TERMS OF ASSOCIATE
MEMBERSHIP
- Application for
Associate Membership must be made personally, either by post or email, and the
applicant's suitability and Masonic rank must be vouched for by one or more
Members of the Lodge. Such application should be accompanied by a summary of
the applicant's personal view of the Craft, its purpose, and its role in the
modern world. (A single sheet of A4 is acceptable).
- Applicants must be
subscribing Members of a regular Lodge constituted under the United Grand Lodge
of England, or under a Constitution affiliated therewith or recognised thereby,
and must furnish such references or evidence of their Masonic status as may be
required. This is especially necessary in the case of overseas applicants who
should obtain, and send with their application, one or more covering letters
from official sources to vouch for their Masonic status.
- Associate Members will
be elected by the Lodge or any committee thereof appointed for that purpose. An
Associate Member cannot propose an applicant, but may recommend him by
letter.r.
- An entrance fee of
£30 will be payable, entitling the new Associate Member to receive the
First Volume of the Selected Lodge Papers, which will disclose the general
features of the Lodge's ideals and methods. An annual contribution of £20
is then payable on the 1st January of each year of Associate Membership,
entitling him to receive a subsequent volume annually. (Currently there are
four volumes of Selected Lodge Papers).
- Election implies that
the Associate Member will continue his connection with the Lodge for a period
of at least three years, after which it may be discontinued at the wish of the
Associate Member. If he ceases to be a Member of the Craft elsewhere his
Associate Membership with "Living Stones" will terminate
automatically.
- Election also implies an
undertaking by the Associate Member to co-operate regularly in thought, study
and daily practice with the general ideals and observances of the Lodge, and
that he will use his connection with it and his personal influence to advance
Masonic knowledge on the lines of the Lodge among Brethren with whom he is in
habitual contact.
- All Lodge Papers issued
to an Associate Member shall be treated as Lodge property lent to him for his
private instruction, and as returnable to the Lodge at call or on discontinuing
his membership or at his death (he making provision for their privacy and for
their return to the Lodge in the event of his death). On no account may Lodge
Papers be circulated, reproduced or re-published, but reasonable latitude is
allowed in showing them to a Brother in whose discretion the Associate Member
can rely to preserve similar secrecy, or in reading the Papers or extracts from
them to a Lodge by way of instruction or lectures; in which case it must be
explained that the Papers emanate from, and are the property of, the Lodge of
Living Stones.
- Associate Members are
earnestly asked to keep in touch with the Lodge by periodical correspondence,
say once a year, reporting their personal interest in the work of the Lodge and
progress made in diffusing that interest in their district. This is especially
desired in distant and overseas cases, so that the Lodge may form an idea of
the influence its work is exerting and the personal benefit derived by
Associate Members. The Lodge's Secretary for Associate Members writes a short
paper for all the Associate Members four times a year. His "Letter to the
Associate Members" is sent out with the Lodge Summons approximately two
weeks before each of the formal Lodge meetings.
- Changes in the Associate
Member's address must be notified at once to the Lodge Secretary (See the
"Contact Us" page).
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