Candidates for initiation in a Masonic Lodge must be proposed and seconded during a regular meeting, with a ballot conducted at the next regular meeting; failure to ballot results in the proposal lapsing. Proposers and seconders must be subscribing members or qualified under Rule 167, and they must personally know the candidate, affirming his good reputation. Required details about the candidate and proposers must be submitted to the Lodge Secretary prior to the proposal meeting using an approved application form. If a candidate is not initiated on the election date, it must be noted in the meeting summons, and initiation must occur within one year of election; otherwise, the election is void. Upon initiation, each new member receives a copy of the Book of Constitutions, signifying acceptance of its contents. The amended Rule 159 applies across various jurisdictions, including Bedfordshire, Essex, and Hong Kong, until further direction from the Board of General Purposes.
December 4th, 2025
February 10th, 2026
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Except as provided by Rule 160, a candidate for initiation may be proposed and seconded at a regular meeting only, and he must be balloted for at the next regular meeting. If the ballot be not so taken the proposal shall lapse. The particulars required of the candidate, as well as of his proposer and seconder, shall be furnished to the Secretary of the Lodge, previously to the meeting of the Lodge at which the proposal is to be made. For this purpose the printed form of application approved by the Board of General Purposes and for the time being in use, must be employed. Copies of such printed form will be supplied by the Grand Secretary. The proposer and seconder of a candidate must either be subscribing members of the Lodge, or be qualified in this respect by Rule 167; the candidate must be personally known to them and they must be able to state that he is a man of good reputation and well fitted to become a member of the Lodge. When a candidate is not initiated on the day of his election, the date of such election shall be stated on the summons for the meeting at which the initiation is to take place. If a candidate is not initiated within one year after his election, the election shall be void. Every Brother upon initiation shall be supplied with a copy of the Book of Constitutions, and his acceptance thereof shall be deemed a declaration of his submission to its contents. *Until the Board of General Purposes has given a direction in relation to any particular area, the current Rule (above) will continue to apply. Rule 159 (Amended): Except as provided by Rule 160, a candidate for initiation may be proposed and seconded at a regular meeting only, and he must be balloted for at the next regular meeting. If the ballot be not so taken the proposal shall lapse. The particulars required of the candidate, as well as of his proposer and seconder, shall be furnished to the Secretary of the Lodge, previously to the meeting of the Lodge at which the proposal is to be made. For this purpose the candidate and his proposer and seconder shall supply such information, and in such format, as may from time to time be prescribed by the Board of General Purposes. The proposer and seconder of a candidate must either be subscribing members of the Lodge, or be qualified in this respect by Rule 167; the candidate must be personally known to them and they must be able to state that he is a man of good reputation and well fitted to become a member of the Lodge. When a candidate is not initiated on the day of his election, the date of such election shall be stated on the summons for the meeting at which the initiation is to take place. If a candidate is not initiated within one year after his election, the election shall be void. Every Brother upon initiation shall be supplied with a copy of the Book of Constitutions, and his acceptance thereof shall be deemed a declaration of his submission to its contents. *The above and amended Rule has been applied to the following area(s): Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Bristol, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Cumberland and Westmorland, Cyprus, Derbyshire, Dorset, Eastern Archipelago, Essex, Gloucestershire, Guernsey and Alderney, Herefordshire, Hertfordshire, Hong Kong and the Far East, Isle of Man, Jersey, Leicestershire and Rutland, Lincolnshire, Middlesex, Monmouthshire, Norfolk, Northamptonshire and Huntingdonshire, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Shropshire, South Wales, Suffolk, Warwickshire, West Wales and Wiltshire.