What Freemasons Do at the Lodge
Freemasons hold their Masonic meetings at a lodge. Lodge meetings happen at regular intervals throughout the year, and they may be conducted for special occasions.
Most lodges assemble once a month for a business meeting, where communications are read, bills are paid, proposed members are voted on, and the members catch up on each other’s lives.
Often, guest speakers are invited, or a member gives a presentation on the ritual, history, philosophy, or symbols of Masonry.
Special meetings are held to initiate new members and perform the various ceremonies to advance them to full membership. These ceremonies are called degrees.
Masons also gather for the somber purpose of conducting funeral services for their deceased members.
Because the primary goal of Freemasonry is fellowship, a meal is usually served before or after the meeting, either in the lodge building or at a nearby restaurant. Depending on the traditions, formality, and finances of its members, meals can be as simple as pizza or bologna sandwiches, or as sumptuous as a seven-course feast, in the old English Festive Board tradition of a banquet and ceremonial toasting.
