Get Involved Freemasonry
Becoming a Freemason
The first step to becoming a Freemason is to Find your Lodge. The Grand Lodge of your state will advise the location of the lodges in your area.
How it Works
When you’ve decided on the lodge you want to join simply go and meet the brothers and ask for a petition, a standard questionnaire that's usually provided by the Grand Lodge for the lodges in its jurisdiction. Answer all the questions completely and truthfully.
To be one, ask one. Those wishing to join Freemasonry must ask a member. Freemasons do not solicit members.
Degree Options
After you’re elected to receive the degrees of Masonry, the only thing left is for the lodge to schedule your degree ceremonies. Depending on the state or country you’re in and the customs of your individual lodge, you may have some options concerning your degree conferral. Whichever path you choose to becoming a Master Mason when it is complete you will be a Master Mason and can proudly consider yourself a member of the world’s oldest fraternal organization.
Proficiency
Most lodges prefer you to go through your degrees by yourself, one at a time, with a certain waiting period between them. You doubtless have to prove your proficiency (knowledge of the degree) before moving to the next one, so you're assigned a mentor — possibly one of the men who signed your petition. Your lodge will perform three Degrees (initiation ceremonies) for your education and enjoyment. These ceremonies are very dignified and inspirational. These degrees are very solemn and Masons take the task of making Masons very seriously.
This process of going through the degrees can be done traditionally in your own lodge with smaller groups that include other candidates entering your lodge just like you. This process would start with the Entered Apprentice degree and then move to the Fellow Craft degree and conclude with the Master Mason degree. This process is very rewarding and will help you get to know the brothers at your lodge.
The One Day Class
In the last several years we have begun another process called the One Day Class. This process was developed to help compensate for the very busy schedules of modern life. In this situation the Entered Apprentice Degree, Fellow Craft Degree and Master Mason Degree are all taught in one day. You will be watching the process as an exemplar is used to represent all in the room rather than in the traditional format where you are a participant in your own degrees.
What's Next?
There are many more degrees you can take and several different groups you may choose to get involved with as you grow in the fraternity. After becoming a Master Mason (the third degree of the lodge) you may seek membership in the many other Masonic related groups these are often referred to as appendant bodies. Any additional degrees are optional, the Masonic equivalent of a continuing education course. But a 32nd-degree Scottish Rite Mason doesn't outrank a 3rd-degree Master Mason.