Dutch Freemasonry
The offices of the lodge
Eleven brothers, eleven tasks, one work. No lodge can do without any of them.
A lodge is not a club with a chairman and members, but a workshop. Like the building sites of the old cathedral builders, it has a master, overseers and craftsmen, each with a task of their own. In the lodge these tasks are called offices, and every office has its own place, its own jewel and its own lesson.
The offices are held by brothers of the lodge, elected or appointed for a limited time. Then they pass to others. Over the years a Freemason may hold several of them, and in each he learns something different: to lead and to serve, to speak and to keep silent, to guard and to welcome.
Why it matters to every brotherEach office mirrors a task that every Freemason carries within himself. Reading about them is a way of reading about yourself.
The three who lead the work
Keepers of word, record and treasure
Redenaar
Guards the principles and traditions of the lodge and gives reflections.
Read more SecretarySecretaris
Keeps the administration, correspondence and records.
Read more TreasurerThesaurier
Manages the finances of the lodge.
Read more LibrarianBibliothecaris
Manages the books and documentation of the lodge.
Read moreServants of the ritual and the brotherhood
Ceremoniemeester
Guides the course of the ritual and the ceremonial acts.
Read more PreparerVoorbereider
Prepares candidates for their initiation.
Read more TilerDekker
Guards, symbolically and practically, the entrance to the lodge.
Read more AlmonerAalmoezenier
Takes care of charity and mutual support.
Read more