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Post by plewis66 on Mar 29, 2005 12:14:17 GMT
Time - Approx 2 evenings per week and 6 weekends in Belgium/France. Cost, Just calculating Membership Fees without Travelling costs I would estimate £2,000.00 per year Including France & Belgium and Travelling probably another £1500.00. I do accept that I have always been lucky in being able to pursue my hobby with relation to time and money. How many side orders is that then!?!?! In all seriousness though, this is the issue holding me back from contacting my provincial office. Not the cost - it seems that for most people we are talking a few hundred pounds a year (and that would make freemasonry one of my cheaper hobbies!), but the time. If I were to become a Mason, and look towards say, SRIA, what would be the typical requirements on my time, in terms of attendance?
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Post by munkholt on Mar 29, 2005 12:39:00 GMT
As I've been informed:
Annual fee: £40 Dinner: £10-15 (15-20 meetings per year) One new degree per year (if I so choose): £140 (they'll become more expensive for the higher degrees, but rarer)
£400 / year (?)
Plus charity. And a new suit at £350. And I've already spend money on Masonic Stuff. And there'll be books! And a top hat (£200).
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Post by plewis66 on Mar 29, 2005 14:00:55 GMT
Top hat???
Is that normal dress code?
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Post by KansasPM on Mar 29, 2005 15:30:18 GMT
I'm sure glad I'm not a member of a UK Lodge - I'd be broke!
My Lodge's initiation fee is $55. Dues are $45/year. We have stated meetings twice a month, plus degrees. Dinner is free to all Brothers attending - we pay 2 of our widows to cook and clean up. No alcohol is allowed in Blue Lodges in the States. My Past Master's ring and apron were paid for by the Lodge. It's about 5 miles from my house, so gas is negligible, even for my pickup truck.
The initiation fee for the Shrine is $150 - dues are $60/year.
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Post by middlepillar on Mar 29, 2005 15:41:50 GMT
[quote How many side orders is that then!?!?! If I were to become a Mason, and look towards say, SRIA, what would be the typical requirements on my time, in terms of attendance? [/quote] PL, Side Orders = 15 (almost the same as Taylorsman but we belong to a couple of different ones each ) Units belonging to = 32 (A couple too many!) Cost of joining something like The SRIA would be approx £65.00 joining fee which includes a Starter Pack including Tie, Ritual Book 1st Order Jewel etc. Time commitments are basically 3 meetings per year. If you want to join in SRIA activities like the study circle, that would be another 10 times a year on Sats at Hampstead. (No financial cost except travelling) Most side orders tend to be around £35.00 per year membership and are normally 3 or 4 meetings per year, dining is of course extra and varies from £7.00 cheapest I have had and £56.00 most expensive I have had! (As the saying goes, you pays your money and you takes your choice!)
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Post by plewis66 on Mar 30, 2005 8:03:04 GMT
Many thanks for that.
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Post by Temple on Apr 1, 2005 13:38:10 GMT
From what I've been told so far, LDH costs much less. I wonder how the Womens groups compare.
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Post by munkholt on Apr 1, 2005 13:43:23 GMT
Top hat??? Is that normal dress code? Yes, for MMs - and possibly only in their own degree-work, I haven't had a chance to see yet . I'm not sure about the higher degrees. Edited to add that it's worth noting that I refer specifically to The Swedish System.
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Post by plewis66 on Apr 1, 2005 14:24:08 GMT
Well I never knew that!
Thanks.
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ruffashlar
Member
Lodge Milncroft No. 1515 (GLoS), Govanhill Royal Arch Chapter 523 (S.G.R.A.C.S.)
Posts: 2,184
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Post by ruffashlar on Apr 1, 2005 19:39:31 GMT
"Unfortunately it's not a poor man's pastime"
Speak for yourself. When I joined the Craft, it cost me (if memory serves) about £150 (astonishing what some people will pay for an old shoe), which also covered me for a full year's subs, or Test Fees as we call them. These are just about up for renewal, and will set me back £20 for another year. Add to that £2 tea money, another couple of quid on the collection plate, maybe a fiver's worth of raffle tickets, plus whatever I buy at the bar - and rounds bought at the bar in a Masonic temple can be very reasonable, indeed - and it might cost me about a tenner or two per meeting.
Another wadge of notes, somewhere the far side of a hundred, I spent joining Royal Arch. This covered my Excellent Master and Royal Arch Mason Degrees, and also buys me Life Membership in Scottish Royal Arch.
All Regalia are bought and owned by your Craft Lodge, so you need never buy any Aprons or Jewels at any time in your Masonic career. A suitcaseful of Visitors' Aprons is customarily laid out for anyone attending someone else's lodge without an Apron of their own. The one exception, so far as I'm aware, is that in RA it's customary to buy your own Apron, but these can be obtained without difficulty, often secondhand, and until then there are usually Visitors' Aprons as a standby, or a kind Companion may lend you their spare.
Even a poor man can enjoy first-rate Masonry.
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Post by a on Apr 1, 2005 20:33:37 GMT
Ruff
In Scotland anyway.
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Post by gcoudert on May 22, 2005 12:43:02 GMT
My approximate expenditures :
Initiation fee (one-off) : £100 Joining fee (one-off) : £60 Annual subscription : £60 Festive Board : £17 x 5 lodge meetings = £85 p.a. (not including visits to other Lodges) Alms : £2 x 5 lodge meetings = £10 p.a. Regular donation : £5 x 12 months = £60 p.a. 'Freemasonry Today' subscription : £12 p.a. Various raffle tickets : £10 p.a. Various Masonic events : £20 p.a. LOI dinner for wife and I : £30 p.a. MM apron when raised (one-off): £30 Various books : £50 p.a. Ties (one-off) : £45 Gloves (one-off) : £15
As far as time is concerned, it varies considerably from one place and individual to another. In Emulation Working, we spend a lot of time learning the ritual, but here in the UK, we only meet 5 times a year (meeting = 3 hours - Festive Board = 2.5 hours). Then it depends how many Lodges/Orders you join, really.
GC
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Post by jason on May 4, 2006 6:39:58 GMT
Blue Lodge-around $30, Chapter- $25 ish, Council R&SM- $25ish, K.T- $25 ish, Shrine- $150, then $60 a year after, Scottish Rite (A&AR)- $150 Meals- $10 at blue lodge and K.T, Free at Chapter, Council,
But the expeirence is priceless!!!
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Post by windtimber on May 5, 2006 14:25:24 GMT
I did a little conversion from US $ which may or may not be right. Annual dues for Blue Lodge + Royal Arch Chapter + Council of the Cryptic Rite + Commandery + Scottish Rite + Eastern Star + York Rite Sovereign College + Shrine is about 210 USD or 113 GBP in our local jurisdiction. Add to that some mileage costs - though often times I combine family vacations, long weekends, and business travel with jaunts to Masonic activities so this is just for "strictly Masonic" travel - and a few books, subscriptions, contributions to worthy fraternal causes, the odd piece of jewelry or some other knick knack, and it gets up to maybe 400 USD or 215 GBP. I don't count any costs for meals, banquets, festive boards, or "liquid spirits" as I'd be taking those whether I was a Freemason or not!
Now,mind you, Blue Lodge is only about 40 USD or 22 GBP and that is all that's required to be a Master Mason. The rest is wholly optional for further edification and fellowship.
As for time - I never count it. I choose what to do, prioritize my activities, and take as much or as little time as I can or want. That's the beauty of our fraternity - YOU make if it what YOU want!
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Post by waynecowley on May 5, 2006 14:50:41 GMT
I did a little conversion from US $ which may or may not be right. Annual dues for Blue Lodge + Royal Arch Chapter + Council of the Cryptic Rite + Commandery + Scottish Rite + Eastern Star + York Rite Sovereign College + Shrine is about 210 USD or 113 GBP in our local jurisdiction. Wow - that's less than I pay for my Craft lodge alone (currently £115 per year) Wayne
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