By Grand Master Jeff Schoenfeldt
September was another busy month for your Wisconsin Freemasonry Leadership Team!
We started off the month at a press conference with the Waukesha County Sheriff’s Department where we – along with the Wisconsin Masonic Foundation, Fire Suppression Solutions, and about a dozen Freemasons from the Waukesha area – announced a donation of 43 fire suppression tools (FSTs) and 6 AED defibrillators to the Sheriff’s Department. This donation ensures every single vehicle in their fleet has both life-saving devices at the ready. This was made possible by two generous donations (totaling $60,000!) to the Foundation by non-Masons: people who have seen the good that we do in our communities and wanted to support us in our endeavors.
Also as a result of that donation, Wisconsin Freemasonry and Fire Suppression Solutions worked out a fundraising opportunity for all Lodges to sell small, handheld fire fighting devices (about the size of a can of cooking spray). These are great for putting out small fires – and would make great stocking stuffers for the holidays! Moreover, they will be priced to allow Lodges to sell them for $25 each – resulting in the Lodge making over $12 in profit on each unit sold!
Speaking of FSTs, to date, Wisconsin Freemasons have donated 655 of these innovative fire-fighting devices to first responders all across our state. Of those, 65 have already been used to save lives, pets, and property. That’s an incredible safety impact on our state and something we, as Freemasons, should be very proud of!
The Leadership Team also held their Fall Full Staff Meeting in Madison on September 12-14. We discussed the many projects we have been working on – including the final touches on our electronic petition, some enhancements we’ve made to the DMR process for potential candidates, “onboarding” new Masons into our fraternity, increasing “Brotherly Love” in our Lodges, and the development of additional videos for our online membership campaign. Additionally, the entire Team spent Saturday morning working on community improvement projects at places around Madison, including the VFW, UW Arboretum, Aldo Leopold Trail, and even helping with some projects around our Wisconsin Masonic Center!
I also had the opportunity to attend the Annual Communication for the Grand Lodge of Iowa. I have to admit: I was hesitant to go. It’s nearly an 11-hour drive each way and I wasn’t convinced that my time as Wisconsin Grand Master is well spent in other jurisdictions.
But boy, am I glad I went! Our neighbors in Iowa have been struggling with membership impediments for quite some time. In 2001, Iowa had 28,438 Masons – at the end of last year, they had 10,363; a decline of 18,075 Masons in 23 years or roughly a 64% membership loss. This was due almost entirely to losing Brothers to that house not made by human hands and a failure to recruit new members to replace them. In fact, as of today, over 50% of their current membership is over the age of 70. Since the beginning of this year, 9 Lodges have consolidated because of low membership – that’s one per month. They showed a graph with a projected membership decline to around 4,500 Masons by the year 2039 (84% lower than 2001).
However, last year they decided to follow Wisconsin’s lead and implement an aggressive online marketing campaign. They have already seen results: renewed interest by younger guys wanting to be a part of something bigger, wanting to improve themselves and their community. The moral of the story: hiding our light under a bushel basket and only relying on the outdated “2B1 ASK1” mentality almost resulted in the downfall of Freemasonry in their state. No jurisdiction can or should allow that to happen, which is why our laser-like focus and investment in public awareness and membership recruitment is critically important to our long-term vitality.
My biggest takeaway from Iowa, however, was their Necrology Service. At our Wisconsin AC, we do a “Necrology Report” which sounds too business-like and doesn’t afford our fallen Brothers the respect, mourning, and honor they deserve. So we are going to steal that idea of doing a service to memorialize them instead at our 2026 AC.
I was also honored to be a guest at the Oregon Lodge Past Masters and Service Awards Luncheon, the Janesville Lodge Awards BBQ Picnic, the Wautoma Hawaiian Luau Table Lodge, the Waucoma-Cooksville Oyster Stew Dinner – and we did a very beautiful cornerstone ceremony in Richland Center to honor their Lodge’s namesake, Past Grand Master Keith D. Chamberlain, which was led by Past Grand Masters Davey White, Jr. and Mike DeWolf, both close friends of PGM Keith.
I’m having a great time serving as your Grand Master. It’s an honor to serve you and to represent you; but moreover, it’s an honor to be your Brother. Thank you for being a Freemason – keep being the good in the world!
(Note: the title is a nod to the Earth, Wind, and Fire song “September” and is copyrighted accordingly)
