March 2022:
Returning to the Ritual

Research shows that the biggest differentiator between those who value their membership in the fraternity and stay engaged with their lodge and those who don’t is whether or not they feel they have a meaningful experience at lodge. The ritual plays an enormous role in that—and as such, it’s not just a tool for making Masons. It’s also the tool that keeps the lodge together.

Taking the ritual experience seriously is therefore a key part of fostering and maintaining a successful lodge. Here are a few tips for getting back into the ritual groove. Hint: they may be obvious, but they’re no less true.

Practice, Practice, Practice 

The first piece of advice is obvious: You've got to get your reps in. "Getting back to ritual, it's like we're trying to cold-start an engine," explains Jordan Yelinek, the Assistant Grand Secretary. "Sometimes you've got to try it a couple of times before the engine turns over. But you've got to give it some gas."

• Practice by yourself. It sounds obvious, but with ritual, practice does really make perfect. Take time out of your day to practice the recitations. Stuck in traffic on your way to or from work? Recite the degree to yourself aloud. Have to mow the lawn? The noise of the lawnmower will drown out your recitations so your neighbors don’t hear you! You get the picture.
• Practice as an officer line. Make time for your officer line to work as a team going through the entire flow of a degree ceremony. Floorwork is something that is best practiced in concert with your fellow officers and in the lodge setting. This is where the rubber meets the road and you can combine your well-practiced recitations with coordinated movement.
• Take it in bite-sized pieces. Take this tip from Ricky Lawler: “Don’t try to tackle a complicated section of ritual in one go. Break it down into manageable chunks 

But First, Start Planning

Actually, if being out-of-practice is your lodge's biggest problem, that's a good thing. Because even getting to a place where you can focus on the performance itself takes some serious planning.

• Begin by surveying your lodge's degree needs for the upcoming year. How many applicants are ready to take their Entered Apprentice degree? How many are waiting for the second and third degrees? Don't try to do them all at once. "Give yourself a roadmap," Yelinek says. "And then you can backfill that calendar with rehearsals and practice dates." (For what it's worth, on average, lodges perform about six degrees per year.)
• Be strategic: The Entered Apprentice and Fellow Craft degrees share many similarities. Take advantage of the practice you do for one and schedule your EA and FC degrees close to one another. That way you'll stay sharp and not need to worry about building up to the more challenging third degree until later. 
• Stick to the plan: Once you've built out a calendar to handle all the degrees you need to perform, stick to it. Don't worry about a new candidate who wants to get their Entered Apprentice degree done ASAP. They'll be scheduled for 2023. And that's not a bad thing.
• Look for help. We know that life gets in the way; sometimes it can be hard to find a fill-in if someone is away or can't make a degree. That's why it's a good idea to turn to your fellow officers—either at officer schools of instruction events, or at the Leadership Retreats (it's not too late to sign up!), or through your district inspector. In fact, lodges that co-host the degrees often find it to be a fun and memorable time.
• Look at your bench. Are there Entered Apprentices in your lodge who might relish the opportunity to deliver the charge at the end of another candidates' EA degree? Other members who might like to play a part? Think of the degrees as a way to bring more members into the fold in a meaningful way—and to give the regular crew a little bit of a break. That's a win-win.