How to hold a Lodge of Discussion

By W. Bro. Robert W. Gray, Waverley Lodge No.361, Guelph

Getting The Ball Rolling.

Holding a Lodge of Discussion requires only three things:

1. One moderator

2. Two or three willing participants (plants or starters)

3. An idea

If a Worshipful Master is willing to try out a Lodge of Discussion, the rest of the items will fall quite easily into place. The concept is not a complicated one, nor is the execution.

Once the Worshipful Master has agreed to host a LOD (Lodge of Discussion) then the moderator need only find a couple more people to attend and assist him in getting things started. Some discussion on the topics prior to the meeting would be of great benefit as the plants can also serve to keep the conversation going should it start to lag.

The last item on the list is an idea, and here, the sky’s the limit. Topics for discussion are most effective if they run a little closer to the edge. Care should, of course, be taken not to offend any brother, nor cause disharmony in the lodge, but topics that are somewhat controversial in nature tend to generate more lively discussion than those based on the merits of, say, Saltine crackers over Ritz. The following is a list of suggested topics for discussion, though the brethren are free to choose anything they may feel is relevant to their lodge depending on interest levels, demographics and location:

Why not discuss religion in Freemasonry?

Why not discuss politics in Freemasonry?

Why are women not admitted to Freemasonry?

How is Masonry a part of your everyday life?

Why not eliminate the investigating committee and the ballot?

“All The Way In One Day” -- Yes or no?

Is Freemasonry part of the occult?

What are the true origins of Freemasonry?

Why not extend time between degrees?

What are our lodge traditions?

Should Masonry change with the times?

Why Masonry?

Are we failing our newly made Masons?

What is the role of Masonry in today’s society?

Is our dues structure too low?

Do we have to believe in the Hiram Legend?

The Big Night – Implementation In Lodge

There are a few things to keep in mind when holding a lodge of discussion. These are guidelines rather than rules, but they have been developed over the course of a year of trial runs within lodges and come from what has worked best in that time.

1. The Moderator has the most important job of the night. It is his job to introduce the concept, to engage the brethren with the topic and to not only keep the conversation lively and active, but to diffuse any tensions that may arise from differences of opinion. It is absolutely vital that the discussions are conducted in peace and harmony.

2. The topic can make or break the evening and it is a delicate balance between a topic that can be summed up in a few motherhood statements (hockey and apple pie) and one that will divide the brethren.

3. There is no time limit. The Moderator is at liberty to use his judgment based on the agenda for the evening. If the LOD is the only item after General Business, then an hour is not unreasonable. That being said, 10 minutes while the candidate resumes his personal comforts on a degree night may also be sufficient to get the brethren thinking and talking in the banquet room after the meeting.

4. Keep the atmosphere relaxed. The Worshipful Master may grant permission to suspend the use of signs and titles for the duration of the discussion, if he sees fit. Likewise, gentle humour is also a great means of making people comfortable with one another and lessens the distance across the lodge room.

5. Be flexible. Stay on topic as much as possible, but if the general consensus seems to lead down other avenues, don’t be afraid to follow where it leads. It’s a great way to find the pulse of the lodge and that information can be used to structure future discussions.

6. Have fun! Be creative and make the evening one the brethren will tell their friends about.

Keeping The Ball Rolling – Feedback and Follow-Ups

It is a suggested that the Moderator provide feedback forms or questionnaires to the brethren in the anteroom after the meeting. This is an excellent means of gauging the success of the meeting and for plotting the future of LOD’s. Submission of these forms to your District Education Chair (or even a simple email detailing what you have done and how it went) will also assist in better ascertaining what works and what doesn’t.

In A Nutshell…

So there it is in a few simple words. For all of the guidelines above, the greatest is this. Keep it simple! Be conscious of those things which need to be done to make the evening a success, but don’t over-complicate things. It is, after all, simply a conversation amongst the brethren.

So get out there, have fun, get them thinking, and “Let’s Talk Masonry!”

Running a LOD

(in 50 words or less)

By R. W. Bro. David J. Cameron

- select a topic.

- in advance, ask two men to think about the topic, so they can be "plants" and when the conversation flags, say something outrageous.

- have one moderator who presents the topic, gives members permission to talk without formalities (signs, W. Sir,) and keeps order.

- watch the miracle.

Learning by Participation

From The Curriculum Group of

The Committee on Masonic Education

No pleasure, no learning. No learning, no pleasure. Wang Ken, Chinese philosopher

The scene is familiar. We have all been there. The business of the lodge has been completed, minutes read and approved, accounts passed, reports heard, a ballot taken, when the Worshipful Master, trying his best to sound enthusiastic, announces, “Brethren, this evening R.W. Bro. Good Chump (…it is always a senior Past Master or Past Grand Lodge Officer…) will give us some Masonic Education.” The groans from the side benches are scarcely disguised as audible sighs, postures slump, arms are folded, and legs are crossed as the members prepare to endure another lengthy discourse. Heads begin to nod as the well-intentioned Brother reads his carefully prepared script with the same animated verve as the minutes of the last meeting. Little wonder that the traditional approach to “Masonic Education” gets a bad name in the Lodge.

Yet, Grand Masters tell us that “Masonry and Education are synonymous terms” and Grand Lodge Committees on Masonic Education continue to emphasize the crucial role that learning plays in the life of the lodge, the mentoring of candidates, and the retention of active members.

Bergen Evans once defined a College professor as “one who talks in other people’s sleep.” There is a better way. It is suggested in an old Chinese proverb:

What I hear, I forget.

What I see, I remember.

What I do, I know.

Learning is a participation sport. Real understanding requires participation on the part of the learner. We only truly know something when we have applied it, manipulated it, or added to it. Surely there is a lesson to be learned from operative masonry – the rough ashlar requires “hands on” work to polish and perfect it.

Do we not tell every Fellow Craft that he is privileged to express his ‘sentiments and opinions on such subjects as are regularly introduced in the lecture, under the superintendence of an experienced Master … that he may improve his intellectual powers’? That injunction implies that opportunities will be afforded to ask questions and enter into free and open discussion of the meaning of the symbols and allegories embodied in the Rites and Ceremonies we perform, to explore the philosophy of Masonry.

Nothing focuses our attention quicker and clarifies thought better than a pointed question. Socrates, the Athenian philosopher (469-399 BCE), used this method of teaching to question his students The Socratic method or dialectic question and answer remains a most useful pedagogical tool.

Examine the old rituals. They were cast in the form of questions and answers, remnants of which are found in the Openings and Closing of the three Degrees. Over time, these catechisms evolved into the lecture forms used today – the Junior Warden’s Lecture in the First Degree and the Senior Warden’s Lecture in the Second Degree.

The basic concept embodied in Let’s Talk Masonry in Masonic Nights at the Round Table is learning through participation. At a Round Table all places are equal, and all are equidistant from the centre, where Truth may be found. There are no inappropriate questions, and there is no one right answer. All opinions are valid, and there is always more than one interpretation to be considered. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Is there risk in inviting questions? Of course, one must be confident in one’s ability to admit that one may not have the answer. That, however, is the essence and value of putting these questions on the floor, and sharing the benefit of the collective knowledge of all participants. Remember, risk and reward travel side by side. Avoid one and the other will also pass you by. There is truth in the questions posed by Frank Skully: “Why not go out on a limb? Isn’t that where the fruit is?” What are we afraid of?

What we discover for ourselves through conversation and discussion, reading and research is always more significant and permanent. To debate the validity of ideas expressed, to test the truthfulness of what we read, to make up one’s own mind what is true – these are the most effective means of enlightening the mind. “To repeat what others have said, requires education; to challenge it, requires brains.” – Mary Pettibone Poole, A Glass Eye in a Keyhole (1938)

Of course it’s easier to stand up and read a paper that has been prepared. There is no question that there is a place for lectures, addresses and papers. Much can be learned from eloquent scholars and skilled orators. We do not all learn in the same way. Astute and capable Worshipful Masters will employ a variety of means to instruct their Brethren in Masonry. A well-conducted Lodge of Discussion when pertinent questions are posed and considered will never be a boring night at Lodge.

Adapted from The Newsletter, Vol. 20 No. 4

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