For many people, a Masonic Hall is a familiar building whose doors they may have passed countless times without ever having had a reason to go inside.
On Sunday 16 August, Erme Lodge No. 1091 set about changing that.
The Lodge opened Ivybridge Masonic Hall in Western Road to the public for an Open Day, inviting local people to come inside, meet members and learn something about Freemasonry in their own community.
The event ran from 11am until 4pm, with the hall displaying Masonic regalia, photographs and other material giving visitors an opportunity to see something of the organisation’s traditions and history.
The day shows something rather more important than the objects on display, however. They show a Masonic building with its front door quite literally open.
That matters.
Freemasonry has never been a secret organisation, although historically it has not always been particularly good at explaining itself to those outside it. An Open Day provides an uncomplicated way of addressing that: no ceremony, no mystery and no expectation — simply an opportunity for people to walk through the door and ask whatever they would like to know.
The message outside the hall was equally clear. Devonshire Freemasons’ banners identified the building and the organisation, while the Open Day publicity invited visitors to Discover Freemasonry and to find out about its emphasis on friendship, charity and personal development.
A visit from the head of Devonshire Freemasonry
Among those present was RW Bro Nicholas Ball, Provincial Grand Master for the Province of Devonshire.
Nicholas was installed as Provincial Grand Master in April 2023, becoming the 18th Provincial Grand Master of Devonshire.
His presence at Ivybridge was particularly appropriate because greater openness and engagement have become increasingly important to Freemasonry locally.
When he became Provincial Grand Master in 2023, Nicholas spoke openly about some of the challenges facing Devonshire Freemasonry, including membership, the health of individual Lodges and the future of Masonic buildings. He encouraged members to speak to friends of good reputation about Freemasonry and, importantly, to become better at welcoming and retaining those who show an interest.
An Open Day such as that held by Erme Lodge is one very practical expression of that approach.
More than simply opening a building
Masonic Halls are unusual places.
They are working meeting places, but many also contain decades — sometimes generations — of local history. Photographs record former members; honours boards and objects tell stories that mean something to the Lodges which meet there; and the Lodge room itself can appear unfamiliar to somebody encountering one for the first time.
Opening such a building to the wider community therefore serves two purposes.
It provides an opportunity to explain Freemasonry, certainly, but it also removes some of the unnecessary distance which can exist between a Lodge and the town in which it meets.
Visitors do not have to be considering membership to be interested. Some will simply be curious about the building. Others may want to understand what Freemasons actually do, why members wear regalia or where money raised for charitable causes goes. Some may discover that a relative or previous generation of their family had connections with a Lodge.
Those conversations are useful in their own right.
The displays at Ivybridge reflected that willingness to explain rather than merely advertise. Alongside examples of Masonic regalia were photographs and information showing something of the life of the Lodge and Freemasonry more broadly.
Outside, the hall was unmistakably open for business: flags and banners welcomed people from Western Road rather than leaving passers-by to wonder what was happening behind closed doors.
Part of the community, not apart from it
That distinction is an important one.
Freemasonry’s charitable contribution receives considerable attention, and rightly so, but community involvement cannot consist solely of presenting cheques. It also means being visible, approachable and prepared to take part in the life of the places in which Lodges meet.
Charity and Service are at the heart of Freemasonry. For individual Lodges, that large organisation becomes something much simpler: a group of local people meeting in a local building.
That is why events such as the Erme Lodge Open Day have value. They allow the community to meet the people rather than the institution.
Nobody needs to leave an Open Day having decided to become a Freemason. If visitors leave understanding a little more about who meets in the building, what Freemasonry is trying to achieve and why its members choose to belong, the exercise has already served a worthwhile purpose.
For Erme Lodge No. 1091, Sunday provided an opportunity to do precisely that — to open the doors of Ivybridge Masonic Hall and allow the community outside to see something of the people and traditions within.
Sometimes improving understanding begins with nothing more complicated than an open door.
