The North Carolina Mason

Page 8 The North Carolina Mason May/June 2019 see VALUE page 9 J ust after World War I, my grandfather, eophilus Walton Clapp, left his home in Abingdon, Va., to follow a call to the ministry. He moved his family 80 miles south to the rural commu- nity of Plumtree, NC, in Avery County. His new charges included ve Presbyte- rian congregations, of which only one could pay him. He supplemented his meager income by farming, and though he was a trained surveyor and engineer, he never charged his neighbors for his services. e prominent men of the community took an interest in my grand- father, and he sought their counsel on matters of spirituality, aairs of the church, and the well-being of the village. rough that association, he discov- ered they were Freemasons, and members of Plumtree Lodge No. 648. Impressed with their philanthropy and leadership, he petitioned the lodge in 1924. Being of limited means, it took him almost an entire year to save enough to pay the $40 initiation fee, an amount that would now equate to $600. en, and today, in the rural hills of western North Carolina where there is no industry, little commerce and much scarcity, $600 is a lot of money and a testament to the value our forefathers put on their Masonry. e old-timers told me that entry into Freemasonry cost a man a week's wages. In 1924 in Plumtree, NC, that was about $40. Today, the average weekly wage of a working man in North Carolina is $800. Brethren, what is value of your Freemasonry? Doubtless, there's a spiritual and personal side to the value of our fraternity. ere must be for a man to truly understand its precepts. But there is a very real nancial obligation to our organization and ourselves that we have failed to uphold. Lodges are in disrepair. Men are failing to knock upon our doors. And, those who do enter the frater- nity are leaving almost as soon as they step foot in the door. Why? Because we have failed to hold our Freemasonry to a high standard and cheapened its rate of exclusivity. Exclusivity is not a dirty word. Since its founding, the ranks of our fraternity have been populated by men whose dedica- tion, portent and value to the Craft have been precious and priceless to society. is does not mean they have been elitists, though they may be among the elite. is does not mean they are wealthy or auent, but they do value their time and place a dollar gure on their time and resources. For instance, I'm a woodworker. I want a new wood lathe for my shop. But the lathe I want is $3,200. I cannot hand over my credit card or cash without seriously considering the value I place on that lathe. If I want it, how am I going to save the money to buy it? What in my life have I chosen to go without, in order to obtain what I desire? I will take much better care of that wood lathe because of the value I place on it — and paid for it. Did you make these considerations when you entered the lodge and paid your initiation fee? Brethren, do you treasure your lodge? Do you treasure your friend- ships? Do you take care of what you claim to be precious and rare? We look around ourselves and fear for our future — physically, mentally, and nancially. We have failed to understand the nancial value of Freemasonry. What kind of person wants to join an organization that values itself so cheaply? Men can pay the initiation fee of a lodge o the hip—whether it's $50 or $300. We have so undervalued the nancial investment we should be obligated to pay that many men join out of curiosity, not out of sincerity. e things I want and value most in life are the things I have to work for. Doubtless, many of you reading this believe raising the initiation fee will chase away potential members, or that it's elitist. First, our statistics show that the ratio of fees and lodge raisings prove higher fees attract more members. is is because a value has been placed on their participation in the Masonic experience. Secondly, we may not want to be elitists, but are we not THE elite? We want men who are able and willing to put a high value on their member- ship—either through the amount they have to put on the table, or the amount they have to save to put on the table. I receive inquiries time and time again: "Is that all it costs? I thought Free- masonry would cost more." e initiation fee is the rst vetting process—to weed out those unsuited to our standards. We do not take poor material and make it work. We take the best materials and build them into something greater. Like any good business, test your pricing. You'll notice an increase in value improves your clientele and his dedication to our principles. At a recent meeting, the question of the initiation fee came up. One brother said that if the initiation fees were as high as I proposed, then he would have never joined. I did not have the heart to tell him, as his fellow brothers shifted in their seats, that he had just answered the question as to whether he was appropriate material for this frater- nity. He then said he became a Mason so he could join the Shrine. At the time, that also meant he had to join either the York or Scottish Rites. He wound up paying nearly $400 to join three dierent Masonic bodies. He eventually left two of the three because, in his words, "It wasn't worth it." Brethren, if you're uncomfortable with my statements let me ask you this: If someone oered you $200, or $300, or $1,000 not to join at the time of your petitioning, would you have taken it? Would you leave our fraternity for that amount today? Contrary to popular belief, the Grand Lodge does not benet from your peti- tioner's initiation fee. e Code states that Grand Lodge shall receive $21 of that fee, but the Code also stipulates that of that $21, $10 goes to Masonic charity, $5 goes to the Grand Lodge's building fund, $5 goes to the George Washington National Masonic Memorial, and $1 goes to the Grand Lodge's general fund. Your lodge should allocate simi- larly, planning for your lodge's future. If the initiation fee was at least $500, what could your lodge do with that money for charity or for lodge maintenance? e higher the value we place on our fraternity, the lower the rate of NPDs. e higher the value we place on our fraternity, fewer men will fail to What value do you place on Masonry? OUR OBLIGATION TO THE CRAFT By Walt Clapp Grand Secretary Theophilus Walton Clapp

• Cover