Masonic Renewal Committee's Summer ENGAGE Program on Membership: August 22nd

by Christopher Hodapp

UPDATED 7/23/24, 4:25PM: An earlier version of this story gave an incorrect date of this event. It is scheduled for Thursday, August 22nd, 2024 at 8:00PM. My apologies for the error. CH

The Masonic Renewal Committee of the Conference of Grand Masters of Masons in North America will hold its online, summer presentation, ENGAGE24 - Membership: More Than Just A Numbers Game, on Thursday, August 22nd. The program will be given by WB Reed Endersbe, Director of Membership for the Grand Lodge of Minnesota.

Topics will include:

• Relationship Building: The foundation of membership
• Lodge Education: Masonic AND non-Masonic
• Candidate On-boarding: The value of slowing down

The program will be held via ZOOM and will last approximately 30-40 minutes, followed by a 15-20 minute Q&A session. The program will start Thursday, August 22nd at 8:00PM Eastern Time. There's no cost for the program, but you must register beforehand. To register, CLICK HERE.

Meet, Act & Part Podcast Interviews Indiana PGM Roger S. VanGorden

by Christopher Hodapp

The brethren from the Meet, Act & Part Podcast featured a long chat with Indiana Past Grand Master Roger S. VanGorden several weeks ago (Episode 62: Roger Van Gorden). Roger was my first contact with Indiana Freemasonry (back in 1999, during the Pleistocene Epoch when dinosaurs ruled the Earth), but his involvement with the fraternity goes back to his time as a DeMolay. 

If you don't know Roger (or know OF him), he's currently the Active member of the Supreme Council of the Scottish Rite NMJ for Indiana, the Magus for the Indiana College of the SRICF, and most important for this particular discussion, president of the Masonic Renewal Committee of the Conference of Grand Masters of Masons In North America.

Never heard of the MRC? Well, that's partially something Roger and the Committee are trying to change, to make sure grand officers, lodge leaders, and rank and file Masons DO know who and what they are, and how they are providing programs and information to raise awareness of the fraternity. 

Their Masonic Education Resources page alone is well worth taking the time to go through, as it is a collection of programs, lessons, and other practical information collected from all over the Masonic world. Year after year, grand lodges come up with new programs, oftentimes reinventing the wheel over and over, instead of availing themselves of resources that already exist.

Roger also delves into recent research regarding demographic trends, generational differences, and how they affect Freemasons, in particular. Roger turned me on to Robert Putnam's seminal work, Bowling Alone, more than 20 years ago, and he sees great hope in Putnam's most recent studies, The Upswing: How America Came Together a Century Ago and How We Can Do It Again.

Give the show a listen. (And BTW, Bill Hosler, get well soon.)

And you thought all we do in Indiana is sacrifice burnt offerings to the Corn God

by Christopher Hodapp

Nothing momentous with this post. Just memorializing a lunchtime gathering last week of a Dummy, a visiting Idiot, and our Hoosier pals. 

I'm 63 years old. I have to post these things in lieu of having an actual memory.

Left to right: 

• Nathan Brindle, Past Master of Broad  Ripple 643,  former Secretary of more lodges and other Masonic groups than I can possibly recall, PM of the Dwight L. Smith Lodge of Research, and the Secretary of the Masonic Society; 
• S. Brent Morris, celebrated brainbox, recently retired editor of Heredom and the Scottish Rite Journal, resurrectionist of the Masonic Book Club, and author of The Complete Idiot's Guide To Freemasonry, along with many, many other books and articles too numerous to recollect; 
• Heather Calloway, Executive Director of Collections for the entire Indiana University system, longtime House of the Temple curator, board member of the J. H. Rathbone Museum of Fraternal History in Lafayette, Indiana, and head of the newly established Center for Fraternal Collections & Research (CFCR).
• Roger VanGorden, Past Grand Master of the Grand Lodge F&AM of Indiana, founding President of the Masonic Society, and member of the Masonic Renewal Committee of the Conference of Grand Masters; 
• David Hosler, Worshipful Master of Battle Ground Lodge 313 and one of the hardest workin' Masons in Indiana; 
• Some bedraggled-looking Masonic Dummy, author, and editor emeritus of the Journal of the Masonic Society (who apparently combs his hair with a fork); 
• John Bridegroom, Junior Grand Deacon of the GL F&AM of Indiana, Past GM of the Cryptic Masons, designer and proprietor of The Masters Craft, and art director of the Journal of the Masonic Society; 
• Jim Dillman, Past Master of Lodge Vitruvian 767, former president of the Indianapolis Masonic Temple Association, and Past President of the Masonic Society; 
• Jeff Naylor, founding Master of Lodge Vitruvian 767 and Knight of the North.

Just remember: there is no cabal.