlier attempted to eradicate the 'Canadian' and 'Emulation' rituals in BC by resolution on the floor of GL, and keep only the American form, which failed (see the GL of BC History).