The vertiginous drop in the number of freemasons in the U.S.
is a phenomenon known to french freemasons
On the other hand, french freemasons are less aware of the efforts of the american GG∴LL∴
to remedy this situation
This is why it is interesting to refer
to a communication from Br∴ Michael Halleran,
former G∴M∴ of the G∴L∴ of Kansas
made during the XIVth World Conference
of the Regular GG∴LL∴
This conference took place from 18 to 21 November 2015
in San Francisco California
Br∴ Halleran reminds us that this is not the first time
that american freemasonry as a whole has faced
a dramatic decline in its number of members
The anti-Masonic period from 1828 to 1838
(particularly following the Morgan affair and that I mentioned in this video)
the stock market panic of 1873,
the great depression of the 1930s, etc.,
caused a decline, sometimes radical,
in membership of Freemasonry
Each time, the masonic Order managed to recover from these slow periods,
enjoying a good reputation within american society
The GG∴LL∴ were able to find members
without having to implement recruitment policies
traditionally prohibited by masonic principles
because freemasonry is not proselytizing
But since the 1960s,
the decline in enrolment has become more sustainable
It has led the american GG∴LL∴
to openly question the recruitment ban.
According to a majority of these GG∴LL∴,
it was useless to wait for men to apply for masonic mysteries
spontaneously, freely and voluntarily.
On the other hand, it was more important for them
to actively encourage masonic vocations
in people who would never have thought of it
without of a clearly assumed recruitment policy
What Br∴ Dwight L. Smith,
former G∴M∴ of Indiana's G∴L∴,
summarized in 1966 as follows:
"Well, it seems to me that sooner or later
Masonry will have to face reality
and will have to abandon the stupid idea
that a good and highly regarded man in his community
cannot be initiated."
In his communication Br∴ Halleran
analyses the hesitations of GG∴LL∴
to engage in recruitment policies
and then describes the most notable initiatives in this area.
From the 1980s,
there was the "2B1ASK1" program.
This program, despite its merits, has been a failure.
This led GG∴LL∴
to adopt more direct and aggressive recruitment policies in the 1990s
Thus, in 1995, Morris L. Fisher,
G∴M∴ of G∴L∴ Kansas,
challenged the members of the lodges in his jurisdiction in these terms:
"Actively search in your memory for the names
of good men you know...
Ask these people if they are interested in becoming a member of the world's largest brotherhood.
If they express an interest, the door is open
to you to initiate them.
As long as you let them make their own decision,
you are not violating any masonic law."
In just a few decades,
American Freemasonry has therefore gone from a formal prohibition on recruitment
to public statements encouraging recruitment.
This system has reached its peak
with the introduction of two absolutely inconceivable recruitment methods in Europe.
The first is mass recruitment.
It consists for an obedience to encourage its lodges
to initiate intensively and to pool their resources.
he lodges are therefore grouped together to initiate at the same time
and during the same ceremony
dozens, even hundreds of profanes when it is technically possible
Most often, this recruitment is coordinated by the relevant G∴L∴
The profane is initiated mason within a more or less important group.
Then, he continues his journey within his home L∴
usually the one geographically closest to his home
The second method of recruitment is the one-day class
or the initiation to the three symbolic degrees in a single day
The one-day class is often (but not always)
he direct and immediate consequence of mass recruitment.
The largest one-day class in American Masonic history
was organized by Ohio's G∴L∴ on Saturday, April 27th, 2002
after an intense two-month advertising campaign.
Ten cities were mobilized.
From 550 to 570 blue lodges participated.
not to mention the side degrees
About 7700 profanes
were initiated and trained for mastery on the same day !
Imagine the program :
6:15 to 8:00 am, registration.
8:30 am : introduction to the 1st degree ;
10:30 am : reception at the rank of companion ;
12:00 pm : lunch ; 1:00 pm : elevation to the master's degree ;
and from 4:00 pm, for those who wanted it, reception among
the side degrees of the A∴A∴S∴R∴ In a word: insane.
However, mass recruitment
nd one-day class are not practiced by all American GG∴LL∴
Some of them are resolutely opposed to it.
Thirty-five of them have gone for it
(the majority of GG∴LL∴ therefore)
The conclusion of Br∴ Michael Halleran is severe
and will not fail to make some American dignitaries cough :
"The steady decline in membership since 1957
has clearly led the GG∴LL∴ to assume the worst.
It is undeniable that the Brotherhood enjoyed itself during the 20th century
with the construction of sumptuous temples
and other facilities
affirming Masonry in a much more obvious way than in the past
(which is probably another doctrinal shift in itself)
As it became more visible,
the Order made important philanthropic commitments,
which had the concomitant advantage of strengthening the position of Freemasonry among profanes.
Supporting these expenses required a steady growth in membership
A look at the Masonic membership in North America confirme that these efforts have not only failed
but they have dramatically failed.
The resulting progress is statistically insignifiants.
But that does not mean that these doctrinal changes have not had any effet.
The unintended consequences, which are a devaluation of order,
an attack on the initiatory experience and a rupture with
centuries of tradition, have themselves raised problems
that may require new doctrinal changes
to repair the damages."
Although very interesting, Michael Halleran's communication
remains very factual.
It merely describes - without complacency, it is true - the situation of American masonry.
It even shows how excessive it is.
Why have american GG∴LL∴ been confronted
with such an erosion of their members
for so many years that they have been forced
to organize large barnums without any initiatory value ?
Br∴ Halleran doesn't ask the question
It seems, however,
hat a response can be sought in the very activities of american lodges,
which are essentially limited to the practice of rites
and charities
Many american BBr∴enter Freemasonry
as they would have entered a more or less folk club
They get bored there and finally leave as quickly as they came.
Moreover, how can we understand anything about freemasonry
and beauty of the initiation when the new members
can pass, in just two or three days,
from the state of profane to 33rd degree of A∴A∴S∴R∴?
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