[Annolucius]

I'm new to Freemason Hall, and want to see if anyone is in the Cryptic Rite. Maybe we can start a discussion about related business.

[Ashlar521]

I am the Illustrious Master of our Council this year . I love the Council degrees , very imformative .

[BG_TRBL]

I was a member, but due to various reasons, I have temporarily demitted from council, I am still however a member of Chapter and Commandery

[Annolucius]

Originally Posted by Ashlar521

I am the Illustrious Master of our Council this year . I love the Council degrees , very imformative .

I, too, am Illustrious Master this year. It is good to meet another officer outside of the Grand Council of Ohio. I am learning quickly that knowing and loving the council degrees is much different than presiding over the council degrees!

[Ashlar521]

Originally Posted by Annolucius

I, too, am Illustrious Master this year. It is good to meet another officer outside of the Grand Council of Ohio. I am learning quickly that knowing and loving the council degrees is much different than presiding over the council degrees!

Very true ! I am dropping out of the chair line in all 3 bodies after this year . I am tired of the inspections every year . It seems that all we have time to do is worry about getting ready for inspection and it has sucked out all the enjoyment out of going to Temple , everyone sweating the inspections , I'm done with it .

[Annolucius]

Originally Posted by Ashlar521

It seems that all we have time to do is worry about getting ready for inspection and it has sucked out all the enjoyment out of going to Temple

I've been very active in both Blue Lodge and York Rite for awhile now, although this is my first year as the head of anything. However, it feels like I'm just a figurehead. Also, Inspections seem to be the ONLY thing important to some folks. After inspection is over, nobody seems to care about Council. Yes, Inspection made me incredibly nervous, but now that we're done, no one seems to care about Council anymore.

[Ashlar521]

Same here . Everyone was practicing and sweating it . All I did was asked the CoG if he was ready ,he stated yes and that was it .I just went in and did it . We scored higher than the other two bodies and now we are forgotten . I wasn't really nervous because what are they going to do if we fail , take our Charter away ? That would be less money coming into their coffers .

This is the way of the Council . We don't have the Royal Arch degree like the Chapter or the KT degree like the Commandery . It's just a bump in the road to most .

[Annolucius]

Well, I am not happy to hear that this issue is more widespread than I thought; more than just a regional issue. You hit the nail on the head, IC, because you described exactly the way it is with us, too. Our council has be referenced in the past as one of the better (not bragging, this was long before my time). Our ritual work is pretty good, although we have some people that are called on year after year to give the lectures. However, we've done nothing significant since our inspection, and I was told to wait until the commandery inspection before having any further degree work. Case in point: We have meetings of all three bodies on the same night. We're in the middle, guess who gets squashed?

I'm just letting off steam. I love my council, and I love the craft. However, in order to keep from getting lazy, we have to strive to surpass the standard, even if we were the ones who previosly set the bar.

[Ashlar521]

I have thought long and hard on this ,and as bad as I hate too I think I am going to demit from both the York and Scottish Rites . I'm going to concentrate most all my energy on Blue Lodge . I have far to many pokers in the fire and I feel that I am letting my duties in my Lodge slip . I have 16 young Masons to couch , I have degree classes to lead and educational classes to prepare each month , degree lectures to give in my lodge and Sister lodges in my area and amoung all the other committees that I am a member . I will reinstate later on down the road when I am finished going through the chairs again(if I can stay out of the Secretaries Chair that is) , I just can not pay dues for something I can not be active in just for the simple reason to say I am a KT Mason or have the number 32 after my name .

[Annolucius]

I'm sorry to hear you're dropping out. Although that is not my choice at the moment, I may consider that down the road. I like the York Rite especially since it seems, (from my perspective) to have the more serious masons involved. Naturally, however, there are fewer in this category. And as with everything, a person can get burnt out. I have a lifetime membership in council, but that depends, of course, on RAM. I guess I'll either have to consider lifetime membership in RAM or eventually consider the path you've taken.