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• • We have launched two fundraisers—a fireworks booth and a raffle for a beach weekend—both designed to support the financial health of the Lodge.
    
    
  • We have added new social activities: we held a game night and started a monthly hiking group—steps toward building the Fellowship and Unity we all value.
    
    
  • More than half a dozen Brothers have learned and performed new ritual roles, breathing fresh life into our ritual work and deepening their connection to the Craft.
    
    
  • And we have a healthy pipeline of inquiries from men interested in joining our Lodge. The Grand Lodge’s West Gate program is bearing fruit: the men who take the time to engage in those intentional conversations over weeks and months are proving to be well-prepared and genuinely dedicated to learning about the Craft and about our Lodge. These men make better candidates—and ultimately, better Brothers—than those we might hastily rush through the process.
    

These are achievements to celebrate. But they are also a reminder that progress invites further responsibility. Now is not the time to pull back. Our work is not yet done. Now is the time to push forward.

Renewal: The Work Before Us

We have made good progress, but our work is far from done.

• • Our fundraising efforts and new social efforts require sustained follow-through and broader participation. A small handful of Brothers cannot carry these alone.
    
    
  • We need to draw in a wider swath of our membership—not only to Stated Communications, but to our social gatherings and community-building efforts.
    
    
  • And we must begin to think beyond this year—toward the next two to five years. Who will fill the chairs? What programs or initiatives will we carry forward? How will we sustain and build upon the momentum we’ve begun?
    

In this conversation, we must be clear-eyed. Perhaps a traditional progressive line does not serve us as it once did. And after 114 consecutive non-repeating Masters, we must face the sober reality that this tradition may well have come to an end. That is not failure; it is evolution.

We must ensure that every chair, from the East to the Tyler outside the West Gate, is occupied by the Brother best suited to serve in that role—not by tradition, not by inertia, but by capability and commitment. If we embrace this principle with humility and with clarity, we will be better positioned to lead this Lodge into the future.

A Call to the Craft

Brothers, I return again to the three commitments that have guided us this year: justice, kindness, humility.

Be just—act with fairness and integrity. Follow through on your commitments. Support one another. Speak truth with care.

Be kind—create an atmosphere where every Brother feels welcome and valued. This Lodge should be a place of warmth, encouragement, and mutual respect.

Be humble—recognize that we are stronger together. No one Brother can build this Lodge alone. The work is ours to share.

Brothers, we meet on the level and act by the plumb—reminders that here, we stand as equals in both rights and responsibilities. Radical ownership means this Lodge belongs to each of us. And a Lodge that belongs to all must be built by all—not merely enjoyed by many while built by a few.

Our fundraising efforts, our social gatherings, our leadership—these do not happen by themselves. They require willing hands, generous time, and shared commitment. It is not fair, nor fitting, for us to enjoy the benefits of a vibrant Lodge if we are not also contributing to its vitality. Freemasonry is not a spectator activity; there is no place for sideliners in a living Lodge.

So I say this as both a challenge and an invitation: If you have not yet found your place in the labor of this Lodge, now is the time. Step forward. Offer your skills. Lend your energy. The work before us is worthy—and it belongs to us all.

This Lodge is ours. It will be what we choose to make of it. The vision we articulated in January is still before us. The obstacles we named remain real. The progress we have made is encouraging—but it is only the beginning.

Now is not the time to relax. Now is not the time to say, “We’ve done enough.”

Now is the time to lean in. To deepen our commitment. To push forward—together.

So I ask you:
Will you show up?
Will you take ownership?
Will you bring your energy, your ideas, your hands to the work?
Will you help us build the best version of Beaverton Masonic Lodge—not in ideas alone, but through action?

If we do this—if we walk these next months together in the spirit of justice, kindness, and humility—I believe we will look back on this year as a true turning point in the life of this Lodge.

I am honored to walk this path with you.