Dues Remissions

[Torence]

Before 1869, Illinois Masonry granted to clergy membership without
dues. For all practical purposes, the case of the Reverend J.T. Hugh
ended that practice, though I would imagine that on a lodge by lodge
basis some continued to remit dues for clergy. I do not believe that
any still do and wonder if any have it as a custom or in their by-laws
to do so.
We have in Illinois, of course, no dues required of fifty year
members, a lodge Life Membership Program that can be purchased, and
the usual remission of dues for the indigent or disabled. Also, in
Illinois we have brevet or honorary members who can be named by lodges
and who pay no dues. We recently added active military "Brother-
persons" to the privileged list.
Does your jurisdiction remit dues for clergy or are there other
classes of non-paying members?


Fraternally,
Torence Evans Ake
Secretary – Auburn Park Lodge No. 789 – Crete, Illinois
PM – Arcadia Lodge No. 1138 – Lansing, Illinois

[Chris H]

Post by Torence
Does your jurisdiction remit dues for clergy or are there other
classes of non-paying members?

Not as far as I know...

BTW When you say Clergy I assume that is for priests of any faith?

[Torence]

Post by Chris H
BTW When you say Clergy I assume that is for priests of any faith?

So I would presume; but there was not a whole lot of religious
diversity in our club back then. Illinois, FYI, is the jurisidction in
which a Lodge Master, Mark Aldrich, and nine others murdered Joseph
and Hyram Smith, the founding prophets of the Mormon Church in the
Carthage Jail House in 1842. Ours is also the second Grand Lodge in
Illinois founded in 1840. The first, organized in 1818, is not widely
discussed as its records were quieted because its Grand Line Officers,
Shadrach Bond, Illinois first Governor, and James Hall, Illinois first
Treasurer, were demonstrative abolishonists. With such a historical
account, I would not want to presume that our nineteenth century Fore
Brothers were particularly enlightened.

Fraternally,
Torence Evans Ake
Secretary - Auburn Park Lodge No. 789 - Crete, Illinois
PM - Arcadia Lodge No. 1138 - Lansing, Illinois

[Doug Freyburger]

Post by Chris H
BTW When you say Clergy I assume that is for priests of any faith?

There's also the problem of determining who is and who is not in some
fair minded way. Anyone can be ordained by the Universal Life Church
for a few dollars and a form. In some states the government judges
ordainment with a paid license that is no more difficult than a ULC
ordainment. There are faiths like the Friends and ceremonies like Bar
Matzvah that make it very difficult to judge who is and who isn't
clergy. In the end it becomes a process that favors those faiths that
do have a specific clergy process.

As religion is not discussed within lodge I am ambivalent about waiving
the dues of clergy members.

[David]

   Before 1869, Illinois Masonry granted to clergy membership without
dues. For all practical purposes, the case of the Reverend J.T. Hugh
ended that practice, though I would imagine that on a lodge by lodge
basis some continued to remit dues for clergy. I do not believe that
any still do and wonder if any have it as a custom or in their by-laws
to do so.
   We have in Illinois, of course, no dues required of fifty year
members, a lodge Life Membership Program that can be purchased, and
the usual remission of dues for the indigent or disabled. Also, in
Illinois we have brevet or honorary members who can be named by lodges
and who pay no dues. We recently added active military "Brother-
persons" to the privileged list.
   Does your jurisdiction remit dues for clergy or are there other
classes of non-paying members?
Fraternally,
Torence Evans Ake
Secretary – Auburn Park Lodge No. 789 – Crete, Illinois
PM – Arcadia Lodge No. 1138 – Lansing, Illinois

Brother Torence,
In Texas, a 50 year member is exempt from paying dues. In some local
lodges, the bylaws also allow clergy to be exempt. I don't know of
any lodges that exempt military personnel, but I imagine that there
are some.
David Foster

[g***@live.com]

are there other classes of non-paying members?

In my former lodge, in which I was the last Master, our by-laws
stipulated that all Past Masters were exempt from lodge dues. After
I turned in the charter, the lodge with which we merged accepted that
stipulation.

Therefore, all PM of my former lodge are exempt from paying dues to
the current (merged) lodge.


Jack Hickey, PM
SW, Morning Star Lodge
Worcester, MA

[Torence]

Post by g***@live.com
Therefore, all PM of my former lodge are exempt from paying dues to
the current (merged) lodge.

The Lodges that follow this practice here normally purchase Life
Memberships for their PMs. The math works out well. In my Lodge, for
example, annual dues are $35 per year and the lodges gets to keep $25
with $10 going to Grand Lodge per capita. When the Lodge purchases a
Life Membership the sum equals 15 times annual dues or $525. Of that
the Grand Lodge receives $150 to go into their GL Life Membership Fund
and from which they draw the interest. The balance, $375, goes to a
Lodge Life Membership fund from which the Lodge draws the interest.
The fund has been paying 6.7% and we receive $23.45 for each $375
put into the principal. The benefit is that with annual dues the
income ceases with a Brother’s demise while the principal remains for
Life Members in perpetuity. Lodges have been content as long as the
fund pays the sort of interest that I just quoted.
I am an annual dues payer and refused the offer of the lodge that
raised me to be made a Life Member after my term as Master in 1993. My
current Lodge also offered to purchase a Life Membership for me. My
refusal is based upon a singular provision of the Life Membership
program, our Code 271K. That provision retains for the Grand Master
control over the principal that, IMHO, rightfully belongs to the Local
Lodge. I have put it out twice now into proposed legislation to make a
change to that Code affirming the Local Lodge as that portion’s owner.
The first time around I found myself summarily suspended “for raising
vexatious questions.” This last time I was told that the changes were
too complex for the delegates to consider; and I was asked by our IPGM
to resubmit those revisions and start the process to make the changes
over again.


Fraternally,
Torence Evans Ake
Secretary – Auburn Park Lodge No. 789 – Crete, Illinois
PM – Arcadia Lodge No. 1138 – Lansing, Illinois

[Russ Kimball]

So, does Wor. Bob Johnson pay lodge dues or not? ;-)


Russ Kimball

Post by g***@live.com

are there other classes of non-paying members?

In my former lodge, in which I was the last Master, our by-laws
stipulated that all Past Masters were exempt from lodge dues. After
I turned in the charter, the lodge with which we merged accepted that
stipulation.
Therefore, all PM of my former lodge are exempt from paying dues to
the current (merged) lodge.
Jack Hickey, PM
SW, Morning Star Lodge
Worcester, MA

[g***@live.com]

On Mon, 12 Apr 2010 09:17:09 CST, "Russ Kimball"
<***@hotmail.com> wrote:


Wor Bob still has to pay his lodge dues, since he was never a PM of
Isaiah Thomas Lodge. He pays more than his share, actually, since he
does all the cooking and cleaning for the collations ... altogether a
valued member of the family.

Post by Russ Kimball
So, does Wor. Bob Johnson pay lodge dues or not? ;-)