An important issue for your consideration from DMC: _____________________________________ Dear Dedicated Members for Change, Brother Louie Sarmiento, at my request, did a little research into statistics relating to our Branches: Encampment, Ladies Encampment Auxiliary (LEA). Patriarchs Militant (PM), and Ladies Auxiliary Patriarchs Militant (LAPM). The statistics are quite revealing. Our Branches are barely treading water. Particularly in the United States, our Branches may be a mile wide, but an inch deep. If one assumes that only 50% of the members listed on the books of the Branches are actually active members (and that is a valid assumption in virtually all Lodges, clubs and organizations), then the true number of ACTIVE members in the entire USA would be: Encampment: 1,307 LEA: 517 PM: 827 LAPM: 523 Clearly, these numbers are not sustainable. I say this not as an outsider, but as an insider. I am a member of the Encampment - having served as Chief Patriarch, and I am a member of the Patriarchs Militant, having served as Captain of my Canton, and currently serving as a Major, and Commander of a PM Battalion. The Branches are mere shells of what they once were. I can imagine that there are many local units that simply dont have quorums for meetings and that lack sufficient members to fill all offices. I can also imagine that the great bulk of members are in their 70s, 80s, and beyond, and that very few members are below the age of 50. The time is long overdue to merge our Branches. It makes little sense to continue to have separate units for men and for women. The days of separate but equal have long passed into history. Further, it makes sense to consolidate the Branches into the mother ship, so to speak. Odd Fellowship is currently too diffused. Sovereign Grand Lodge must seriously confront the issue and determine the appropriate pathway for LAPM and PM to merge, and for LEA and the Encampment to merge, and ultimately for Odd Fellows Lodges and Rebekah Lodges to merge. It is inevitable that we will eventually devolve to Lodges of Odd Fellows with nine or ten degrees of Odd Fellowship. Why not deal with the inevitable now? F - L - T Dave Rosenberg Deputy Grand Master ************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************ Hello brother Dave, Below are the numbers you requestsed: ENCAMPMENTS Jurisdiction # of members # of Encampments USA 3613 302 Europe 26,979 106 Latin America 2638 33 Canada 360 32 Philippines 20 1 Australasia 32 3 GRAND TOTAL 33,642 477 LADIES AUXILIARY ENCAMPMENT jurisdiction # of members # of E USA 1034 93 Europe 12,983 80 Canada 107 7 GRAND TOTAL 14,124 180 PATRIARCHS MILITANT Jurisdiction # of members # of Cantons USA 1,654 167 Canada 110 12 Denmark 603 7 iceland 113 2 Latin America 784 12 Philippines 13 1 GRAND TOTAL 3,277 201 LADIES AUXILIARY PATRIARCHS MILITANT Jurisdiction # of members # of Cantons USA 1,045 87 Canada 167 7 GRAND TOTAL 1,212 94 *Note: This is already international/all over the world. Our branches are really struggling. Many of our Encampment and Cantons in the US and Canada have 5 members or even less. Some are even associate members from other Encampments and Cantons so the statistics can be tricky. Some people maybe counted twice here. In Friendship, Love and Truth, Brother Louie
Posted on: Mon, 05 Jan 2015 16:26:12 +0000
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