While developing the research for past Sovereign Grand Commander McNaughton’s book, Reclaiming the Soul of Freemasonry, numerous insights about our membership emerged. While we invite you to read his work in its entirety, three very specific member demands were striking.
- Members want to be able to dive deeper into the craft. They want to use technology to study and examine the degrees when they want, and where they want.
- You want to leverage technology to bridge the gap between membership and leadership. Technology is seen as a way to keep the connection between Brothers alive between in-person meetings.
- You want Freemasonry to be open and vocal about who we are, our values, and the good we do for so many.
Not Just a Man. A Mason.
The survey clearly told us that deep pride and great personal satisfaction comes from our work in Freemasonry. You told us to declare it to the world, and we are. We developed a creative campaign built around the tagline -- Not Just a Man. A Mason. Images of Brotherhood and words of inspiration are sure to appeal to men interested in knowing more about the craft. Just as important, we want to reignite in our Brethren the sense of dignity and honor we all rightfully feel for choosing to walk this path.
A New Website
Here you will find a new interactive website that is user friendly and full of new content. Every decision in building the new site revolved around the question, “what do members want and need?” Here are some exciting additions and improvements.
Education:
In order to facilitate a deeper understanding of Scottish Rite Freemasonry and its degrees, we are rolling out a robust education hub. At launch, a series of quizzes test your knowledge of the Rite and our craft.
Hauts Grades Academy:
You asked for it, you got it! Hauts Grades Academy (HGA) is open. The program is offered online and free of charge to all 32˚ Degree Scottish Rite Masons in good standing. The objective of this program is to support your journey to deeper understanding of the Scottish Rite degrees. This improved knowledge will be personally enriching, and will better prepare you serve as educators, mentors, and role models in your respective Valleys.
Resources:
We want to put more power into the hands of everyone who touches this organization. That meant creating a one-stop-shop for resources related to the SRNMJ. Leadership tools like case studies will exist to help instruct and inspire Valley officials and other leaders to build upon and improve the ways they conduct business. For all members, this section will ensure access to important information and documents, as well as keeping members apprised on The Path Forward.
As this section grows, we hope that members will feel more engaged and empowered when it comes to participating in our fraternity.
Join:
A major part of making a Blue Lodge Mason’s journey to the Scottish Rite successful is by simplifying the roadmap. We have introduced a new streamlined page for those interested in joining our fraternity. The steps to join are clear and lines of available support are outlined.
Additionally, creating this page is one of the first milestones towards increasing the membership of the Scottish Rite, NMJ. This initial step forward will be reinforced with new initiatives over time.
Charities:
Our new online home will also completely revamp how we seek to develop our charitable efforts together. Beyond just updates, the Supreme Council wishes to illustrate the profound difference that the generosity of our members makes in the lives of their fellow Brothers. We will be premiering new videos that show the effect of this generosity in action through the Grand Almoner’s Fund. Our vision to take care of our members and their families remains paramount.
Member Center:
Of all the elements on the website, the Member Center is where we are the most focused on giving our members “more.” It will be a place where members can login with their credentials to gain access to a variety of exciting new programs.
A multimedia library of videos and webinars will allow members to remain informed, inspired, and entertained. This section of the member center will also host live video streaming, where SRNMJ leadership will present announcements, host interactive Q/A sessions, and take part in other programming. We hope that this feature will allow our leaders to start a direct dialogue with membership, and forge a strong sense of togetherness regardless of geography.
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And we’ve only just begun. While we are very excited, this is only a handful of the things you can come to expect from the new site and new look. As time goes by, exciting features will be built-on to continue enhancing your member experience. We hope you will stay tuned, tell us what you think, and take advantage all that the new home from the SRNMJ online has to offer!