The Mason
Official Publication of e Grand Lodge of Ancient, Free and Accepted Masons of North Carolina
Volume 147 Number 1 Oxford, North Carolina January/February 2022
NORTH CAROLINA
Finding new paths toward Masonic revival
Willpower, alternative approa es
could ensure the future of lodges
By Beth Grace
Mason Editor
It's not easy being a Freemason in
North Carolina these days.
e chatter is everywhere:
membership is down, lodges are
merging or closing, brethren are
aging out, and new blood is not
flowing in as fast as it once did.
at sounds like bad news. But
depending on how you crunch the
numbers and your view of what will
fuel the future of Masonry, there
may be an entirely different inter-
pretation.
First, some numbers. In the
last 12 months, 10 lodges have
merged or surrendered charters
(one charter was arrested). at's
a loss of 3 percent of lodges in a
year. Currently, there are 365 lodges
in North Carolina, although that
number changes frequently. For
example, two new lodges have
sought dispensation or opened in
that time.
e number of brethren is drop-
ping, as it has for many years. North
Carolina logged its highest number
of lodges in the 1920s. at number
rose significantly after World War
I, dropped again during the great
Depression and bumped upward
post World War II.
e number of lodges in North
■ see REVIVAL, page 2