How do I become a Freemason and a member of the lodge?

2B1Ask1 (To Be One…Ask One)
The first thing you must do is ask. Our rules and regulations prohibit us from recruiting members or soliciting membership. Thus, you must ask and inquire of your own free will and accord. Aside from asking, you must be 18 years old, believe in a Supreme Being, and have not pled guilty or no contest to or been convicted of a crime of moral turpitude (see explanation here). Knowing Who We Are and What We Do is also good.

Dialogue
Once you have contacted us, a dialogue is in order with one of our Executive Committee members (Lodge leadership). We want to be able to answer any initial questions you may have about the Fraternity and our Lodge and confirm who you are.

Fellowship
You have to get to know us, and we have to get to know you. You need to confirm we are a group of men you would like to associate yourself with, and us you. This can only happen in face-to-face interaction and fellowship.

Application/Petition
Once you have attended enough events (usually at least 4 – 6 events), and come to where you feel this is something that you would like to pursue in your life and you begin to understand how you might be able to serve the lodge, the fraternity and/or society, you may ask for an application. Only an Executive Committee member (Master, Sr. Warden, Jr. Warden, Secretary, Treasurer or Past Master) may grant you a petition. At this time, you will also need to ask two of our members to vouch for you and sign your petition. Hence why it is so important that you have garnered a relationship with us prior to asking for a petition. You will also be asked for two personal character references who are not members of our lodge. There is also a $400 application fee which is due at the time of submission, which consists of some small donations, a background check fee, and costs associated with the lodge conferring the degrees of Masonry upon you. The lodge does not make an income off application fees.

Read Application in Open Lodge
Once you turn in your application, it is read in open lodge at the immediately following State Meeting. At this time, any member in good standing of our lodge may object to receiving your application. If no one objects, the process continues.

Background Check
As long as no brother objects to receiving your application, your information is entered into our Grand Lodge membership system and a background check with the FBI NICS system is performed.

Investigation
Concluded that the FBI NICS system does not come back with any negative marks, three members of our lodge are given a copy of your application and will schedule time with you to continue your investigation. They will meet with you or you and your lady and ask questions as well as answer any questions you may have. This is to confirm that your desire to be a Freemason and a member of our lodge is for the right reasons.

Ballot
When all three of your investigators come back with a favorable report, the lodge then ballots upon your petition at the immediately following Stated Meeting. The ballot must be unanimous.

First Degree
A clear ballot means that one of our executive committee members will contact you that evening or the following day to schedule your first degree.

Timeframe
The usual timeframe from first contact to initiation is anywhere from three to six months. And the usual time to go through and receive the degrees of masonry usually takes anywhere from three to 18 months.

Why do we have this process?
Freemasons have certain rights, benefits and privileges and we want to make sure only men of the highest moral beacon take part in those and our mysteries. In addition, the total man hours it takes to confer the Degrees of Masonry on a single candidate is roughly 200+ hours. We do not want to create card-carrying Masons. We want to raise Masons who have a desire to serve their lodge, the fraternity and society at large as leaders.

Please contact us or fill out the below form for further information.

1 thought on “How do I become a Freemason and a member of the lodge?”

  1. Hello, my name is Scott lawyer, I am very interested in becoming part of this wonderful fraternity. I remember encountering a group of Shriners as a young boy in the hospital and ever since then it sparked my interest. I have sat in some lodges but I now live in Oceanside and would love to get to know This lodge. I am wondering what days are open to the general public to come and talk.

    Reply

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