What Does JPL Look For?
JPL is looking for energetic men to become involved with the excellent work we are currently doing at JPL. We would encourage all men who are interested in having fun, improving themselves, learning leadership skills and applying their talents and interests toward a worthwhile goal to visit our lodge.
It is OK and even typical if you do not know much, if anything, about Masonry. We will take the time to meet with you and answer any questions that you may have. At JPL, we understand that our full and candid disclosure of what we are, what we do and what we expect is the best measure by which we can evaluate you and us for a possible fit.
Don't worry about knowing if you are a good fit for us. Come by and visit us after you have visited with the other lodges you might consider petitioning. We expect and encourage anyone interested in Masonry to treat with the same scrutiny they would use in selecting a car, home, school or employer. It is for this reason that we give those interested ample opportunity to meet and interview our members and officers. We will show you the "secrets" of the fraternity, the paraphernalia, the lodgeroom and explain the meanings of the symbols we use in our ritual.
Once we have identified your interest, we will be giving you opportunities to meet our members and officers at and away from the lodge. You will even meet those who are currently in the learning process so that you can ask them the questions that may mostly affect your decision to petition our lodge.
We would encourage you to check our calendar of events. Go ahead and plan to attend our 5th Thursday Social. Other times you can meet with us are anytime we are having a meal. We would be pleased to take you on a tour of our lodge complete with the paraphernalia.
Remember that while we always welcome visitors, we do have a gate and you will need to get the code for the gate prior to visiting or risk waiting for someone else to open the gate and follow them into the property.
We look forward to meeting you!
Now that you have been to JPL...
OK, you have visited the other lodges, visited with us, met our members and you know believe that JPL is the best fit for you. Now, what do you do?
First, download the Petition for the Mysteries of Freemasonry from this web site. Answer all of the questions that you can and leave the others blank. The Membership Committee will assist you with completing the forms and filling in the other blanks.
Plan to meet with a member of the Membership Committee and deliver the petition to them. They will review the petition with you and explain what additional information may be needed, if any. They will also explain to you the process and what your expectations should be given the lodges schedule and when your petition is delivered to the Membership Committee. Petitioning for membership in the Masonic fraternity usually takes approximately two months from this point.
Once the petition is determined to be in order, it will be submitted to the Secretary and read at the next Stated Meeting which is where Masonic lodges transact business. Any of the members have the opportunity to review the petition to ensure that the petitioner is a good candidate and that the paperwork is in order. At that time, the Master of the lodge will appoint a three person committee who will be responsible for verifying that the petitioner is of good moral character and will be a good representative of the fraternity. This committee has one month to report back their findings to the lodge at the next Stated Meeting.
It is during this time that the three members of the Investigation Committee will be checking your references, running a criminal background check and meeting with your family should you have one.
At the next Stated Meeting after the petition is read the committee will submit their written report to the Secretary of the lodge and make their recommendations. At that time a ballot will be taken on the petition. All members of the lodge present must vote. All members of the Grand Lodge of Texas present may vote on the petition. The ballot is secret and the results of the ballot are not discussed among the members.
The petitioner will be informed of the status of their application the day after the stated meeting.
Should you have any questions regarding this process please contact the JPL Membership Committee.