Napier’s Scinde Lodge Freemasons on using social media to attract new members

• Napier’s Scinde Lodge Freemasons have launched a social media campaign to attract younger members amid declining numbers.
• The campaign’s success has brought fresh ideas and energy to the lodge.
• The Freemasons say they are open to change and evolving with the times.

It felt odd to see an advertisement offering the opportunity to join what is perceived in popular culture as an “insular secret society”.

But many men in Hawke’s Bay will have seen exactly that when an ad inviting them to join Napier’s Scinde Lodge Freemasons popped up on social for the past few months.

The advert speaks of the Scinde Lodge Freemasons as “a place where you’ll find brotherhood, opportunity, purpose” and of becoming “not just a man, a Mason”.

This is the same group that superstar author Dan Brown vilified in his Robert Langdon series of books where he made veiled accusations alluding to Freemasons running the world.

Napier's Scinde Lodge Past Master Richar Millea stands in the building's Lodge Room. Photo / Jack Riddell

With this in mind, the nervousness started to creep in as I pulled up to Scinde Lodge, an old art deco building that houses Masons in Kennedy Rd.

My hands started to sweat as I walked to the door and was introduced to Masons Ian Levet and John Hart, along with Scinde Lodge’s past Master Richard Millea, who welcomed me with firm, typical handshakes and offers of tea or coffee, immediately easing any fears of the salacious rumours I had read in fiction or seen in YouTube documentaries.

“We don’t control the world. Look at us. Does it look like we could?” quipped Levet as we sat down in the dining room of the lodge.

The Freemasons were established in 1717 in London, England, and since then lodges have been set up across all of civilisation.

Members have included Geroge Washington, Winston Churchill, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and even Shaquille O’Neal has boasted of his membership.

The lodge’s social media campaign was created for a simple reason, according to Millea. They needed to grow membership after older members started “falling off the end”.

It turns out the social media campaign has been “highly successful”, bringing in several new young Masons to the Lodge.

“We’ve got these spreadsheets that show us year on year the declining numbers because we didn’t have any younger guys in. So, the young guys bring in that sort of freshness and energy in the lodge room, and then tell us what we should do differently – because we are open to change.

“Also, the younger guys bring fresh ideas about things we do outside of the lodge room,” said Hart.

“Which charities should we support, what social events do we have, how do we relate to families and kids and grandchildren of members, that sort of thing.”

Just ask

The ease of joining the ranks of the Napier Masons has helped boost numbers, with just one simple trick to getting in.

“Ask. It’s as simple as that,” said Millea, before being reminded by his Mason brothers that you also have to be 18 and a man of good character.

Another box to tick to become a Mason is to believe in God, but it doesn’t matter which one.

“We don’t affiliate ourselves with any religious denomination, so we’re completely race, colour, creed, religion neutral,” Millea said.

“We say that you should have an understanding that there’s something greater than you.”

“But that’s personal to you,” said Hart. “It could be a tree trunk outside.”

Millea stressed all men are welcome no matter what their background or culture is and the lodge boasted a range of characters with varied careers.

Also, Millea sees a future where men and women Masons will be together under the same lodge.

“There always was a link to women in Freemason, it was called the Eastern Star.

“But what’s happened in recent times is they have fully absorbed them into the United Grand Lodge of England. Our Grand Master and the women’s Grand Master sit on the same committees now. I envisage a time where they will just combine.

“During some of our ceremonies now we do invite women in. During a specific award or a particular ceremony, his partner, his wife might come into the lodge room and witness it.

“It has changed quite a bit and that’s part of necessity really. You can’t not, you’ve got to move on.”