The Lodge
The essence of a Mentoring Scheme is the one-to-one relationship between the Personal Mentor and the new member and it is vital that the Lodge chooses the right man for the job. This is done best in Lodges where a Mentoring Co-ordinator has been appointed. The Lodge Mentoring Co-ordinator (Lodge Mentor) has essentially an organisational and support role for the Personal Mentors. He is responsible for the operation of the scheme once the Lodge has agreed its adoption. He should select and recommend the Personal Mentor and ensure that he fully understands his responsibility and is trained in what needs to be done. To help him select the best Mentor he should meet the candidate before his Initiation and hopefully the Personal Mentor selected should also meet the Candidate prior to the evening of initiation.
In short the role of the Lodge is to:
- implement the System in their Lodge
- appoint a Co-ordinator who
- ensures applicants receive a fitting introduction to Masonry
- allocates each Mason a suitable Personal Mentor
- tracks progress of System in Lodge
- liaises with Provincial Co-ordinator
- is willing to take on the role for a number of years.
The Lodge Mentor will have a pool of Personal Mentors whom he will have trained in anticipation of an applicant for Freemasonry. He will also arrange for the EAs or FCs to be coached while they are out of the Lodge Room during a higher degree ceremony.
Lets not forget that LOI’s achieve a lot in terms of helping brethren feel included and the LOI is, of course, a major vehicle for building teams however mentoring does extend significantly further into caring for our brethren, in lot’s more ways and on a much more personal level.
The Province
The role of the Province is pivotal to the success of the scheme. Its role is to:
- manage the System locally
- appoint a Provincial Mentoring Co-ordinator who
- supports Lodges
- provides advice and guidance to Lodge Co-ordinator
- organises Training Workshops
- listens to Lodges’ experiences
- measure effectiveness of System in the Province
The key roles of the Provincial Mentor are to monitor all mentoring activities within his Province, to ensure Training Workshops are organised and report to the Provincial Executive.
The format of this report will depend upon the amount of information requested by the Executive, but should include the following:
- Number of Lodges actively employing Mentoring within the Province.
- How many Lodge Mentors and Personal Mentors there are within the Province.
- Any training/workshop/road show activities within the last year.
- Any feedback received on such activities.
- Best practice identified.
- Any notable successes to be celebrated.
- Improvements identified for next year.
Grand Lodge
The role of Grand Lodge will be to:
- provide continuing sponsorship of the System
- learn of good practise from Provinces
- provide central support to Provinces
- maintain and provide an online mentoring toolkit
- maintain further Masonic development material on the web
- advise Provinces on recommended implementation
- measure overall effectiveness of the System