Joining Members

(a) A Brother desiring to become a joining or rejoining member of a Lodge must be proposed and seconded at a regular meeting only. He must be balloted for at the next regular meeting. If the ballot be not so taken, the proposal shall be void. If elected, he must take up his membership within one year, and if he fails to do so the election shall be void. (b) 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 proposition is to be made. For this purpose the printed form of application mentioned in Rule 159 must be employed. The proposer and seconder of a candidate must be qualified in the same manner and fulfil the same requirements as are mentioned in Rules 159 and 167 with respect to the proposer and seconder of a candidate for initiation. *Until the Board of General Purposes has given a direction in relation to any particular area, the current Rule (above) will continue to apply. (b) (Amended): 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 proposition 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 in accordance with Rule 159. The proposer and seconder of a candidate must be qualified in the same manner and fulfil the same requirements as are mentioned in Rules 159 and 167 with respect to the proposer and seconder of a candidate for initiation. *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. Certificate to be produced (c) Before the ballot is taken the candidate must produce to the Secretary of the Lodge his Grand Lodge Certificate, and the Secretary must satisfy himself that the candidate is in good standing in each of the Lodges of which he is a member and that all dues have been paid; he must also ascertain whether the candidate is indebted to any Lodge of which he has ceased to be a member and (unless he shall have resigned in good standing) the circumstances in which he left such Lodge, and whether at that time all dues were paid, or have since been paid. If any of such Lodges has ceased to exist, the Secretary shall ascertain from the Grand Secretary all relevant facts so far as they are known. (d) If a Lodge accepts as a joining member a Brother who has been excluded from a Lodge or who has resigned without having complied with its by-laws or the general regulations of the Craft, it shall be liable for any arrears that may be owing by him to the Lodge or Lodges from which he has been excluded or has resigned. The circumstances of such exclusion or resignation shall be stated to the Lodge before the ballot is taken, the better to enable the Brethren to exercise their discretion as to his admission, but the failure to make such a statement shall not exonerate the Lodge from its liability for such arrears, unless the Secretary shall be able to demonstrate that prior to the ballot he had taken all reasonable steps to satisfy himself in accordance with paragraph (c) of this Rule that the Brother was not at the time of the ballot indebted to any Lodge of which he was or had been a member. Joining Members from other Jurisdictions (e) In the event of a Brother who has been initiated in a Lodge not under the Grand Lodge applying to join a Lodge under the Grand Lodge, the Secretary of the Lodge shall, before the ballot is taken, apply to the Grand Secretary (or in the case of a District Lodge, to the District Grand Secretary) to ascertain that the Grand Lodge under which the Brother was initiated is recognised by the Grand Lodge. (f) Upon election or within one year after his election, and previously to being admitted for the first time as a member of the Lodge, the joining Brother shall make the following declaration: ‘I, .........................., initiated in Lodge ..................., No. ........ on the Register of the Grand Lodge of ............................. do solemnly declare that if I am admitted a member of this Lodge I will adhere to the Book of Constitutions of the United Grand Lodge of England, and promise due obedience to the Grand Master thereof and to all the Rules and Regulations of such United Grand Lodge.’ *Until the Board of General Purposes has given a direction in relation to any particular area, the current Rule (above) will continue to apply. (f) (Amended): Before election, upon election or within one year after his election, and previously to being admitted for the first time as a member of the Lodge, the joining Brother shall make the following declaration: ‘I, .........................., initiated in Lodge ..................., No. ........ on the Register of the Grand Lodge of ............................. do solemnly declare that if I am admitted a member of this Lodge I will adhere to the Book of Constitutions of the United Grand Lodge of England, and promise due obedience to the Grand Master thereof and to all the Rules and Regulations of such United Grand Lodge.’ *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. (g) The declaration shall be made in the Lodge which the Brother is joining or in some other Lodge under the Grand Lodge, or in writing witnessed by a Brother, who shall state the name, number and Jurisdiction (which must be the Grand Lodge or a Jurisdiction recognised by the Grand Lodge) of the Lodge to which he himself belongs. The declaration validates the election retrospectively and must be recorded in the Lodge minutes. *Until the Board of General Purposes has given a direction in relation to any particular area, the current Rule (above) will continue to apply. (g) (Amended): The declaration shall be made in the Lodge which the Brother is joining or in some other Lodge under the Grand Lodge, or in writing witnessed by a Brother, who shall state the name, number and Jurisdiction (which must be the Grand Lodge or a Jurisdiction recognised by the Grand Lodge) of the Lodge to which he himself belongs. The declaration validates the election retrospectively and must be recorded in the Lodge minutes. *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. (h) A copy of the Book of Constitutions must be presented to each such joining Brother. (j) A Lodge, may enact in its by-laws that, in addition to the joining or rejoining fees, the candidate shall pay to the Lodge such registration fees as are payable to Grand Lodge and, if applicable, Metropolitan, Provincial or District Grand Lodge, together with any tax thereon, and the candidate shall before becoming a member be informed of the total amount due.