The Leader
February 2020: Youth Orders

There’s a secret ingredient available to California lodges that can inject a sense of purpose, energy, and liveliness to even the most listless lodge cultures. Jamie Barr has seen it happen.

When Barr first associated with Newport-Mesa Lodge No. 604 in 2009, he sensed a lack of direction. As the product of Masonic youth orders, he remembered the sense of community and dynamism that came with having a large Masonic family under one roof. So he set out to rekindle those relationships. And in the process, the lodge was able to rediscover its purpose.

As the fraternity prepares for Masonic Youth Orders Month this March—and this spring’s milestone 100th anniversary of Job’s Daughters—Newport-Mesa’s turnaround underscores how important and impactful a meaningful relationship with the youth orders can be.

An Energy Upgrade

“The best part of participating in a Masonic youth order,” Barr recalls, “was the sense of being part of a larger family.” Growing up, Barr had been involved in the Order of DeMolay; his lodge shared space with both a Job’s Daughter Bethel and a chapter of the Rainbow for Girls Assembly. So when he joined the Newport-Mesa Lodge, he and a half-dozen other members set out to reorganize a long-since-defunct chapter of DeMolay. Three years later, a Job’s Daughters Bethel set up shop alongside it. The effect on the lodge was significant.

“For one, our members just smiled more often,” Barr says. “The young people’s enthusiasm was contagious and their leadership was inspiring.” Between six and eight Masons participate on the youth orders’ advisory board, but the entire lodge has gotten behind the partnership and looks forward to the pancake breakfasts, fundraising car washes, and other events the youth orders put on. That support, in turn, has helped increase lodge participation and member engagement—a happy side effect of the sudden infusion of youthful energy into lodge life.

It’s also given the Masons unprecedented access to their broader community. A few years back, when the lodge sought to reinstate an annual teacher appreciation program, it was its affiliation with Job’s Daughters that helped open up relationships with the local school district. Today, the lodge shares a table at back to school nights and open houses with the youth orders. “We’ve attended dozens of events at our local schools—something we never would have been able to do without our youth orders,” Barr says.

Ultimately, though, the increased member engagement and access to the community are just fringe benefits of working with a youth order like Job’s Daughters, he says. “Those things are perks. The real reason Masons should encourage these youth orders is because it is our responsibility to build a better future. What better way to do that than by passing on our core values to the next generation?”