Dear Dedicated Members for Change,
A famous and powerful man once said:
‘What I know deep in my bones is that if you’ve done the same thing for 50 years and nothing’s changed, you should try something different if you want a different outcome.”
That interesting quote came from none other than the President of the United States, Barack Obama, just a few days ago. But similar statements have been made by other great men and women over the years. The phrase is applicable to so many situations, and certainly applicable to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. There are those in this Order who seem to think that if we can just keep doing – perhaps with more fervor – what we’ve been doing for the past 100 years, we can somehow stop the free fall in our membership numbers, stop the closure of Lodges, and suddenly grow this fraternity to a place of prominence.
That, in my opinion, is a sure recipe for continued decline. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Sovereign Grand Master Jimmy Humphrey has seen the writing on the wall and recognizes that we have to change the trajectory of this Order if we are to survive in this new Century. He is a man of vision. He recognizes what we have been saying in
these DMC Newsletters for the past four years: To reverse the declining trend of our membership we must revitalize, renew, refresh, and recharge our commitment to Odd
Fellowship. We must open the doors and windows of our Lodges and reach out into our communities to do good works. And we must remember that, as a fraternity, we can and should have some fun and good times in our Lodges. If we become three-dimensional Lodges we can revitalize IOOF:
- Renewing our commitment to the history and ritual of our Order;
- Refreshing our ability to have some fun and social times in our Lodges with our Lodge mates, families and friends;
- Recharging our commitment to good works in our communities.
Please see the remarks, below, by our Sovereign Grand Master. Just click on the link. Brother Jimmy’s comment remind me of another famous quote by Benjamin Franklin:
“All humanity is divided into three classes: those who are immovable, those who are movable, and those who move!”
Jimmy Humphrey is clearly in the third class – he is a mover! Which one are you?
F – L – T
Dave Rosenberg
Deputy Grand Master