Can Freemasonry Adapt To Change?

by Tom Egglcston, MPS  (Iowa)

As many of you know, I came to Washington this morning
from Salt Lake City, Utah, where the Conferences of
Grand Masters and Grand Secretaries were held. Needless
to say, those Conferences are an impressive gathering
of Masonic leaders.

However, and I hope I can convince you of how very
strongly I feel about this--it is no more important
than this group that is gathered here this evening.

This time next year--95% of those Grand Masters will be
Past Grand Masters. By contrast, when this group meets
in 1991, you will all--God willing--be back in your
respective roles as "Lovers of Truth," which was
Aristotle's definition of the name of your organiza-
tion--Philalethes. You will be back in your roles as
sterling Masonic authors, lecturers, and as
distinguished members and fellows of the time-honored
and prestigious Philalethes Societyl Your membership
list reads like a Who's Who of the Masonic Fraternity
and I am proud and honored that you have asked me to
fill this important slot in your An nual Assembly and
Feast.

As the son of a College Professor, I suppose you would
expect me to be comfortable with the word
"Lecturer"--and I am--just as long as it isn't used in
con nection with my name. But each time, these past
several months, when I have read in The Philalethes
that Tom Eggleston is to be the guest lecturer at the
1990 Annual Feast--I have been terribly
uncomfortable--I am not a lecturer. Nor am I an
entertainer. I'd rather compare myself with a
cross-eyed discus thrower. I don't set many rec-
ords--but I keep the crowd alert. I hope you'll
remember that, during the next 28 minutes, as I attempt
to explore your personal attitude toward change and,
hopefully, lower your R.T.C. factor (R.T.C.--those
three letters stand for Resistance To Change). I also
hope to be able to arouse your Masonic enthusi asm
and, in order to do that, it's necessary for the
speaker to be enthusiastic. And I am enthustastic.--I'm
enthusias tic about love. I'm enthusiastic about
faith. And I'm enthusiastic about Freemasonry. I have
definite feelings about those three things--they're
very impor tant in our world. They're important
because too many people are confused about what real
love and real faith are, and they're too sophisticated
to show their true feelings and display any real
enthusiasm about anything. On love, I plead guilty of
loving my Lord, my family, my Country, and Freemasonry.
On faith, I don't know what tomorrow holds, but,
brothers, I know who holds tomorrow and so I approach
it with con fidence and thanksgiving. And I hope that
27 minutes from now, nobody in this room will doubt my
enthusiasm for Freemasonry.

I want to thank you for your patience during that 3
minutes of trivia. They may not have been important to
you, but they were very necessary to me.

Not only did they allow me to express my appreciation
and esteem of this group--they also allowed me to
settle the butterflies and get my feet on the
ground--and now--I believe I'm ready to address my
chosen topic--

Can Freemasonry Adapt To Change?

Shortly after speaking to this august group in 1989,
your guest lecturer, Jack Kelly (Past Grand Master from
Texas) delivered the keynote address for the Midwest
Conference on Masonic Education in Cedar Rapids,
Iowa. Jack's key note subject was "What Price
Survival?"

I have to agree with Jack's opening words that
day--"Survival--that word has a desperate 'Grab for the
life jackets sound.' "

He then went on to say--"Freemasonry's survival in
the last decade of the 20th Century depends entirely on
its ability and willingness to change."

Before going any further, I want to tell you that I
have not come here carrying the formula of changes
that will turn the lifeline of our Fraternity around. I
don't have that formula. I've already told you that I
want to explore your personal attitude toward change
and to lower your R.T.C. factor.

I also want to spend the last several minutes of our
visit telling you of several changes that have taken
place in Iowa and of their effect on our lifeline. To
start that exploration of your attitude, I'd like to
have you try a little experiment with me. FOLD HANDSI

At one stage in the preparation of this talk--I spent
some time trying to think of--the most useless thing in
the world! I thought of a speed boat in the desert, a
refrigerator at the North Pole, a lawn sprinkler in a
rain forest, a case of champagne at a Southern Baptist
wed ding, 33 gallons of kool-aid at a Shriner's
picnic! All these things--trying to imagine the most
useless thing in the world--and then, one day, I found
it- in the middle of a park in Cedar Rapids, I found
the most useless thing in the world. Under the leafy
branches of a shade tree--it was a sundial--a sundial
in the shade--the most useless thing in the world.

Here was that sundial, failing to function at the
potential and level for which it was created. And I
thought how very often we're just like that--as men--as
businessmen--as Masons--as leaders- Sundials in the
Shade. Failing to produce at the highest possible
level- because--because we can't--or won't- or are
absolutely--positively opposed to change!

A few more examples of sundials in the shade--if you
please--

* A Masonic leader without a sense of humor!l

* A Masonic leader that lacks courage!

* A Masonic leader that doesn't have the quality of
compassion! and finally--as I mentioned a minute ago--

* A Masonic leader who is unwilling to accept and
consider change!

Brethren, I feel very strongly that the membership
problems that we are fac ing--are very directly tied
to the number of Masonic sundials in the shadel

Probably the most powerful words concerning change
within our Fraterni ty come from the Ancient Charges
that are presented to each Worshipful Master upon his
installation. "You admit that it is not within the
power of any man or any body of men to make changes or
innovations in the body of Freemasonry." We've said it
and heard it so often that it's almost gospel.

Brethren, I stand before you this evening to remind you
that change is the natural order of things. Organiza-
tions, businesses, and governments that realize that
and, after careful study and consideration, willingly
alter their courses and adapt to new conditions, will
achieve success.

On the other hand, those that refuse to accept the
realities of changing con ditions and to take
appropriate action will stagnate and eventually wither
and disappear. And there is absolutely no reason to
think that Masonic Lodges and Grand Lodges can escape
the reali ties of that same law!!

Some time ago, Chief Justice Warren Burger, in
addressing the American Bar Association, quoted the
great Masonic writer and jurist, Dean Roscoe Pound of
the Harvard Law School, as saying in 1906, "The Courts
of the 20th Century cannot operate on the laws of the
l9th Century." My brethren, are we so at tempting to
operate our Fraternity in the last decade of the 20th
Century? Now, I'm not about to say that we need to
change just for sake of change itself.

What I am saying is that--We need to take a good close
look at where we've been and where we're heading and,
if we make that study--it must be clear that something
must be done to correct that course.

And, if a need for change is indicated--we must be
ready--willing--and able to accept and adjust to those
changes.

The second thing that we must realize is that this
Fraternity has been changing since its very inception.
Had it not been for changes from within the Fraternity
--very few of the brothers in this room at this minute
would even be here   and the reason you wouldn't be
here, is that you wouldn't even be Freemasons.

I have no intentions of insulting your intelligence or
taking your time in reminding you from whence we came--
rather, I want to pick it up from that point and remind
you that, as the demand for operative stone masons
lessened and their guilds started to show a
decline--our ancient operative brethren changed their
admission rules and began to admit non-operative (or
specu lative) members from the better classes of their
communities. And from that change came your right, and
your right, and your right to wear that Square and
Compass that tells the world you are a Freemason.

Before leaving that particular important time in our
history--just try to imagine (if you possibly can)--the
trauma that must have been connected with that change!
My brethren, Freemasonry has continued to change and
we had better admit to ourselves that more change is
necessary if we are to solve our membership problems.

I don't mean to imply that quality isn't important,
because it is--but membership is important too. And
should it appear that change is necessary to imporve
both areas--perhaps we need to seriously consider some
change. I've taken 12 minutes of your time and, while I
have talked about "change," I still haven't even made
an attempt to answer the question--"Can Freemason ry
Adapt To Change7"

Brethren, had that same question been asked five short
years ago, I would have, in all honesty, had to reply
with a resounding--"No, I don't believe it can." But, I
have been greatly encouraged with what I have seen in
the last five years. (It's too bad we had to wait those
five years straining to see the light we were told was
at the end of the tun nel and waiting for the pendulum
to swing back the other way--on its own.) But the
changes I have seen in the last five years in your
Jurisdiction and in mine have convinced me that--even
though there are still those that will live and die
with the--"We can't change that" attitude, there are
more and more influential, dedicated, hard-working
Masonic leaders countering with the question--"Why
not?" and their voices are being heard! I am also
convinced that a large majority of our subordinate

Lodge leaders (and brethren, that's the group that
determines the rate of change in my Jurisdiction) a
large majority of them are ready--willing--and able to
accept and adjust to change. They have actually changed
the vision of their Lodges to the point that they are
actively pursuing what could be or what must be,
rather than what has been.

And brethren, because of that change of
vision--Freemasonry is more revelant to the times in
which we live. It's better, and it's stronger than it
was when we found it...And if you don't believe that
last statement--if you don't believe, with all your
heart that because of your efforts, Freemasonry is more
rele vant and better and stronger than when you found
it then perhaps you need to sit down and re-evaluate
your personal relationship with Freemasonry. Perhaps
too--if you don't believe those things and if you are
still looking for that light at the end of the
tunnel--just maybe you should at least consider
lowering your R.T.C. factor and jump on the bandwagon
because--as the Grand Master in my jurisduction is say-
ing--Freemasonry is on the move!

And as reluctant as you may be to accept the changes
that are taking place- Masonry is not going to stop or
even slow down to wait for you. As Masonic leaders
searching for changes that will be beneficial and
helpful to our Craft- we must be willing to stand up
and allow ourselves to be counted on the "Why Not?"
side. (Even though some of our very best friends are
still chanting--"We can't change that." (We must feel
comfortable, both in our minds and in our hearts, that
the "change"

* Has been carefully planned and researched.

* That it will, in fact, make a favorable difference.
And--

* That it will not harm, or hurt, or defame our great
and Gentle Craft.

And finally, my brethren Regard less of what those on
the "We can't change that" side are saying--We, as
Masonic leaders in search of change, must not feel one
ounce of guilt associated with our recommendations.
Nor should we feel we are diminishing the importance of
Masonry. We must feel that Masonry will be better and
more important because of the change we seek. And if
the change you are supporting, fails that test--Then,
the change is not worthy of your support. We are not
traitorous to our Landmarks. Nothing can last forever
unchanged. Just as those who drafted the United States
Constitution provided for amendments (and many have
been added), so, also, must our Constitution be kept
up-to-date so that it reflects the needs of our member
and the needs of the society in which wr live.
Regardless of how we change, on thing will never
change. We are forever a brotherhood of men bound
together by an unfailing belief in a Supreme Being and
evidenced by the care and friendships we develop that
last over all time. Your role in this process is
evident. Without your support of the vision, nothing
great is possible. Because we recognize that our sons
are not willing to join our Fraternity and we know it,
we should also acknowledge that we, not they, must
change.

We have made commitments to our community, to our
chosen professions, and to our children at levels never
dreamed of. We have found our days chocked full of
opportunities and challenges and, consciously or uncon-
sciously, we have agreed that only orga nizations that
support all of these needs are worth supporting.

Masonry, we have discovered, has much more to offer
than many other organizations. We have also learned
that, virtually, no one knows who we are, or what we
do, or has the slightest idea how to join and brethren
that must change!

We know precisely that one American male in five would
be interested in joining an organization that meets
his spe cific needs. We know that one adult male in
five will seek out an organization that will involve
him in fraternity, community, and charity...give him
opportunities to lead and include his family in the
process. We also know, that any organization that does
not keep these needs in mind is doomed.

Allow me to spend the remaining time that I have in
telling you of some changes that have taken place in
Iowa recently and of their effect on our membership
profile.

"From time immemorial"--boy there's a familiar
phrase--"From time immemorial"--it has been a cardinal
sin a Masonic offense--a breach of our precious
landmarks (if you listened to some)--to nudge,
encourage, ask, suggest, entice, or invite--and, sin of
all unforgivable sins--we should never- (Here comes
that four-letter word) we should never solicit anyone
to be a Mason.

Raymond C. Ellis, the Senior Past Grand Master of New
York, very succinctly said, "This tradition and
custom has become encrusted with the barnacles of
antiquity, in the light of the day in which we now
live. It most certainly should be reconsidered--and
particu larly as it applies to young men." He said it
loud enough and convincingly enough that brethren in
the Heartland started asking, "Why not?" And in spite
of those still suffering from the "You can't change
that" syndrome, our law on solicitation was changed to
include the following words--"there is no objection to
encouraging a man who is considered to be a suitable
candidate for Freemasonry. After the procedure for
obtaining membership is explained, the potential
candidate should be left to make his own decision and
come of his own free will.

We developed a handsome, first class, four-color
brochure--called it "Opening the Doors to
Freemasonry"- made them available to all Masonic
bodies in Iowa and to all of our Lodges and last year,
we changed our Petition for the Degrees, leaving out
the phrase, "unbiased by friends and unin fluenced by
mercenary motives." If any of you would like a copy of
our new brochure or our new Petition--I have a supply
here at the podium, and you may pick them up at the
close of the evening's festivities.

We also took a good hard look at the amount of memory
work that Iowa required of its candidates before
advancing them to the next degree. Several brothers
went to work and a brand new Proficiency Examination
was developed for each degree. The new system was
proposed to the Grand Lodge delegates in 1988 and was
very narrowly defeated. It was brought back to the
delegates at the 1989 Annual Communication and was
adopted. Since that September 1989 Annual
Communication, we have worked very hard promoting our
new Proficiency System.

Our Grand Master wrote personal letters to over 900
brethren who had stalled out after receiving their
Entered Apprentice Degree expressing his personal
interest in this matter and advising them of the new
shortened proficiency. We are excited by the number of
brethren who are returning to their Lodges,
completing their degrees, and becoming Master Masons.

I know, personally, of nearly a dozen young
professional men, men that any Masonic Lodge in the
Country would be proud to have on their membership
roll, whose interest in our Gentle Craft was renewed by
this new Proficiency System and they have returned to
Lodge and completed their degree work (and several of
them are serving in line offices). I don't want to
under-estimate the importance of our beautiful
Ritual. It is very necessary and I would hasten to add
that not one single word or movement in our Ritual was
changed in our reduction of rote memory work. A high
standard of ritualistic proficiency is still of vital
im portance and always will be. However, excellence in
the Ritual should not be regarded as the primary
purpose of our brotherhood--there is more to Freema-
sonry than that!

In addition to scraping the barnacles off of our
restrictions on solicitation, the development of our
"Opening the Doors to Freemasonry" brochure and our
21st Century Petition, and reducing the amount of
required rote memory work our Grand Lodge has taken
severai other exciting steps on the path that leads to
the 21st Century.

Under the dynamic leadership of Grand Master L. Ray
Chamberlin, our Grand Lodge has entered into the field
of video. Now, I'm not talking about hand-held cam
corder home videos. I'm talking about professionally
directed and produced videos. The very first one is
just being distributed and it was designed for our
Lodges to use at Friendship Nights. The second video is
due to be filmed next month and it tells the story of
the History of the Grand Lodge of Iowa. Videos on the
drawing board include those for Leadership Training and
Motivation--Candidate Instruction, and still another
that can be taken to the home of a prospective
candidate and shared with him and his lady.

Speaking of the ladies--the lady of each newly
Initiated Entered Apprentice in Iowa receives,
directly from Grand Master Chamberlin, a copy of our
exciting and attractive new brochure, "To The New
Mason's Lady." Because, brethren--if we can't capture
the interest and encouragement and support of that new
Mason's wife--if we're going to smother her with com-
ments of how secret her husband's Masonic activity is
going to be--we're not going to hold his interest too
long. But with her support and encouragement, there is
no limzt to what that man can contribute. "What are the
results of all this 'hype in the Heartland?" you're
ask ing. Well, that's the most exciting part of this
whole chapter. We've just done a comparative study of
1989 degree statis tics over 1988. And our 1989
Initiations were 8 1/2% greater than in 1988. And
there were 12.73% more Master Masons raised in 1989 than
in 1988. Not any earth-shaking turn-around--but it is
an increase in Initiations and Raisings and that's
something we haven't seen in our Jurisdiction for a
long time.

How many of you are familiar with the Barton Gillet
survey that was conducted last year? How many
remember that portion of the survey that showed a
greater interest, nationally, in joining among men
under 45 than those 55 and older? How many of you
actually believe that statement--that there is a
greater interest in Masonic membership among those
under 45 than those over 55?

Well, let me share one more fact that we gleaned from
those 1988-89 Iowa degree statistics. Of the 544 1988
Initiates in Iowa, 422 (77%) of them were between the
ages of 18 and 45. The largest number of those 422
Initiates, 102 of them, were between the ages of 31 and
35. The next largest number-99 were between the ages
of 36 and 40. A few minutes ago, I invited you all to
come up to the podium and pick up one of our "Opening
the Doors to Freemasony" brochures and our new 21st
Century Petitions for membership and I hope many of you
accept that invitation.

Please don't feel that, when you come up here, you have
to tell me what a good job I've done tonight--and you
don't have to tell me if I did a lousy job either. All
I want you to do is to come up and say the four most
important words in Masonry today--I believe in me! Be-
cause if we're going go be effective Masonic Salesmen
(and there are people who raise their eyebrows when I
use that phrase too--but I'm going to repeat it--If
we're going to be effective Masonic Salesmen--we've
got to start believing in ourselves and in our product!
Will Rogers said it--"You can't start a furnace with
a snowball--If you're going to be successful in
business or in politics or in Family life--if you're
going to be successful--you have to do three things--

You have to know what you're doin'

You have to love what you're doin'

You have to believe in what you're doin'."

That's one of Masonry's greatest needs in 1990 . Before
we can ever hope to grow--we need to have Masons who
be lieve in Freemasonry and in them selves--cause, if
you don't believe in yourself--you're not going to make
any one else believe in you.

Brothers, it's been the biggest thrill of my Masonic
life to address you this evening and I want to thank
you. You've been a fantastic audience. I'm sure each
and every person in this room feels that he sees at
least one area of change that would benefit our
Fraternity in the coming l990s. I know I do and that
change, strangely enough does not involve changing
any of our rules, our traditions, or our Landmarks. It
involves change in our Personal Masonic Attitudes and
is best reflected by an old story about an old man, a
very wise old man. And I hope you'll all remember the
lesson that's taught by this story, because it's
important in 1990. It's important to us as Americans
and it is especially important to us as members and
leaders of our Masonic Fraternity.

Once upon a time, there was a wise old man that lived
up in the hills in Tennessee. And this old man had the
beautiful and unusual talent of clairvoyancy and he
was always able to tell any of the youngsters from his
hillside community just exactly what they had in their
clenched fist or even their pockets. But in every
community, there is always one scallywag, one
borderline delinquent, one who is always getting
himself into trouble and pulling the others into
trouble along with him. And there was one such person
in this community. One day, he gathered his col-
leagues around him and he said, "Fellers, I've got an
idea how we can fox that old man up on the hill. He
thinks he's so smart." He said, "We're going out in the
woods and we'll catch us a bird and we'll go up to the
old man's cabin and we'll knock on the door and when he
comes to the door, I'll hold the bird up in my fist and
I'll say, 'What have I in my hand, old man?' And he'll
guess right, he always does. He'll say 'It's a bird.'
But then I'm going to say 'Yes, old man, but is it dead
or is it alive?' And if he says 'It's dead,' I'll just
open my hands up and let it fly away And if he says,
'It's alive,' I'll just crush it to death before I open
my hands up

Well, the boys went out in the woods they got their
bird; they went up to the old man's cabin; they knocked
on the door; the old man came to the door and the young
man held the bird up in his hand, and he said, "What
have I in my hand, old man?" Without any hesitation,
the wise old man of the mountains said, "Why, it looks
like you've got a bird there, boy." "Yes," he said,
"but is it dead or is it alive?" Once again, the wise
old man of the mountains, without any hesitation,
replied, "It is in you hands, my son, it is as you
will."

So it is in 1990, my brethren, Will things like
freedom, democracy, our public schools, the churches
that we attend, the businesses that we run, and this
fantastic Masonic Fraternity.

We can love these things and nourish them and they'll
flourish and fly like they've never flown before. Or we
can starve them and we can neglect then and they'll
die. It is exactly as the wise old man of the mountains
said, "It is your hands."

Thank you, brethren.