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Joining Exemplar Lodge
Financial Considerations
Fees can vary from lodge to lodge. Lodge fees are levied according to the following disbursements: Grand Lodge assessment, building assessments (lodge building costs), and the lodge assessment (lodge operating expenses). Exemplar Lodge’s annual dues are $250 and is $165 for out of province members and $200 for brethren over 65.
The Information
If you do not know any Exemplar members, you can contact our secretary/treasurer on the contact page of this website to arrange an initial meeting. He or other members of the lodge will meet with you for a casual conversation about your intentions, answer your questions, and set some initial expectations of you. You will then be invited to attend one of our social events or pre-meeting dinners (called festive boards), where you will be introduced to the members informally. We prefer if you attend a few of these gatherings, casual or not, to get to know the members better. If you still wish to proceed, inform a member who you deem would sponsor you for membership and you may request or be given an official Letter of Information that you need to sign if you wish to proceed.
The Petition
Once the Letter of Information is signed, the secretary or your sponsor will send you an application form or petition, which needs to be completed by you and signed by two members of Exemplar Lodge.
The Investigation
The secretary will then present your petition at a lodge meeting. The Master of the lodge appoints an investigation committee consisting of two or three members who will arrange to meet with you and your significant other (yes, you and your wife or significant other). Though we’re certainly a fraternal organization, we want to ensure that the prospective member’s partner is on-board and doesn’t have any fundamental objections to the fraternity. Though called an “investigation committee”, this is really an informal get-together that allows you and your significant other to ask questions about the fraternity, and assure the lodge that you are eligible to join and haven’t been invited or coerced to join. They will ensure that you are over the age of 21, ask if you believe in a Supreme Being, ask if you are economically solvent, and find out why you want to join a Lodge. It’s an opportunity for you and your significant other to meet a few more members of our lodge, and ask some questions. Typically this meeting is held in your home at a time that is convenient for all concerned.
The Ballot
The next step is for the investigating committee to report their findings at the next lodge meeting. In response to a positive report, a ballot is held at the same meeting. Given a positive ballot, the Master asks the secretary to advise you of the same, and ask you to present yourself at the lodge at a particular date and time.
The Initiation
This date/time is at the call of the Master and will be the date of your initiation into the fraternity, and into Exemplar Lodge in particular. A member of Exemplar Lodge will contact you before your initiation to prepare you for it. You will be required to bring the remaining balance of your annual dues (prorated) to pay just prior to initiation. Preferred dress is a dark business suit. We will ask that you arrive at the hall at least 30 minutes before the start of the meeting that begins at 7:30 p.m. If there is an early festive board, you will be invited to enjoy a meal with the brethren in the downstairs banquet room at 6:30 p.m.
After the lodge formally opens, you will be required to wait patiently for the brethren who have been assigned to prepare and conduct you through the ceremony of your initiation. A typical degree ceremony will take one and a half to two hours to complete.
Once you are initiated, you are an Entered Apprentice Mason (EA) and a member of the lodge . Note: That is not always the case with American lodges, where full membership does not occur until one becomes a Master Mason. As regular meetings are typically held in the First Degree (Entered Apprentice Degree), you can attend meetings and you are entitled to vote on all motions and nominations for office. However, you cannot be nominated or appointed to hold an officer position as these require you to be a Master Mason to operate in all three degrees.
Preparing to be Passed to the Degree of a Fellowcraft (Second Degree):
After your initiation, you will be given a mentoring guide with information relating to the Entered Apprentice Degree (First Degree) and general membership. Therein contained are portions of the Entered Apprentice Degree that you will be required to memorize to the best of your ability, and then recite in open lodge just prior to your Fellowcraft Degree (Second Degree). This includes a catechism of questions and answers and the obligation. Sometimes we have two or more Entered Apprentices who will perform this together by alternating answers and reciting the obligation in unison. You will be assigned a coach to help you through the memory work and the protocols used while a lodge is “at work”. You will be required to attend one or more degree practices (known in the UK as a Lodge of Instruction) to practice the work you have memorized. The practice typically occurs on the second Thursday of the month, a week before your next degree, or earlier, depending on the lodge calendar. There are no fees associated with the degree, but you are asked to again dress in a dark business suit and arrive well before the meeting. This is particularly important if you wish to practice your work one last time before the degree begins.
The timing of your next degree depends on your progress with the memory work and your understanding of the degree. You are not forced to continue if you are not yet comfortable. There is no intention to embarrass or ridicule your effort or ability, however, there is an expectation that you commit to completing the three degrees within a year’s time or less and to attend meetings.
Preparing to be Raised to the Sublime Degree of a Master Mason (Third Degree):
Again, you will be given the next section of material for reading and the memory work to recite prior to the degree.
“Prove-Up”
After the Master Mason Degree (Third Degree), you will be given more material and memory work which you will recite in an open Master Masons lodge. You will then be presented with additional material for your review and perusal on your own time.
How long does this take?
Exemplar Lodge does not rush candidates through the three degrees. There can be anywhere from two or three months (or more) between each of the three degrees. However, if the candidate is ready to continue through the three degrees in consecutive months, the lodge will make every effort to do so.
The entire process beginning from your first communication with a lodge representative to becoming a Master Mason can take up to a year.
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