What’s so Important About Tradition? -by Billy Sanderson

We, and I mean everyone, has to be open to accept a disagreement about a tradition we hold dear. (We should not see this an attack on our person, well… unless it is clearly attack on you, but that would be unbecoming of an Odd Fellow for the attacker to do, right?) We should see the disagreement as a challenge to the value the tradition brings, and possibly only some refinement is needed.

How to Save Failing Lodges: Secrets Revealed – by Toby Hanson PGM

Toby Hanson Junior Past Grand Master Grand Lodge of Washington, IOOF Sovereign Grand Musician Independent Order of Odd Fellows Everything you’ve been reading up to this point has been preparing you for this moment when I reveal the deepest, most special, most closely-guarded secret of Odd Fellowship: how to save failing lodges. This is the […]

How to be an Odd Fellow – Protecting the Rights of Our Neighbors -by Vanessa O’Connor

How to be an Odd Fellow – Protecting the Rights of Our Neighbors By Vanessa O’Connor Mountain View Lodge #244 The Odd Fellows empower members to support those most in need, providing a source of strength within the community. We have always welcomed and comforted those under duress, as it is part of our oath […]

Ghosts of Odd Fellows Past on Camera!

Check out Heart in Hand co-founder Ainslie Heilich’s haunted Lodge/Tattoo Studio/Home when the GhostNet Paranormal Investigations team came over!

COMING SOON: “The Ante Room” Video Series

Heart in Hand: The Modern Odd Fellow’s Guide is proud to announce “The Ante Room”. A video series where we discuss all things “Odd” and interview members from all over the globe. If you have a topic idea you would like to see covered or want to be featured on the show, just send an […]

“Oddball” Polar Plunge in Victoria, BC – by Billy Sanderson

And then one day, the shared Odd Fellowship took hold of them. How can we make this a way to give back to our community? Brother Drew jumped right into the topic, “I’m thinking we should get serious about a Boxing Day swim and a pledge drive… When the topic hit the Facebook group, each one of these “sticks” jumped up to form a unified “bundle” to bring life to the idea.

Lodge Meetings don’t have to suck- By Toby Hanson, PGM

All of us who have had any level of professional experience have sat
through meetings. At best, they can be productive and informative. At
worst, they can be mind-numbing. Since we all have to endure meetings
of various effectiveness in our professional lives, why would we ever
allow our lodges to hold sloppy, disorganized meetings? Such meetings
represent a disregard for members’ time and a disincentive for their
continued participation in the lodge.

Three Inquiries Into The Language Used In An Odd Fellows’ Lodge Open In The Initiatiory Degree And The Inclusivity That Language May Imply – by Arike van de Water

The Odd Fellows aims to include people of all genders, religions and other backgrounds, I was assured. While I have found this to be true of the community, the language used in the meetings does not yet bear this out. I wish to discuss the questions I have had about the language used in an Odd Fellow Meeting when the Lodge is open in the Initiatory Degree, and how we have, so far, handled these questions in the Mountain View Lodge.

Immigrant Among You -by Arike van de Water

Here in Mountain View Lodge #244 we are trying to give hands and feet to the call to “relieve the distressed” by holding fundraisers, for detained immigrants and refugees, among other things. Isn’t that too political a cause? some critical thinkers in our lodge asked. So it may seem.

Following Yourself On The Jericho Road

What if the story of the Good Samaritan is about YOU and your personal suffering? Taken as a whole, The Good Samaritan story can be about your own “inner suffering.” Those nights you are alone and cry yourself to sleep. Your anguish at not being able to achieve your goals, or that nagging addiction part […]

IS Odd Fellowship Worth While?

As man has become more and more advanced in his civilization, there has developed in him a knowledge that a selfish life, though it may be rewarded with much of this world’s goods, is, after all, a narrow and useless life — a life but poorly lived.

Tips For Creating An Effective Social Media Campaign For Your Lodge

If we’re going to continue increasing membership, we need to consider this statement: In order to recruit Generation X, Millennials, and Generation Z, we’re going to have to engage them online using social media FIRST. “…using social media FIRST” is an extreme statement, but I mean to sound extreme to challenge some of you to understand the […]