The Province’s process for handling unsponsored candidates is robust, and as a result we are seeing an increase in visiting by new members…
The process operated by the Membership Team of the Province of Devonshire, requires the potential candidates to attend an information morning followed by regular monthly candidate socials held in Torquay, Exeter, and Plymouth, with an aspiration of including a location in North Devon. The Province’s process for handling unsponsored candidates is robust, and as a result we are seeing an increase in visiting by new members. Pictured below are some of the Membership Team celebrating the last induction morning of 2022 for the unsponsored candidate process.
The photo shows established team members, with two of our suitable candidates who have asked to join the Team and have been quick to offer us their skills such as web design and continued support for the candidates. But they and all of the team understand the need for welcoming this process and the growth it provides, not only to the team, but to the Lodges they have joined. As with the pro-active Lodges, the Membership Team is using the Pathway process to identify new team members for both specific and general roles for the Province. If and when used in a planned and focused manner, Pathway works well.
So far this year our process has seen the initiation of 28 Brothers, and we hope this final figure will be in the mid 30’s by the year end, with 48 potential candidates in the process for potential initiation in 2023. With more Lodges looking for new members we are frequently asked why we make the candidates attend the social events for 12 months to get to know their potential Lodge and other candidates within the process.
The answer is simple. The process is designed to grow friendships within their potential Lodge prior to being initiated as well as a wider friendship across Brethren that have joined through this process. This increases their new, and at times much needed, friendship base, which in turn increases the likelihood of visiting their friends once initiated.
What was not expected was the deep bonds of friendship the process has created. This is not only in the main geographical area that they live in but, due to the initial bond they make at our information morning, also those that live in the other candidate social areas as well. We now see groups of candidates travelling to meet each other at the other candidate socials across the Province.
This visiting stance has created immensely strong bonds within their Lodges, within their geographical area, and now across the Province. These are bonds that all will benefit from.
But we have seen this success grow even further. We are now seeing increased visiting at other Lodge meetings, in particular the initiations of the successive candidates in the process. Those new members attend their new friends’ initiations as a form of support and camaraderie, fully knowing the trepidation their friends would be feeling. We have seen this through the year, but more impressively we have seen a newly raised Brother from Brent Lodge, deliver the first-degree working tools for his now close friend being initiated into Davie Lodge.
In November, we saw 9 newly initiated and raised Brothers escorted by members of the Membership Team, visit St John’s Lodge No.328 in Torquay, to see the initiation of the lodge’s latest candidate from the membership team. Also in November, 10 of these brethren, again escorted by members of the Membership team, returned to Exeter for their second visit of the month to witness a double first of two of their new friends.
Looking at the quality and commitment of these new brethren we only envisage these visits to grow in numbers and frequency. We in the Devonshire Membership Team are proud to be able to say, we are introducing candidates of high quality who are dedicated to the Province and the Craft.
W. Bro Mark Lewis
Provincial Grand Membership Officer