BYLAWS
for the government of
Marsh Island, Lodge No. 60
A. F. & A. M.
situated at
Old Town, Maine
ARTICLE I
LODGE MEETINGS
Section 1 - This lodge shall hold stated communications monthly, on the third Monday in the month convening at 7:30 PM.
The annual communication shall be the stated communication in September.
The lodge meetings may be suspended for any two months of the year by a vote of the lodge unless the Master deems it necessary to call for a special communication.
During the months the lodge meetings are suspended, the Master, Treasurer and Secretary shall be authorized to approve the payment from the lodge funds all bills accruing to the Lodge.
Section 2 - The Master, or in his absence the Senior Warden, or if both be absent the Junior Warden, shall have the power to call a special communication, whenever in his opinion the interests of the lodge may require it.
ARTICLE II
ELECTIONS
Section 1 - OFFICERS. At the annual communication in September, the lodge shall elect a Master, Senior and Junior Wardens, Treasurer, Secretary and Senior and Junior Deacons, severally chosen by written ballot, and a majority shall be needed for a choice. The Secretary may cast one ballot if the candidate is unopposed, by acclamation. The Master, as soon after his installation as may be, shall appoint the Stewards, Tyler, and Historian. He may also appoint a Marshal, Historian and a Chaplain. All elected or appointed officers shall be current on all dues and assessments prior to their installation.
Section 2 – TEMPLE ASSOCIATION. At the annual meeting in September, for the first appointment, the Master will appoint two members to the Temple Association for a term of three years, two members for two years and two members for one year. Following the first appointment, each year two members will be appointed for the term of three years. The Master has the authority to replace any member of the Temple Association for the remainder of their term as he deems necessary. Each member of the lodge is a member of the Temple Association. At the end of the installation of officers, the Master will call an Association meeting for the purpose of installing new members to the Temple Association. The new members of the Temple Association will be any raised or affiliated member who has signed the bylaws.
ARTICLE III
COMMITTEES
Section 1 - A Committee of Inquiry, consisting of three (3) discreet, experienced brethren, members of this lodge, shall be appointed, whose duty it shall be strictly to inquire into the moral character and reputation of applicants for the degrees of Masonry and no ballot shall be taken until said committee shall have reported to the Lodge. The application for membership of any brother who may have taken the degrees in another lodge shall also be referred to the committee and reported on before a ballot can be taken.
Section 2 - There shall be a Help, Aid and Assist Committee, consisting of the Worshipful Master, Treasurer, Secretary, and Wardens with the Master as chairman. (Please refer to the Rules and Regulations of the Help, Aid and Assist Committee in the back of this bylaws booklet).
Section 3 - The Committee of Finance shall consist of the Worshipful Master, Senior Warden and Junior Warden and it shall be their duty to examine and approve all accounts against the lodge, also to examine the accounts of the Treasurer and Secretary at least once in six months and to report thereon in writing at the annual communication, previous to the choice of the new officers.
ARTICLE IV
DUTIES AND COMPENSATION OF OFFICERS
Section 1 – The Treasurer shall:
· have charge of all the funds of the Lodge,
· receive all interest arising from the same,
· pay all legal demands upon the Lodge,
· at the annual communication shall render a just and fair account of all the money received and paid, and also a correct statement of the funds
· shall deliver all the property of the Lodge entrusted to his care to his successor, taking duplicate receipts for the same, one of which shall be kept by the Secretary.
· For the faithful performance of his duties, the Treasurer shall receive such compensation as the Lodge may from time to time determine.
Section 2 - The Secretary shall:
· attend all communications of the Lodge,
· make a fair record of the proceedings and read the same when requested,
· collect all dues not included in the Treasurer's duty, and pay the same to the Treasurer once at least in two (2) months,
· issue notifications when directed,
· present the chairman of every committee with a copy of the appointments,
· keep a correct list of the names of the delinquents to the Lodge
· at the close of the year, he shall render a just account of all monies by him received, and a statement of balances due from members
· deliver to his successor in office all property of the lodge entrusted to his care, taking duplicate receipts for the same, one of which shall be kept by the Treasurer.
· It shall be the duty of the Secretary, at least two (2) months previous to the annual communication, to notify every member in arrears for dues, of the amount of such indebtedness.
· At the stated communication next after the annual, he shall file charges against all members who shall be in arrears for dues more than one year, and he shall suspend any member whose dues are two years in arrears.
· For the faithful performance of his duties, he shall receive such compensation as the Lodge may from time to time determine.
ARTICLE V
CANDIDATE FOR DEGREES
Section 1 - Every candidate for the degrees conferred in this Lodge shall make application in writing, signed by himself, stating his place of residence, directed to the Master or Secretary, signed by two (2) Master Masons in good standing, and shall deposit ten dollars. If he is rejected, the deposit shall be returned, if accepted and initiated, it shall be passed to his credit but if accepted and he shall refuse or neglect to attend for one year after his acceptance, or to make reasonable excuse for such neglect, the deposit shall be forfeited to the Lodge. Applications must be made at Stated Meetings only.
Section 2 - In balloting, if more than one negative vote appears, the balloting shall cease and the candidate be declared rejected. But if, on the first ballot, only one negative appears, a second shall immediately take place and if on the second ballot a negative appear, the candidate shall be declared rejected.
No one shall inspect the ballot save the Master and Wardens; and no Brother shall be permitted to make known to another, or to the Lodge, what manner of vote he cast. No restriction of any sort shall be placed upon a brother in the matter of voting, nor shall he be questioned how or why he exercised that right.
Section 3 - Every candidate shall pay the appropriate fee for each degree previous to receiving it.
Section 4 – No candidate shall be entitled to advancement in this Lodge without satisfactory evidence of proficiency in degree already received.
Section 5 – All members and new members of the Lodge shall be furnished a copy of the bylaws. All new members will receive a copy of the bylaws to be reviewed with a learned Brother, who will go over each item with the new Brother so he fully understands the bylaws. The new member shall initial the bylaws book next to his signature at the stated meeting following his being raised and reviewing the bylaws.
ARTICLE VI
MEMBERSHIP
Section 1 - No brother who has received his degrees in another lodge shall be admitted to membership except at a stated communication and shall have received a unanimous vote by secret ballot at a previous stated communication. Any brother receiving his Master Mason degree in this Lodge becomes a member thereof after he has signed the Lodge bylaws.
ARTICLE VII
ASSESSMENTS AND INVESTMENTS
Section 1 - Assessments may be made upon the members of such sums as the Lodge shall at any stated communication, by a majority vote, decide, provided that previous notice of such intended assessment shall be given on the summons calling such communication.
Section 2 - No funds belonging to the Lodge shall be invested until a motion shall have been made in writing at a stated communication and action shall have been taken at a subsequent stated communication.
ARTICLE VIII
FEES
Section 1 - The fees for the three degrees shall be seventy five (75) dollars, which shall include five dollars ($5.00) for the George Washington Memorial Assessment (payable with the first degree fee), and shall be apportioned as follows when they are conferred in this Lodge viz.; deposit with the application - ten dollars; for the First Degree, - twenty five dollars; for the Second Degree - twenty dollars; for the Third Degree - twenty dollars.
Section 2 - The dues of membership shall be thirty dollars ($30.00) per year, plus an amount equal to the Grand Lodge assessment, consisting of the Per Capita tax, the Maine Mason fee and the Comprehensive Liability fee, and shall be adjusted annually. Dues shall be payable by January 1 for the ensuing year.
Section 3 - It shall be the obligation of any brethren taking part in degree work to be free of all financial obligations to the Lodge.
ARTICLE IX
Of the General Concerns of the Lodge
Section 1 – No disputes concerning nations, politics or religion, shall in any case be permitted in the Lodge. Any brother who shall violate this provision, or be guilty of any irregular or immoral conduct at any meeting, shall, for the first offense, be reprimanded by the Master; if he repeats the offense, he may be suspended or expelled.
Section 2 – No brother shall leave the Lodge without permission from the Master, or engage in any private conversation while the brethren are at work.
Section 3 – All transactions and proceedings of this Lodge shall be kept inviolable secret, and it shall be the duty of every member to notify the Master, in open Lodge, of all such violations as may respectively come to his knowledge. Any member who shall reveal the name of a brother who may have opposed in the Lodge the admission of a candidate into the order, shall be liable to be suspended or expelled. If any visiting brother shall be guilty of the violation of this article, he may be ever after excluded from this Lodge.
ARTICLE X
AMENDMENTS
No amendment, alteration or addition shall be made to these bylaws, except at a stated communication and with the concurrence of two-thirds of the membership present, nor unless it shall have been proposed in writing at a previous stated communication. All former
bylaws for the government of this Lodge are hereby repealed.
ARTICLE XI
Constitution
These bylaws are to be used in conjunction with the Constitution of the Grand Lodge of Maine and should in no way supersede the Constitution.
ARTICLE XII
HONORARY MEMBERSHIP
Any worthy brother Master Mason, whom this Lodge wishes to honor, may be elected to Honorary Membership by majority secret ballot, provided that he shall have been proposed at a previous Stated Communication. Honorary Members shall be entitled to all the privileges of other members, except that those only who have been active members of this Lodge shall have the right to voting.
ARTICLE XIII
LIFE MEMBERSHIP
Section 1 - Any Mason who has attained the age of seventy-five (75) years or has at least thirty years of service in Masonry, may be granted life membership, with the vote of the Lodge proposed at the previous Stated Meeting. He must be exempt from all dues and assessments, and he will be responsible for any and all Grand Lodge assessments.
RULES AND REGULATIONS of the HELP, AID, AND ASSIST FUND
Section 1 – A committee on Help, Aid and Assist Fund, consisting of the Master, Secretary, Treasurer, and Wardens of the Lodge, shall constitute a Board of Trustees of said Fund.
Section 2 – This committee shall have full authority to investigate all cases of Help, Aid and Assist and grant relief in such amount and at such time as the majority of the Board of Trustees shall agree and with the approval of the Lodge.
Section 3 – Limitations on said Board of Trustees is that the total amount of Help, Aid and Assist shall not exceed the total interest earned by the Fund for the preceding two years.
Section 4 – The interest arising for the Help, Aid and Assist Fund shall be appropriated for the relief of such poor and distressed brethren, their widows and orphans, as the committee of the Help, Aid and Assist may consider worthy of assistance, or any other charitable cause the Lodge may approve.
Section 5 – All monies belonging to the Help, Aid and Asisst Fund, except interest and income, shall from time to time be invested in stock or securities, as the Board of Trustees may direct; and all monies arising from interest and income, when not required for Help, Aid and Assist, shall be added to the Help, Aid and Assist Fund, at the discretion of the Board of Trustees; and the principle of said Fund shall never be expended for any purpose whatever. All monies bestowed in acts of Charity and Benevolence shall be paid by the Treasurer, by order of the Master, with consent of the Lodge, and the Treasurer shall at each Annual Meeting anf before the choice of officers render a true and particular account of the funds, and of the manner in which the same have been appropriated and disbursed.
Section 6 – Any person applying for assistance will be given a case number and will be referred to by that number in any future reference.