I’m interested in joining the Free Mason’s and have been for years. I’ve emailed my local lodge secretary asking about filing a petition to join.(no luck with being emailed back as of yet)

But my question is how does the petition for joining work. Do i fill out and application and do interviews.
Or do i need to have someone refer me, that’s already a Mason. Any help would be much appreciated.

Delighted to reply. Your local lodge (secretary) will advise you. I suggest that you telephone, AND email. You should also go to the lodge building in person, and express your interest in Masonry. Keep in mind, that the lodge officers are volunteers, and they have family and career committments. It may be some days before you hear anything. You should also contact the Grand Lodge in your state of residence. They will advise you as well.

You will be required to fill out an application form (called a “petition”). The form has several basic questions: name, address, age, marital status, and so forth. In some states, you will be required to be interviewed by a committee from the lodge, to determine your fitness for Freemasonry. Relax, it is not a “spanish inquisition”, but a group of men, who will examine you, and determine your overall qualifications. In most states, you will have to provide one or more character references, they need not be Masons. If you do not know any Masons personally, relax, your lodge will advise you.

The decision to petition Freemasonry is a serious one. It should be made “prayerfully and carefully”. Once you have decided that the Craft is right for you, the process to petition is not a complicated one. There are procedures and protocols, which vary from state to state.

I am personally delighted to hear of your decision. It is the right one.

Thank you for your help.

They only Mason i know is from another state, he has personally been talking to me about it for a few weeks now. Since he is from another state could he be used as a reference during the petition or should i use other references. Once again thanks in advance for you help,

Possibly. The lodge will appoint a committee to both examine you personally, and to get a determination of your reputation.  It is therefore important, that you provide the lodge, with the names of individuals who know you well, and can vouch for your character. The committee will probably be required to meet with the references in person, so you should provide local people, if possible. Keep in mind, that your references need not be Masons.

Please don’t panic if you don’t know a current or local Mason.  This kept me from petitioning for years, but my local lodge was more than willing to meet with me, set up informal gatherings for us to get to know each other, and invite me to some family social functions of the lodge so that some local members would feel comfortable signing my petition.

I know a lot is made out of determining a candidate’s “fitness” or “worthiness” for joining Masonry.  The members do take the vote on your membership seriously—but realize that when they are doing these investigations & such that it’s more a question of “do we see any red flags that he wouldn’t be a good man to associate with” than a case of “Let’s find a reason to reject this guy, how dare he think he’s worthy of joining us?”.

thanks for all your help.