Remarks delivered by Grand Master Jeff Schoenfeldt to the craft on Saturday morning of the 181st Annual Communication of the Grand Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons of Wisconsin, June 7, 2025:
Good Morning, Brothers!
Are you proud to be a Wisconsin Freemason?
You should be!
Through your hard work, this magnificent fraternity, once again, stands upon the precipice of greatness. Our Lodges are flourishing, and our membership is growing, all thanks to you.
Working together, and with our Blue Lodges leading the way, we have met our membership challenge head-on; and we can all see the results.
For three years in a row, we have raised more members than we have lost to celestial attrition. In fact, 58% of new Master Masons this year are the result of web leads.
But our work isn’t done. As Past Grand Master Dave Ritchie instructed the craft to “roll up their sleeves and get to Labor” – now is not the time to rest on our recent accomplishments.
We have the opportunity to build up our Lodges as we continue to build up and strengthen our communities.
We are finding men of character to join our Lodges, drawn to Freemasonry because they, too, want to surround themselves with other good men.
They are drawn to our tradition. To our history. They are drawn here because of the great men of the past who are our fallen Brothers: George Washington. Ben Franklin. Neil Armstrong.
But my Brothers, we cannot solely rely on history and tradition to keep this fraternity afloat. We have realized that we can no longer afford to casually promote this fraternity in the hopes that someone, somewhere, someday might Ask One to be One.
Instead, by being active and engaged in our communities, like-minded men from all corners of the state have been introduced to what we do. These stories and postings of the good things we do continues to get the attention of other good men in our communities who should be sitting in Lodge with us.
Our community activism isn’t a new concept for Freemasons – it’s been going on for years. But being humble as we are, we just didn’t feel the need to promote our philanthropy.
We cannot, however, afford to be the fraternity our grandfathers joined – we must be the fraternity that our sons and grandsons will want to join.
We need to continue to be present in our communities. Present in our families. And present in our everyday lives.
My duty as Grand Master will be to protect, to promote, and to advance Wisconsin Freemasonry. This is never a title I sought out: I’m not building a resume or adding an extra line to my obituary. But I am going to take this incredible opportunity and do everything I can to continue to push Wisconsin Freemasonry forward.
For the last year, especially the last few months, the most frequent question I get asked is “are you ready?”
The second most frequent question I get asked is “what are you going to do ‘your’ year?”
I really don’t like that phrase: “your year”. We have made great advances over the years not making this about one person, but as a leadership team.
So, I’m happy to say that I’ll be the poster boy for consistency and continuity. If you liked what Wisconsin Freemasonry was focused on this past year, you’re in luck – because that’s the focus again this next year.
Membership
Retention
Brotherly Love
That’s why we have a long-range strategic plan within Wisconsin Freemasonry that helps to ensure that every voice at our leadership table has their ideas incorporated into the long-term vision of this fraternity.
It ensures that all members have buy-in for what the goals and objectives are for Wisconsin Freemasonry — not just this year or next year or the year after that but for years to come.
These aren’t just MY priorities, but those also of Brothers Joe, Earl, Matt, George, Mike, Ryan and Paul. They are OUR priorities.
Membership
Retention
Brotherly Love
Find Members.
Keep Members.
Be relevant in our communities.
Bring Value to our Brothers.
Retention
We need to continue to find good men and make them Masons. But then, we need to ensure that we keep them.
We can do that through education. We can do that through personal development and positive community involvement.
Later this year, we’re also going to launch something loosely referred to as “Degree 3.5” which the Membership Committee has been working on for the last few months. What this is a basic “onboarding” guide for new Masons. What do I wear to Lodge? Who do I talk to if I have questions? What is the “Grand Lodge” and what do they do? Lodge protocol: stand and address the WM when speaking.
Basics to you and me, but to that new Mason, we hope this helps to make them feel instantly more comfortable in their Lodges. Worshipful Brother Jacob Schultz, our Membership Chair, will talk more about that and some other exciting things we are working on a little later.
Our external focus will continue to be on the Acts of Kindness and working to equip more first responders with FSTs and AEDs, as well as providing support for other Blue Lodge endeavors. Every dollar raised for the Grand Master’s Appeal will be sent right back to helping our Lodges help their communities.
Appendant Bodies
We also must continue to strengthen the relationships we have with our appendant bodies. They are critically important to the overall health and well-being of our fraternity. They help augment and fill in the gaps of education, leadership training, and camaraderie that Brothers crave.
Appendant bodies give those Masons who are hungry to get more out of this fraternity additional opportunities to gain further light and personal development.
Simply put: Appendant bodies give Masons more chances to be Masons!
A rising tide lifts all boats. If a new Brother becomes a member of an appendant body, they are three times more likely to remain a Mason and five times more likely to serve as Worshipful Master of their Lodge. You simply cannot ignore value-added facts like that!
Brotherly Love
I’m also assigning the five appointed officers – Grand Marshal, Grand Orator, Grand Lecturer, Grand Chaplain, and Grand Tiler – to serve as a committee focused on increasing Brotherly Love outreach within our Lodges.
We have Brothers in our ranks who, sometimes, may need a little extra attention. I know there are Brothers out there suffering. Silently. Proudly. But feeling alone. My Brothers, you are not alone and we are here to help!
This endeavor will be lead by example as it will be chaired by our Grand Marshal, Brother Jan Talaga, the embodiment of Brotherly Love!
Non-Payment of Dues
We also must continue to evolve our mindset when it comes to Non-Payment of Dues.
How un-Masonic is it for us to tell someone “you owe me money so I’m going to kick you out”?
I’m asking all Lodges to contact those former members and offer them dues amnesty. Go after guys who were suspended years ago and offer them a path back. Tell these lost Brothers that if they pay the current year, they are back to being a Brother again.
This is the easiest way for a Lodge to add on to their rolls, right? No degrees needed – these are already our Brothers! If we don’t reinstate them, how much are we really giving back to the community and how much are we truly caring for our Brothers.
Scottish Rite Southern Jurisdiction ran the numbers after making a similar offering to Brothers who had been kicked out for not paying their dues in the past five years. They had a 30% come back rate. Nearly one out of every three guys were willing to give it another chance – they just had to be asked!
So, the answer, my Brothers, to that question posed to me before is YES.
Yes, I’m ready.
I’m ready for us to continue this journey that we are on — together.
I’m ready to travel this state to help our Brothers and our Blue Lodges promote this incredible fraternity we are all so fortunate to be a part of.
I’m ready to work as a TEAM to serve our Brothers in the best possible way we can.
I’m ready to grow this fraternity and share this amazing Brotherhood that we enjoy with new Brothers.
I’m ready to continue to “get caught doing good” in our communities, in our homes, and in our lives.
I’m ready to be the good in the world!
Thank you for this incredible honor – we have hundreds of years of history behind us, but, together, my Brothers, we’ve got an even brighter future ahead of us!
I’m proud to be a Wisconsin Freemason! Aren’t you?!?
I love you, Brothers!
