Dear Arena readers,

I wish you the very best for this new year. I would not hasten to make any particular forecast for 2022, but I would say this: after what we have gone through these last two years, we are ready to navigate whatever comes next.

We have prepared a packed edition this winter. Following the resounding success of the Royal Arch digest in Arena 46, we are bringing the same design to the Craft. This friendly and abridged format allows us to present the activities and achievements of many more Lodges and Chapters in a short space. Feel free to write to us if you want to contribute (arena@metgl.com). In these pages, we also explore what some units have been doing for their Ladies Festivals under challenging times. We have expanded our charity pages with an introduction to the Masonic Charitable Foundation, followed by an interview with London Freemasons’ Charity chairman.

Alongside the regular features, this edition offers you an opportunity to learn more about the Special Interest Lodges and how the concept came to fruition; understand how the Leading Lights support the New Members’ Pathway; accompany the Lord Mayor’s parade through the City of London; join a Royal Arch awareness evening; witness what some brothers get up to outside of Freemasonry and visit a Lodge where several members are masonic brothers and siblings.

On a more personal note, my masonic journey reached an important milestone in October, when I was installed worshipful master of my mother Lodge. It is such a special moment to sit in that chair, the culmination of several years of working the floor, learning the rituals, and performing a variety of roles and offices. It sure is a special moment in anyone’s masonic journey.

Our reader survey is still on. Please follow the link and tell us what you think of your magazine. It takes about 5 minutes and is entirely anonymous.

I will now share with you some of the early findings.

First, I was delighted to see that most participants truly enjoy reading our magazine, with 67% reading most or all of it. At Arena HQ, we are pleased to be back in print, and the feeling seems well shared as nearly 70% of readers prefer this format.

76% consider Arena to be important to them while 78% rated it good or excellent as a member’s magazine (and nobody marked it as poor)

The magazine has received excellent ratings. The design has received 84% approval (good and excellent rating), and photos, interviews and regular features are all getting close to 80%. However, we must note that when comparing to other membership magazines outside Freemasonry, 42% of readers find Arena to be about the same and 11% not as good. We have some room for improvement, hence the trial of new features such as the Craft and RA digests.

Overall, the favourite features seem to be the foreword, editorial, charity pages, interviews (including Men at the Top), and museum pages. The following graph offers an interesting view of topics and subjects most in demand. The history of Freemasonry is an important topic. It is perhaps best demonstrated by 18% of readers saying they visited the Museum of Freemasonry after reading Arena.

There is much more to explore in the survey, especially the topics to either develop further or reduce, but I’ll leave this study for another time. The survey is still on (https://tinyurl.com/6us4tkrh), and the more data get captured, the more accurate a picture they give. More results in the next edition.

This article is part of the Arena Magazine, Issue 47 January 2022 edition.
Arena Magazine is the official magazine of the London Freemasons – Metropolitan Grand Lodge and Metropolitan Grand Chapter of London.

Read more articles in the Arena Issue 47 here.