It can be tough gathering a membership from across the state and beyond for events. KSLOR is bridging that gap by stepping into the future offering Virtual Education Events exclusive to KSLOR membership. You will now have the opportunity to join in for fantastic educational topics from vetted presenters from around the world from the comfort of your computer or mobile device. However, this is a perk Exclusive to KSLOR membership. Are you member of the Kansas Lodge of Research? If not, Apply Today! https://kslor.org/membership/join/
For current members of KSLOR sign up here to reserve you spot for this event. We are limited to 100 interactive participants with this platform so get your name on the list ASAP to make sure you don’t miss out on this. [[CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP]]
Our First Education event will be on the History of the Arts in Freemasonry presented by Brother and Professional Masonic Artist, Ryan J. Flynn
History has a way of repeating itself and the glory days of men seeking Masonic membership en masse is not behind us. It is ahead of us. As younger generations begin to look for a solid rock in the rough seas of anti-establishment, pursuit of the profane, and distributed electronic societies, they will discover what we have and come to us in numbers.
Greetings brothers! The calendar has flipped to 2018 and the means your dues are due for KSLOR. Those not current as of February 1st will no longer have access to the member area of the KSLOR site and may be dropped from distribution of meeting information.
The demographics of Leadership Academy show that we are attracting a greater audience of leaders and potential leaders at the Grand Lodge level. Nearly all Area and District Deputy Grand Masters, as well as a huge contingent of line Grand Lodge officers were present. So, too, were the leadership of the successful lodges and those lodges with bright hopes for a long, prosperous future. Those visibly absent were representatives from the struggling lodges, the smaller lodges, troubled lodges, and the lodges that find themselves on the so called “death map”. In other words, the Wardens about to assume the East and in the most need of this information were the least present. Puzzling is the reason that the very officers who need this information the most are the least likely to attend. Maybe a look at the genesis of Leadership Academy is in order.
For years, Grand Lodge operated a Wardens School with the intention of arming near-term Worshipful Masters with all the basic information needed to assume the Master’s duties. Presumably, this would give the elect enough time to understand their duties and make plans for their year. However, leadership of a lodge is the paramount attribute that determines success of a lodge. The demands of a lodge Master and the officers of the progressive line are numerous and extremely weighty. Event planning, annual budgeting, volunteer management, paid personnel management, facility management, meeting facilitation, and new member programs are just the start of required knowledge. The leaders must also be proficient in degree work, keepers of the landmarks, officers in all committees, lodge spokes persons, fundraisers, and dispensers of charity. Additionally, they are members of the Grand Lodge and liaisons to outside organizations, subject matter experts in their lodge bylaws and those of higher authority, keepers of the charter, and must stay well appraised of legal, social, moral, and civil matters affecting the lodge. The lynchpin is a plan to guide the Master elect through it all.
While the Wardens School was well organized and refined over the years to “put some meat on the bones”, it garnered a reputation for being dry, and, as it has been said many times, was like “drinking from a fire hose”. Attendance dropped and Wardens School became uneconomical to sustain. A common conclusion from Wardens School was that getting all this information as a Warden was too late. Real learning and shaping oneself for the successful term as Master had to be done over a course of many years. A new approach to longer term lodge leadership ramp-up in a more adult-style, academic environment was needed. Leadership Academy was born.
While Leadership Academy attendance growth is one marker of success, missing criteria are those markers that show how well an attendee destined for the East is prepared to make the ascent to the third step. A demographic study along with a more focused evaluation will be required but necessary to ensure that the long-term intent of the academy is met. Information needed would include whether the attendee has ever served in the East before, from what lodge position in their progressive line did they start attending the academy, did they come away with at least three golden nuggets each time, and, the ultimate test of success, how prepared did they feel they were just prior to assuming the Master’s role. The same survey needs to be sent to the Master at 6 months during their tenure and again within 30 days after they transitioned out of the Master’s chair. The main purpose on the latter survey should be to ascertain a list of subjects in which the immediate Past Master felt most deficient and, from Leadership Academy attendance, most prepared.
In a society of friends and more especially brothers whose primary pursuit is further light, it is disheartening that so many of our brothers in lodge officer positions fail to attend