Grand Lodge of Minnesota A.F.& A.M. Leadership, Membership, Education & Mentoring Committee Forum

Masonic Light Award Program

ShawnC — Fri, 29 May 2009 02:47:17 GMT

I have started working on this program and find that it looks very informative and should help me not only in my Masonic search for light but also in my life as a whole. A number of the sheets refer to different correspondence courses. Are these on the website or only at the Grand Lodge office?

Forum: Education Committee Announcements & Discussions

It Was A Good Year

bsherman — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 01:23:25 GMT

Brothers,

The Membership Committee met last Monday, February 15, 2009 at the Grand Lodge office to review our submission for the Junior Warden's Notebook. All of you should have received a copy in my recent email prior to the meeting. The document was reviewed by those present and it was decided to pass it on to the Grand Lodge Corporate Board for approval and inclusion in the Junior Warden's Notebook. It is the hope of the committee that the incoming Junior Wardens will see some value in the document and do their best to implement the principals of the document into their Lodge. For my part I want to thank everyone who took part in the Membership Committee this past year and I wish you all the best as you advance to your new stations.

Fraternally,

Bruce L. Sherman

Committee Chairman

Grand Lodge Membership Committee 2008/2009

Forum: Membership Committee Announcements & Discussions

Getting buy-in from the officer's line

JMaertens277 — Thur, 22 Jan 2009 00:10:02 GMT

I would like to jump in and start a discussion of strategies for getting buy-in from the officer's line for lodge education. I have had good success in my lodge, but still feel that instruction is seen as something secondary to making practical decisions about paying the bills and voting on petitions.

My position is somewhat unusual in that I was appointed LEO at Lake Harriet not because I was a past master, but because I have teaching experience and a Ph.D. That means that I have lots of ideas, but struggle with limited time to bring them about in the logde myself and slight lack of self-confidence with my own level of masonic knowledge because I am a relatively new master mason.

I have been trying hard to get a sense of what the brothers want in their educational sessions. Given half an hour once a month, that is not a whole lot of educating, so I have been pondering whether a kind of revolving curriculum could be planned over time -- instead of just the fairly random selection of topics that we have now.

Can lodge education time become a regular course in masonic knowledge, in other words?

In addition to such questions, I wonder if everyone who joins this forum could chip in a little about their experience of instruction in the lodge. It would be interesting to get an idea of how things are done and the kind of topics and reception in other lodges.

Forum: Education Committee Announcements & Discussions

Welcome

edhalpaus — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 05:05:46 GMT

Fraternal greetings,

The Education Forum has just begun today 01-09-09, so I'm just putting on a quick greeting and information. More information will be posted soon. In the meantime, this forum is for Masons of Minnesota who are interested in Masonic education. These Masons, of course, are the Lodge Education Officers of the constituent Lodges of Minnesota, as well as Lodge officers and brethren who enjoy learning about our 'gentle Craft.'

This is the place to post questions one might have regarding Freemasonry, and to post answers to questions that are posted. Our Grand Lodge Education Committee members will be sure to check in here from time to time to see if they can add to a threads conversation and to shed some light on a question as well.

So come to this forum and share ideas on Masonic Education, so that we all can learn from each other. Computers and this forum supported by our Grand Lodge are great to have as a tool for us to interact with each other by cyberspace and to use as a learning tool.

Our One-Day to Masonry is coming up on January 17th, so possibly I'll see you there.

Fraternal regards,

Ed

Forum: Education Committee Announcements & Discussions

Is there a mentoring committee?

Skiking76 — Thur, 23 Oct 2008 15:51:12 GMT

I am not trying to be snide, but I am curious. How could I be involved with the mentoring committee? Who should I contact?

Thanks.

Fraternally,
Matt

Forum: Mentoring Committee Announcements & Discussions

Warden's Notebook in PDF format

ghough — Thur, 14 Aug 2008 02:28:17 GMT

Here is a link to a copy of the Warden's Notebook (found in the non-password protected area of the forum) posted in this thread for your convenience.

Forum: AD/DR Notebook Presentation

AD/DR Warden's Notebook presentation files

ghough — Thur, 14 Aug 2008 02:12:41 GMT

Here are the files of the presentation prepared by Rolf Widstrand for use by the ADs & DRs to introduce the Warden's Notebook to the Junior Wardens and teach them its use. Please post your comments only on this password protected forum.

George Hough

Attached is a preliminary implementation plan for the Lodge Leadership and Management Notebook. I tried to create something that would be easy to implement, cover lodges of various sizes and locations. It is in the form of a checklist with tasks to be completed. I did not put timelines since this will vary with each lodge and strategies that the Wardens may employ.

I would recommend that the District Representative implement the program each January, as soon as possible after the elections/installation of the new wardens. The Senior and Junior Wardens of each lodge in the district should attend it. This would allow implementation at the beginning of the service year of the wardens and allow for a review of the process the Senior Warden took as the Junior Warden. It also promotes the cordiality among the wardens and DR as well as promotes the sharing of ideas and experiences. Even with some activities, it shouldnt take more than one half days time.

I would also suggest that the Leadership Notebook be divided into sections and indexed for ease of updates and ease of adding material to the notebook so that it can become a used resourse. Pages can then be referenced, materials added by the wardens and the Leadership Committee without destroying the index or making materials hard to find (i.e.- Calendar Companion could be section 1, pages 1-4, Officers could be section 2, pages 8- 15, the forms that can be used could be a section which can be copied as needed and added into the sections when they have been filled out) The wardens can then create the front of the notebook as the program for the year as they pull things out of the resource and added it to their program.

As always, this is a suggestion from what I see in the book and the local lodges that I work with. It can change added to, changed, or rejected in whole as the committee sees fit. I offer it as a suggested way of implementing the program and seeing it if can become and ongoing effective way of providing a foundation for leadership and management in the individual lodges. This should also leave significant room for individuals to add to and make their programs their own.

Respectfully submitted,
Rolf Widstrand
Northeast Area Deputy

Forum: AD/DR Notebook Presentation

Leadeship Committee Mission Statement

DarrellRichter — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 02:24:53 GMT

DRAFT

Leadership Committee Mission Statement

To produce a comprehensive dynamic leadership program that is capable of being adapted to all levels of leadership in the Masonic Fraternity.

Note: I used the word dynamic because it means it can be changed instead of fluid.

Forum: Leadership Committee Announcements & Discussions

District Representative Duties & Procedures

ghough — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 00:58:38 GMT

Members of the Leadership Committee,

As we discussed, attached is a copy that I have of the duties and procedures of a District Representative. I believe it is the most current document, but if it is not, just let me know.

Forum: Leadership Committee Announcements & Discussions

RSS Feed feature added

ghough — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 04:15:09 GMT

Click here to access our RSS Feed. Add us to your feeds to keep abreast of the latest posts! If you are unfamiliar with RSS Feeds, please post your questions here and I'm sure someone will be able to be of assistance!

Forum: General

Chat Room feature added

ghough — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 03:40:47 GMT

Forum Members,

I have added a chat room for our use. In its current configuration, it is limited to a three-member discussion. We have the option to increase the number of members allowed to participate, for an additional $5 per month fee. It would seem to be most useful at this time for an informal discussion between brothers, but, if successful, perhaps the chat room could be used during our committee meetings to encompass a larger number of members. The chat room is limited to registered members of the forum.

The chat room is accessed by clicking here or clicking the "Chat" link near the upper right hand of the forum home page. It opens in a pop-up window, so if you do not get the new window upon clicking "Chat", perhaps your pop-up blocker is stopping it. In that case, try by-passing the blocker by pressing the "Ctrl" key and clicking "Chat" simultaneously. After the window opens, you may have to wait a minute or two for the Java applet to load, depending on the speed of your connection.

I solicit all comments or suggestions on how to facilitate member participation, as this is something that I am largely unfamiliar with, so if anyone has any ideas, please post them for all to see. I hope we can make good use of this new feature! Try it and let us know how it works!

Forum: General

Warden's Notebook

ghough — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 17:06:22 GMT

Attached is a copy of the Warden's Notebook that the Leadership Committee distributes. More than anything else, I just wanted to see how the attachment function works!

Forum: Leadership Committee Announcements & Discussions

Welcome

ghough — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 05:31:31 GMT

A warm welcome to the "beta" message board for the Grand Lodge of Minnesota Leadership, Membership and Mentoring Committees. It is my hope that these forums will facilitate the communication of the thoughts and ideas of the committee members as we begin our task in earnest. As this board is a work in progress, I am open to your suggestions for its improvement. Please post them. Thank you all for your continued commitment!

Forum: General