July 2025:
Is Your Lodge Ready for Prospects?
First off, congratulations to everyone who participated in last month’s #WeAreMasons social media challenge. The results of that three-week campaign are in, and they look great: More than 500 hashtag mentions, 27,000 likes, and a reach of 3.4 million users. This year’s effort generated our most engagement to date. As a result, more than 150 prospects reached out to us to inquire about membership.
Our Provincial Grand Master of Mark Master Masons - Berkshire is on his travels again. Today he is accompanied by a number of Berkshire Mark Masons attending the Provincial meeting of The Provincial Grand Lodge of Mark Master Masons of Surrey.
Our PGM said "A very good turnout from Berkshire for the Surrey Provincial meeting. Our own V.W.Bro. Steve Berkshire will be Installed as an Assistant PGM.
Its is lovely to see our PGM accompanied and supported by The Provincial Grand Master for Berkshire Freemasons. This demonstrates the close link we have to the Craft.
berkspgl markmasonshall unitedgrandlodgeofengland
#berksmark #berkshirefreemasons #MakeYourMark #PGM #WeAreMasons
🎉 Happy Birthday, Bro. Ray Wall! Wishing you more life, prosperity, and peace! #WeAreMasons #PHA #PrinceHall
New banners for our float in the Bandon Cranberry Festival Parade!
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#bandonmason #bandonlodge130 #masonry #masonic #freemasonry #freemason #wearemasons #oregonmasonry #oregonfreemasonry #bandonoregon #cranberryfestival
The stickers are here!! Want one? Come and visit!
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#bandonlodge130 #bandonmasonictemple #bandonmasons #mason #masonry #freemason #freemasonry #wearemasons
AHillah Shrine at the Bandon Cranberry Festival Parade!
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#hillahshrine #shriners #bandonoldtown #bandonmasons #bandonoregon #cranberryfestival #wearemasons #oregonmasonry #oregonfreemasonry
✨ Big night ahead for the Craft! ✨
Join us as we welcome Mr. Abraham Silva on his journey into Freemasonry at his Entered Apprentice Degree.
📍 Historic Fresno Masonic Lodge No. 247
🥂 Appetizers at 6PM
🔨 Degree at 7PM
📅 Wednesday, September 24th, 2025
Come support a new Brother as he takes his first step in the Light! 🌟
#FresnoLodge #EnteredApprentice #MasonicLight #Brotherhood #Freemasonry #SquareAndCompass #HistoricFresnoLodge247 #MasonicJourney #Masons247 #FirstDegree #WeAreMasons #BrothersByChoice
Famous Freemasons Friday !
The second of this Month’s Famous Freemason Friday we are looking at Bro Audie Murphy, born on the 20th June 1925 in Kingston a small rural community in Hunt Country northeastern Texas. was an American soldier, actor, and songwriter. He was widely celebrated as the most decorated American combat soldier of World War II and has been described as the most highly decorated soldier in U.S. history. He received every military combat award for valour available from the United States Army, as well as French and Belgian awards for heroism. Murphy received the Medal of Honor for valour that he demonstrated at the age of 19 for single-handedly holding off a company of German soldiers for an hour at the Colmar Pocket in France in January 1945, before leading a successful counterattack while wounded and out of ammunition.
During an acting career spanning from 1948 to 1969, Murphy made more than 40 feature films and one television series.
Bro Murphy was Initiated into North Hollywood Lodge No. 542 on the 14th February 1955, Passed to the Second Degree on the 4th April 1955 and Raised to the Third Degree on the 27th June 1955. He later joined Heritage Lodge No. 764 on the 14th May 1957.
Bro Murphy, died on May 28, 1971, Murphy was killed when the private plane in which he was a passenger crashed. At the time of his death, he had been recently awarded of honorary 33rd degree. His medals and awards are on display at the Dallas Scottish Rite Temple Museum, he is buried in the Arlington National Cemetery the headstones of Medal of Honor recipients buried at Arlington National Cemetery are normally decorated in gold leaf, however Bro Murphy previously requested that his stone remain plain and inconspicuous,
#freemasonsci #Freemasons #history #freemasonry #WeAreMasons #together #famous #brothers
A screenshot of Bro.John McCormick’s computer while Sohos Jim Hall talks to the 26th district of Pennsylvania about visibility five years ago! Here John and Jim talk about this and more on Episode 119: Traveling In Pennsylvania!
www.TravelingManPodcast.com
#BeLegendary #Podcast #IgniteTheLight #JourneyOn
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#WeAreMasons #freemason #freemasonry #2b1ask1 #masonic #bluelodge #mastermason #square #compass #squareandcompass #UGLE #podcasting #travelingman #brotherlylove #brother #yorkrite #princehall #eastpalestine417 #chapter #commandary #shriner #grotto #mason #scottishrite #freemasons #brotherhood
That last point is key, because beginning this month, the Grand Lodge will be running its third annual awareness campaign on Facebook, Instagram, and—for the first time, LinkedIn. As current members, you aren’t being asked to do anything for this effort, and in fact you may not even encounter it on social media. However, it’s important to know that it’s running for 10 weeks through September, because in years past, this program has led to more than 3,000 new prospects entering the system. That, in turn, led to the greatest number of applications to lodges in a decade.
All of which means it’s once again shaping up to be a busy season for local lodges.
How can lodges prepare for a crush of inquiries? Here are a few key steps.
- Appoint a Lodge Prospect Manager: Last year, the Grand Lodge introduced this new lodge officer position, to be appointed by a lodge’s prospect committee chair. They are responsible for managing all inquiries in iMember, reaching out to prospects, maintaining communication with them, providing monthly prospect reports to the executive committee, leading efforts to convert prospects into applicants, and more. For more on this position, review the Prospect Manager Association report here.
- Review Best Practices: Michael Roberts, the Grand Lodge manager of membership and lodge development, has established a series of best practices for reaching out to and maintaining connection with lodge prospects. Among them: Don’t rely on one communication channel. An email is easy to miss; a voicemail may go unchecked. Make sure you’re reaching prospects where they are, whether that’s text, WhatsAapp, or even snail mail.
- 1-2-3-4-5: Remember the “Take 5” method. One prospect should have two hosts at the lodge, who should welcome the prospect to three get-to-know-you meetings, which should be followed by invitations to a minimum of four lodge events. The whole process should take five months.
Register today for one of the upcoming Grand Lodge-led training sessions for the new iMember Accounting system. Get trained this summer! As of December 31, Intacct will begin charging a $10,000 fee for lodges and halls still on the platform. Members of the Grand Lodge Finance team will lead these free, online webinars to help get you started. This new system is made by and for Masons—and it’s entirely free.
Here's what you can expect:
- Simplified Accounting for Everyone: With an intuitive, member-friendly interface, you don’t need to be a finance expert to manage your lodge’s books.
- No More Double Entry: The system integrates directly with iMember’s online payments, meaning dues payments automatically appear.
- Improved Transparency and Access: More lodge officers can now access real-time financial reports, increasing visibility and collaboration.
- Significant Cost Savings: The new iMember Accounting System is free to lodges and hall associations. Starting next year, lodges that stay with Intacct will have to pay market rates—up to $10,000 per entity.
Register now for the upcoming training sessions on Monday, July 28 (11:30 a.m.) and Thursday, July 31 (6 p.m.).
A remarkable aspect of “lodge life” is that it is intergenerational. For many, intergenerational interactions are limited to their work lives and time spent with their immediate families. Yet, in lodge life, it is normal to spend hours of one’s free time each week with folks of different generations.
I was lucky to join my home lodge in 2002. Men from the Baby Boomer generation through the Greatest Generation attended meetings then. As I confronted the challenges of my life through the years, those men would share their perspectives with me. As part of that intergenerational exchange, we (the then-younger men) would share how our challenges with particular milestones were different. My favorite example of this is when, at table lodge, I asked a Silent Generation brother how many diapers he had changed in his whole life, and then asked our newest member how many diapers he had changed just that week. These types of exchanges allowed us to better understand each other. We could discuss, for example, the principles of fatherhood, and then learn how those principles manifested in our respective acts of fatherhood (with many of the differences being largely dependent on the happenstance of one’s birth year).
This intergenerational dialogue is profoundly different when it is between Masons because they regard each other as brothers. A man of an older generation is my brother just as a man of a younger generation is my brother. At lodge, intergenerational dialogue is a form of peer learning, except that one’s peers are not defined by age but by the obligation to follow the craft’s principles. Because we are “on the level,” advice from a brother (regardless of his age) becomes whispered counsel from a good friend who only wants the best for me; and I am grateful for it.
—David Ferreira, Grand Chaplian
Use this content to spread the word about resources provided by the California Masonic Foundation, the Masonic Homes of California, and more.
Masonic Health Services:
Services at MCYAF Across the Lifespan
The Pavilion at the Masonic Homes
Masonic Homes of California Resources
Masonic Philanthropy:
July Officers' Checklist
Stay on track of lodge business and prepare for important deadlines. Here’s your July checklist.
Senior Warden, along with Executive Committee
- Identify and approach members for 2025 open elected and appointed officer positions.
- Identify and approach members for the 2025 Audit, Membership Retention, and any other committees.
- Set calendar for 2026 and identify event leaders.
- Continue preparing 2026 budget.
- Set installation date and approach installing officer, master of ceremonies, and chaplain.
- Review all candidates’ progress towards advancement.
- Introduce and vote on the Membership Restoration Campaign at a stated meeting to invite suspended members back into the fold.
Junior Warden
- Continue tracking 100 percent officer giving to the Annual Fund, with officers setting an example through gifts that represent their capability as well as their commitment to our charitable programs.
- Introduce and vote on the Membership Restoration Campaign at a stated meeting to invite suspended members back into the fold.
Secretary
- Begin preparing semi-annual report of membership activity, due in August.
- Introduce and vote on the Membership Restoration Campaign at a stated meeting to invite suspended members back into the fold.
Treasurer
- If your lodge has employees, file quarterly federal payroll tax form 941 (unless IRS has approved an annual filing of form 944, due in February),
- If your lodge has employees, file quarterly state payroll tax form DE9/DE9C and deposit form DE88.
- Using the Paychex Payroll system? Paychex will complete and file the above quarterly payroll tax returns for you. Make sure to process your payroll in the Paychex Payroll system on a monthly/regular basis.
- Begin preparing semi-annual financial report, due in August. Still using Intacct? The report is available and auto-generated from the Intacct system. Make sure your financial transactions are recorded in Intacct and your bank accounts are reconciled. If you need assistance to update your financial records in Intacct, contact Financial Services at (415) 292-9170 or financialservices@freemason.org.
Hall Association
- Begin preparing semi-annual report, due in August.
Questions? Contact Member Services at memberservices@freemason.org or (415) 776-7000.
Last month, we asked whether your lodge was prepared to handle incoming prospects. Of those who replied,
- Yes - 87%
- No - 13%
- Reasons - No welcoming/prospect committee, prospect manager, trouble scheduling degrees, very few active members, of those many are up in age