By The Most Worshipful Grand Master of Masons in Wisconsin, Brother Jeff Schoenfeldt
First and foremost, per last month’s article, I want to thank the Brothers who have reached out to me with how their Lodges currently look after our Masonic Widows – and the Lodges who have began the discussion about doing more! I love all the thoughtful ideas and incredible Brotherly Love!
It’s been another busy month for your Wisconsin Freemasonry Leadership Team! We ended January with a Masonic Home Board Meeting at Three Pillars in Dousman, a Masonic Memorial Service for Past Grand Master Robert Moore in Waukesha, a celebration of 180 years of Freemasonry in Jefferson County complete with a Lodge rededication ceremony, and a chicken and pizza dinner at Ozaukee Lodge in Port Washington – all in the same day! PGM Moore was a tremendous man and Mason – and his service was well represented with Brothers from many parts of the state and different Masonic bodies.
One of the highlights of the month was the Masonic Day of Light (MDOL) hosted by Tripoli Shrine in Milwaukee. The three degree teams all did exceptional work, including Masonic legend Brother Frank McKenna who performed the slide lecture of the MM Degree! At the end of the day, we had 18 more Brothers who are ready, eager, and hungry to be a part of our fraternity – and be the good in the world! I also had the chance to attend West Allis Lodge meeting the night before the MDOL and tell those Brothers how much I appreciate them being Freemasons!
I’ve also been able to spend some time in District 4 Lodges, including Marinette Lodge’s Washington Birthday Celebration, Masonic Light Lodge Meeting in Crivitz, Pine Lodge Meeting in Oconto, and the Marinette Lodge’s Sweetheart Lunch and Shawano Lodge’s Sweetheart Dinner celebrations honoring our ladies, where my Lady, Janelle, also attended. She was also my date to the Waterloo Lodge Valentine’s Day luncheon on February 14th in Jefferson. All excellent friendship and fellowship opportunities!
Members of the Wisconsin Freemasonry Leadership Team also attended the Conference of Grand Masters of North America (COGMNA) held just to our south in Rosemont, Illinois. The three-day event is a chance for Masonic leadership from every state (and other countries) to build relationships, share ideas and experiences, and work together to build a better, stronger fraternity across the country.
My biggest takeaway from the conference is how advanced and innovative Wisconsin is and has been when it comes to public awareness and marketing. Thanks to our incredible Membership Committee over the last five years, Wisconsin Freemasonry has been at the nationwide forefront on membership recruitment and retention. There were literally four or five presentations from other states talking about what they are doing in those two areas where members of our delegation looked at each other and commented how we’ve been doing that for years!
One of the most informative presentations was from the Scottish Rite Northern Masonic Jurisdiction on their continuation and evolution of their “Not Just A Man. A Mason.” awareness campaign. They recently studied 3,500 men under the age of 40 who are not Masons to ask about their perception of Freemasonry and what would get them to join.
57% of the study group felt disconnected from the world. 60% had not made a new friend in the last two years. 63% said they craved more social interaction. When they were “cold asked” about their interest in joining a fraternity such as Freemasonry, 46% said they were somewhat or very interested.
Then, they were given a brief synopsis of what we, as Freemasons, do and who we are: we help others, we form friendships, and we strive for self-improvement. We are men of high moral character, integrity, and purpose with a tradition of serving and supporting our families and our communities. Our Lodges help make connections and bring people together.
After learning more about us, those interested in joining shot up to 64%! Nearly two-thirds of men want to be a part of us after they know more about what we do! What’s more, 77% of the millennials in this study said they would like to join and spend more time in social groups.
The bottom line: the world needs our values – and men want what Freemasonry has to offer. Freemasonry is a living, breathing force of good in our communities. Our values are timeless and we help to shape communities, but only when we are visible and when men know of the good we do.
The cultural moment is perfect: men are tired of the bitter divisiveness of society and the noise of chaos in the world. They are tired of being isolated and feeling disconnected and alone. They want to belong; they want to be a part of something bigger. We have exactly what they are looking for.
The best way for us to respond is to keep raising awareness of who we are and what we do. The best way that you, individually, can help is to keep being the good in the world, my Brothers!
