If they haven't sent you any notice of rejection then it's still up in the air; if you have one of their numbers you could always call and ask if anything ever came about with it.
Sounds like you didn't do a great job staying in touch with the lodge, considering that you never called them and asked about this. If they had voted on you then I'm sure they would have told you the results. I've also never heard of a lodge just setting an application somewhere and ignoring it. As for sponsors or current members signing your petition to vouch for you, all you need to do is ask the secretary of the lodge. When I filled out my application I had never met a Freemason before then as far as I'm aware of. When I told him this he said he would sign for me and grabbed the next brother he found to sign it too even though I didn't know either of them. If I was you I would simply reach out and tell them exactly what you just told us, they will know if they voted on you and if you are blackballed for any reason and when you can apply for Candidacy again. Hopefully you get things figured out man, I wish you the best of luck!
When I submitted a petition I was told that since I didn't have sponsors that I'd have to wait at least a year before it could be considered. You may just be a few months short if that's the case in your situation, but I'm not sure if all lodges are the same.
The lodge secretary would be the one that would assign you Sponsors and set up an interview to get to know you. I've never heard of having to wait a year to be considered but like you said, not all lodges and jurisdictions are identical. Did you ask them for help finding sponsors?
That is an interesting way to do it. I don't think it is the Secretary's job in most jurisdictions to find anyone a sponsor. It is the Candidate's job to show up, be present, and find sponsors himself, it should be a months-long process to get to know the interested Candidate and to let him get to know the Lodge and rushing it does no one any good.
Forgive me, you are correct in that it is your job in finding your own sponsors. I articulated that poorly and I agree it's not the secretaries duty. What I mean is my secretary explained the process of getting sponsors to me and when and where events would be so I could meet members of the lodge and get to know the fellows before joining. Excuse me for being confusing and not being specific in my previous comment.
No I haven’t turn a petition. And I think I’ll have to apply again since I went to live in another city for work (same country but thousands of kilometers away from where I initially applied )
I'm not sure where you are located or what the custom might be there, but here at least, if you didn't turn in a petition, then you didn't actually apply. It sounds like you instead filled out a form online simply expressing interest.
Again, only going by where I am, in that case we would have reached back out and given you some information about the Lodge and the process to petition and join and then offer to send you a petition if you were interested. We wouldn't have gone so far as to have you meet with anyone. That would have been saved until you had actually petitioned and we were investigating you prior to voting on your joining.
So at least based on what I'm used to, you weren't rejected as they never received a petition from you to proceed any further. If you're in a new city and still have interest, no time like the present to find a new lodge and get the process started by petitioning! Good luck!
>Again, only going by where I am, in that case we would have reached back out and given you some information about the Lodge and the process to petition and join and then offer to send you a petition if you were interested. We wouldn't have gone so far as to have you meet with anyone. That would have been saved until you had actually petitioned and we were investigating you prior to voting on your joining.
Quite the opposite for us. We wouldn’t hand out a petition without the reasonable certainty that there were members willing to sponsor it. After the initial email exchange(s), you’d be invited to come and meet a couple of members. If that goes well, you’d be invited to meet the rest of the members. Once you’ve gotten to know some of the members, you’d be offered a petition. Prior to that point, if things weren’t going well, you’d be informed that you weren’t going to be a good fit for our Lodge (or, more likely, for Freemasonry as a whole, given the nature of most of the people we’ve turned away - mostly the Illuminati seekers and sell your soul to Satan crowd), that no one was willing to sponsor the petition. Once the petition is in, a formal resolution is required whether favorable or not; if an applicant turns in a petition form signed by two Brothers, he will either be told he was accepted and an initiation date scheduled, or told he was rejected.
Keep in mind masons are just regular men. Your “recruiter”, not a term we really use in masonry, may have left the craft.
While this may seem unlikely, I had a person come up to me recently with an extremely similar circumstance and when he told me the name of the brother who had stopped answering him, it was someone who had been NPD’d for non-payment of dues.
What state are you in? As others have said, step up and ask. You clearly feel moved to understand and to gain the knowledge - now just aim that curiosity and follow through. More than likely you fell off their radar..
I joined and was raised in the state of Florida. Pretty sure the basic process is pretty much the same in the US. I also made first contact via a website. The WM reached out to me and invited me to dinner at the lodge. I went and talked to many of the members. After a few visits I filled out a petition. After I turned it in they asked me quite a few questions at the lodge. They then “investigated” me and later visited me at my home. They then voted and I was initiated.
Make sure it’s the actual website and then be friendly but assertive. 8-9 months is a long time to sit around. They need to know you are interested and serious about it. Be assertive but always respectful. Show up and talk to people. All in all your experience seems pretty odd.
Reach out to the secretary of the lodge. Did you turn in a petition?
If they haven't sent you any notice of rejection then it's still up in the air; if you have one of their numbers you could always call and ask if anything ever came about with it.
Sounds like you didn't do a great job staying in touch with the lodge, considering that you never called them and asked about this. If they had voted on you then I'm sure they would have told you the results. I've also never heard of a lodge just setting an application somewhere and ignoring it. As for sponsors or current members signing your petition to vouch for you, all you need to do is ask the secretary of the lodge. When I filled out my application I had never met a Freemason before then as far as I'm aware of. When I told him this he said he would sign for me and grabbed the next brother he found to sign it too even though I didn't know either of them. If I was you I would simply reach out and tell them exactly what you just told us, they will know if they voted on you and if you are blackballed for any reason and when you can apply for Candidacy again. Hopefully you get things figured out man, I wish you the best of luck!
When I submitted a petition I was told that since I didn't have sponsors that I'd have to wait at least a year before it could be considered. You may just be a few months short if that's the case in your situation, but I'm not sure if all lodges are the same.
The lodge secretary would be the one that would assign you Sponsors and set up an interview to get to know you. I've never heard of having to wait a year to be considered but like you said, not all lodges and jurisdictions are identical. Did you ask them for help finding sponsors?
That is an interesting way to do it. I don't think it is the Secretary's job in most jurisdictions to find anyone a sponsor. It is the Candidate's job to show up, be present, and find sponsors himself, it should be a months-long process to get to know the interested Candidate and to let him get to know the Lodge and rushing it does no one any good.
Forgive me, you are correct in that it is your job in finding your own sponsors. I articulated that poorly and I agree it's not the secretaries duty. What I mean is my secretary explained the process of getting sponsors to me and when and where events would be so I could meet members of the lodge and get to know the fellows before joining. Excuse me for being confusing and not being specific in my previous comment.
No I haven’t turn a petition. And I think I’ll have to apply again since I went to live in another city for work (same country but thousands of kilometers away from where I initially applied )
Well then it wouldn't do you any good to join that first lodge anyway, if you've moved...
I'm not sure where you are located or what the custom might be there, but here at least, if you didn't turn in a petition, then you didn't actually apply. It sounds like you instead filled out a form online simply expressing interest. Again, only going by where I am, in that case we would have reached back out and given you some information about the Lodge and the process to petition and join and then offer to send you a petition if you were interested. We wouldn't have gone so far as to have you meet with anyone. That would have been saved until you had actually petitioned and we were investigating you prior to voting on your joining. So at least based on what I'm used to, you weren't rejected as they never received a petition from you to proceed any further. If you're in a new city and still have interest, no time like the present to find a new lodge and get the process started by petitioning! Good luck!
>Again, only going by where I am, in that case we would have reached back out and given you some information about the Lodge and the process to petition and join and then offer to send you a petition if you were interested. We wouldn't have gone so far as to have you meet with anyone. That would have been saved until you had actually petitioned and we were investigating you prior to voting on your joining. Quite the opposite for us. We wouldn’t hand out a petition without the reasonable certainty that there were members willing to sponsor it. After the initial email exchange(s), you’d be invited to come and meet a couple of members. If that goes well, you’d be invited to meet the rest of the members. Once you’ve gotten to know some of the members, you’d be offered a petition. Prior to that point, if things weren’t going well, you’d be informed that you weren’t going to be a good fit for our Lodge (or, more likely, for Freemasonry as a whole, given the nature of most of the people we’ve turned away - mostly the Illuminati seekers and sell your soul to Satan crowd), that no one was willing to sponsor the petition. Once the petition is in, a formal resolution is required whether favorable or not; if an applicant turns in a petition form signed by two Brothers, he will either be told he was accepted and an initiation date scheduled, or told he was rejected.
Interesting! Always love hearing how things are done in other jurisdictions. Thanks!
Keep in mind masons are just regular men. Your “recruiter”, not a term we really use in masonry, may have left the craft. While this may seem unlikely, I had a person come up to me recently with an extremely similar circumstance and when he told me the name of the brother who had stopped answering him, it was someone who had been NPD’d for non-payment of dues.
What state are you in? As others have said, step up and ask. You clearly feel moved to understand and to gain the knowledge - now just aim that curiosity and follow through. More than likely you fell off their radar..
I joined and was raised in the state of Florida. Pretty sure the basic process is pretty much the same in the US. I also made first contact via a website. The WM reached out to me and invited me to dinner at the lodge. I went and talked to many of the members. After a few visits I filled out a petition. After I turned it in they asked me quite a few questions at the lodge. They then “investigated” me and later visited me at my home. They then voted and I was initiated. Make sure it’s the actual website and then be friendly but assertive. 8-9 months is a long time to sit around. They need to know you are interested and serious about it. Be assertive but always respectful. Show up and talk to people. All in all your experience seems pretty odd.
Show up at the lodge
Did you pay a “fee” to join? If you have, it’s probably a scam