About Freemasonry
FREEMASONRY IN VANCOUVER
The first Freemasons in Vancouver settled on the shores of the Burrard Inlet 150 years ago, before there was a Province of British Columbia. There they started the lumber mill and the first Masonic lodge in the region. Many of the first Freemasons in the area arrived during the gold rush, and stayed to help build the community.
With this history comes a lot of responsibility to this community. Freemasons act as stewards and are deeply involved with life in the city, through charities and being present and available within the community.
Freemasons are focused on Vancouver’s future, not just its past. That commitment can be seen in the investment of the new VMC building. It’s a testament to the longevity of Freemasonry in Vancouver, and a testament to the commitment to the communities in which Mason’s active.
Why Become a Mason?
Freemasonry is a fraternal organization with a rich history and deep brotherly bonds. We come together to make good men better through our tenets of Integrity, Respect, Charity and Friendship. We do not subscribe to any political or religious organization, and our members make up a diverse cross section of the society we live in.
What you get out of membership really depends on what you were looking for going in. Some men join because of the mystery of it – they wanted to explore the rituals and the meaning behind the symbology, unravelling the threads of the rich history. Some men join for the social aspect, and are working to establish themselves in the community. They might be drawn to the tradition, anchoring themselves in something that harkens back to a different era that isn’t so hectic or materialistic.
It’s really inviting you to be as intellectual, or as sociable, or as charitable as you want to be.
There’s no expectation that we all become a Freemason for the same reason.
There’s a rich diversity in age, in experience, in interests. People tend to cluster around certain cultural touchstones, ending up with a monochromatic network. In Freemasonry you can diversify your circle.
Growth
As a Mason, you’re invited to participate in your lodge and aid the organization. You can progress through different officer chairs, and every step is an opportunity to take on new responsibilities and learn new skills. You end up learning a lot about how to run and manage an organization. With conferences and special events, committees, jurisprudence work, there’s no shortage of opportunities to get involved and learn more. Some men come in and really grow into themselves as they progress, surprising themselves with what they’re willing to take on and accomplish.
Everyone here wants to see you succeed.
Joining Process
Apply for membership
A YEAR IN THE LIFE
There’s no shortage of events in Freemasonry. There are a handful of perfunctory meetings each year to elect and install officers and manage the organization. Then there are ceremonies, educational events and social events. There’s no shortage of things you can be involved with – but its really up to you when and where you participate. You can even be a member of multiple lodges.
Illustration of a Typical Year for a Mason
February
Election of New Leadership
Freemasonry has a long history of democracy, and was in many ways instrumental in bringing it to our current societies.
April
Pub Night
Casual social events intersperse with perfunctory meetings, and are a great opportunity to connect with your fellow Masons.
June
Initiation Ceremony
When new brothers are voted into a lodge, they are welcomed to the community through an initiation ritual.
August
Guest Speaker
Interesting speakers are occasionally invited to speak with or provide a lecture for the lodge. It’s a great opportunity to learn something new.
October
General Meeting
The organization is run by it’s members, who have the opportunity to step into roles of various responsibility.
December
Banquet
Bring a guest to a celebration among friends, celebrating the community or fundraising for a joint cause.
REQUIREMENTS
1. You must be an adult man at least 21 years of age.
2. You must believe in a Supreme Being – whatever that means to you.
3. You must join of your own free will – your desire for membership mustn’t be coerced or solicited by existing members.
4. While different lodges charge their own dues and feeds you must be financially sound to afford dues, and events. Be prepared on average to invest $500-700 per year into your own lodge dues and occasional event attendance.
PATHWAY TO MEMBERSHIP
Application
As Freemasons, each man must choose to join the fraternity of his own free will. For this reason, Masons do not solicit members, and so interested prospectives must reach out themselves. Usually this happens with an application through the website, which is then reviewed.
Getting to Know You
Once the application has been reviewed by the lodge, the members typically want to get to know you a bit better. At some lodges, that usually means they might ask you to join them for a coffee or beer, to get a feel for who you are and why you’d want to join. It’s also an opportunity for you to get to know some of the members, who would potentially become your brothers.
The Final Vote
After those introductions, the lodge will vote on a prospective new member to collectively decide whether to admit them into the lodge. If the vote goes your way, you’re invited to join!
If You Are Unsuccessful
Balloting on initiation is taken seriously by Freemasons. As the work of historians like Margaret C. Jacob (UCLA) and Professor John Dickie (University College London) attests, Masonic Lodges were one of the first modern institutions to champion the principle of one person one vote and were instrumental in the promotion of democracy and the rise of democratic republics in the 18th century. This tradition carries on today in the form of balloting in the lodge on applications for membership.
This also means that on occasion applications for membership may fail to achieve consensus in a lodge and your petition may be rejected. If this happens you are free to wait (in most jurisdictions it is a span of one year) and apply again.
This may be a sign that the lodge wants to know more about you or that you may be a better fit for another lodge, though we tend to try and identify whether this is the case before the lodge ballots by meeting with you multiple times and in different contexts. For example, you may be invited to a lodge social event, to meet at a coffee shop or pub, come to a lodge BBQ. It is no light decision to welcome someone into a lodge, something Masons care for greatly, consider a true privilege, and to which some remain active for decades, most of their lives.