The secret of Mentoring in a nutshell

I was reading "A PASSION FOR EXCELLENCE" BY Author Tom Peters the other evening. I came across a passage that I thought that had a direct application to the Mentoring or coaching of the new Masonic Brother.


"Coaching is face to face leadership that pulls together
people with diverse backgrounds, talents,experiences and interests,encourages them to step up to be responsible and continued achievement, and treats them as full scale partners and contributors. Coaching is not about memorizing techniques or devising the perfect game plan. It is really paying attention to people-
really believing them, really caring about them, really involving them"......


I think our goal is to guide them to their own success....
Mentoring our Brothers who succeed and live the Masonic life is our legacy...Dont you think?

Some Random thoughts on Mentoring.

Here is five quick things to consider about Mentoring the new candiates in your lodge

1. To Mentor is to instill in the new Brother a sense of purpose and to help them develop their Masonic identity.

2. The Entered Apprentice stands before you and may be thinking; "Here I am ...I am a rough Ashlar in need of improvement. Place your working tools in my hand and teach me their uses.

3. Coaching is teaching what a new Brother needs to know to be proficient. Thats pretty cut and dry. What we really need to do is support and nuture him and help him achieve his goals in Masonry.

4. Adding a new member to your lodge also adds to your circle of Friends.

5. Our teaching as Mentors will live beyond our lives. Our Mentoring is our gift to our lodge and to the Craft. It becomes our legecy.

My Home Lodge

These are the newly elected and appointed Officers of Cataract Lodge #2 of St Anthony Falls . The Installing Officer was the Most Worshipful Grand Master of Minnesota Masons, Thomas McCarthy.
We are fortunate at Cataract. We have all the chairs filled with interested and dedicated Masons.
This truly is a home for me. Its a place filled with my Brothers where every time we meet it's a home coming.
At Cataract #2 we have a long and deep Masonic tradition. We received our Charter Febrary 14,1852. Even before Minnesota's Statehood.

Here’s an Interesting Masonic Educational Tidbit……….

Who were the two Masonic Brothers who exchanged cannon fire that started the American Civil War? And where did the battle take place?
· Confederate General P.G.T. Beauregard, Master Mason- Knight Templar New Orleans Louisiana
· Union Major Robert Anderson, Master Mason Trenton New Jersey
· The battle took place on April 12-13, 1861 at Fort Sumter South Carolina.
Here a few facts that are not commonly known about them or the battle.
· General Beauregard and Major Anderson knew each other very well. As a matter of fact Major Anderson was Beauregard’s Instructor at the US ARMY military academy West Point before the war.
· Approximately one month before the battle, they exchanged gifts of cigars and whiskey.
· The battle itself lasted over 34 hours.
· Thousands of Artillery rounds were fired at each other AND……..
· No lives were lost on either side.

This is just one of many such short articles I have written with Grand Lodge Education Officer Ed Halpaus and Glen Kiecker, a fellow lodge member of mine, and we both cheerfully serve on the Grand Lodge Education Committee together.
If you like short articles like this, you’re going to love our Masonic Monday Questions and answers at http://www.mn-masons.org/Page1002.aspx.
Once you go to the site, you can sit at your leisure and pick and choose from over 150 such Questions and Answers.
If you like them, feel free to print them and pass them out at your Masonic coffees or card games. Feel free to use them for your lodge education program.
Let us know what you think.

Its Almost here

This is a photo of the popular author Dan Brown. Most of us are not familiar with his face or his name, but most of us recognize the books that he has written “Angel and Demons, The Da Vinci Code.
Dan Brown’s new novel …a work of fiction, is named “The Lost Symbol”. It appears that the overall premise of the novel is that it may be a very fast-paced book that is to take place over a 12-hour period. The setting is expected to take place in Washington D.C. and the theme is expected to be… That’s right …Freemasonry.
The publisher is Random House, a very popular publisher of books. The Publisher, Sonny Mehta, has informed the British newspaper “The Guardian.co.uk” that the book will be released on September 15, 2009 with an expected initial printing of 6.5 million copies. This may be the largest initial printing in Random House history….(If you listen carefully you may hear the sounds of cash registers ringing in the background.) Publisher Mehta tells us that the book “The Lost Symbol is going to be infused with history, secret codes and intrigue.
Personally I hope that Dan Brown’s new book does better for Freemasonry than the Da Vinci Code did for the scandalized work it did for the Catholic Church.
But then, we could always take a “wait and see” attitude. Who knows—it might just be a good summer read.

Shrine Hospitals:We need to rebuild to be relevant for the future

Shrine Hospitals: We need to rebuild to be relevant for the future.

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I’ve heard rumors for some time now that the Shrine Leadership will have to make some tough decisions about our Shrine Hospital’s future. I’m sure that in these tough economic times, our Shrine leadership has spent many sleepless nights trying to create a vision to make our Shrine Hospitals relevant into the next millennium. According to the newspaper article in the April 10th edition of the Atlanta Journal Constitution, that time is very near.
Here’s something you may not know …The first Shrine hospital opened in 1922 in Shreveport Louisiana to the response of the community needs to treat Polio. As the years flew by, they now operate 22 hospitals in the United States, Mexico, and Canada. The hospitals specialize in Orthopedic, Burns, and Spinal Cord injury rehabilitation, Cleft Lip and Palate Care and Medical Research.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Shrine Hospitals Ralph Semb told the Atlantic Journal Constitution that “Unless we do something, the clock is ticking and within 5 to 7 years we’ll be out of the hospital business…”
The Shrine’s endowment to finance the hospitals has fallen from $8 Billon to $5 Billon dollars because of the lack of performance in the stock market and from declining donations. The rising medical costs have also made a dramatic impact. In order to fully fund the hospital’s daily operations they are withdrawing a million dollars a day from the endowment.
The tough decision will be voted upon at the Imperial Shrine in San Antonio Texas on July 6 to 8th to close access to 225 hospital beds. Shrine hospitals may be closed in: Shreveport, LA, Erie, PA, Spokane WA, Springfield and Greenville MA. These hospitals were chosen based on their lack of usage. The fate of the hospital in Galveston Texas that was severely damaged in Hurricane Ike will be decided on as well.
Recently, it has become popular to fundraise on social networking websites. Our own Brother Tom Smith of Minneapolis #19 and a proud member of Zuhrah Shrine is using his Facebook account to raise funds for the Shrine Hospitals. Great cutting edge idea Tom!
I have met many people whose lives were greatly enriched and their quality of life was dramatically improved -- all because they were treated at a Shrine Hospitals. The treatment they received at no cost made a positive life changing experience not only to their life but to also to their families and to the contributions they made to society .
Many times I have been moved to tears to hear their stories…like this week one of my nationally respected law enforcement associates whose Son was a long time resident in the Atlanta Shrine Hospital. I was able to hear again how we as Shriners are making a positive impact.
For the next few months we need to support our Shrine Leadership -- to spend the time to make a well informed decision in San Antonio at the Imperial Session so that our wonderful Shrine Hospitals can be relevant into the next century.
My Fez is off to salute the work of our Shrine Hospitals!

Ohio is doing it -- Maybe we should too!

The Masonic Lodge can often be one of the prominent buildings in many Ohio communities. However in some cases, the public has rarely had the opportunity to step inside. That is about to change. On Saturday, March 21, every Masonic Lodge in the state of Ohio will open its doors for a public open house.

“It’s time for the public to have a chance to see what’s behind those closed doors and to experience some of the genuine fellowship Masons share,” says Charles R. Murphy, Grand Master of Ohio Masons. “Also, it’s a great opportunity to introduce a prospective member to the fraternity.”

Each local Lodge will set its own agenda and schedule for March 21st. The Grand Master has simply asked each to participate.

Multiple Lodges meeting in one building will hold a joint open house. Lodges are also encouraged to work with the appendant organizations meeting in their buildings to give the public a glimpse of the whole Masonic family, including women’s and youth organizations.

“Every Lodge has some house keeping issues that need to be attended to, and a few fresh coats of paint wouldn’t hurt here and there,” says Murphy. “However, I think the renewed relationship with the community will make all the work well worth it.”

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Thank-you to The Grand Lodge of Ohio and Grand Master Charles R. Murphy for their Leadership and this article/photo.

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Here are some additional ideas that you may want to consider:

Having an Open house is the first step in making your lodge revelant in your community and most importantly an important step in attracting new and retaining members.

Here's a few reasons to have an Open House and Community Involvement Program.

1. These potential new members are in the community and will observe the Masonic lodge in action and will have an opportunity to discover Masonry for themselves.

2. The new millennium generation is more socially responsible and demand that organizations that they join be active in community service.

3. Existing Masons will be proud of their lodge's new role in the community.

4. In order for your lodge to grow you will need an activity that all members can participate in, in some way. Community involvement is one path to take to accomplish just that.

There are opportunities for small lodges of 40 men to large lodges of 300 men to reap the benefits of taking an active part in their community.

Here are a few simple things a lodge can do to make a difference in their community and in their lodge attendance.

*Raise Money for the local Library to purchase books

*Raise Money for the local Fire Department to purchase needed new medical supplies or equipment like a new pumper truck or rescue equipment

*Sponsor a Boy Scout Troop

* Become a role model for the Big Brothers/Big Sisters Program

* Volunteer with Special Olympics. Become a Coach, fundraiser (or jump in a frozen lake)

* Sponsor or help raise food for the local food shelf

* Volunteer to deliver meals on wheels for the elderly

* Help clean up a city park , local high way, stream, river or lake

* Teach First Aid, CPR, Swimming, Firearms safety, Boating safety

* Volunteer to read at a local school or Library

* Give Blood or sponsor a Blood Drive

* Volunteer for your local community celebration, parade, 4th of July celebration, Rodeo,

Founders Day, etc.

* Help teach reading and literacy skills

Here are just a few easy ways to help make your lodge known in the community. Your members, and the community at large will benefit.

Send me your feedback. Let me know what you have done, that you think has been positive, so that I may pass it on to others.