Our genesis
My Lodge was not born from a marketing plan. It was born from a very concrete problem, and then from a moment when we said to ourselves: this really won't do at all.
Who is staying for the agape after the meeting?
In a Lodge, the agape matters. But organising it without knowing how many Brothers and Sisters are staying for the meal is a headache. Too many dishes and you waste; too few and you run short. So we started sending e-mails: “Who's coming?”, “Are you staying?”, “+1?”. And little by little, we added problems alongside.
The second need came right after: producing the attendance sheet. Another administrative chore. A table, a pen, a sheet you copy out, lose, photograph badly. We needed something simple, reliable, available on your phone. The idea was clear: the Brother or Sister running the Lodge should no longer spend their evenings copying lists by hand.
And then, one day, the real problem appeared. It was no longer a matter of convenience. It was a matter of masonic decency.
We were receiving e-mails with everyone in visible copy. Names, addresses, everyone's replies, exposed in plain sight. Doodle polls showing the first and last names of every member. WhatsApp groups mixing private life, Lodge life, phone numbers, photos. Ritual documents sent as attachments through mainstream services. Birthday lists stored in shared spreadsheets.
Hold on. My Brothers' details in visible copy.
Hold on, hold on. Their full names in a public poll.
Hold on, hold on, hold on. Masonic conversations on an app that resells them for advertising.
This really won't do at all.
In Freemasonry, discretion is not a whim: it is structural. You do not recount your Lodge life on networks that exploit data. You do not leave your Brothers' and Sisters' names lying about in services that index them. You do not entrust your papers to algorithms that learn their content.
The app was therefore born from a twofold realisation:
We told ourselves: if nobody builds the tool we need, we may as well build it ourselves. Not a marketing app. Not a start-up that will sell the data at its first funding round. Not a shaky solution cobbled together from five different services.
An app made by Masons, for Masons.
From the very first lines of code, three non-negotiable principles.
What happens in the Lodge stays in the Lodge. No advertising, no trackers, no resale.
Every new member is approved by an administrator of their Lodge, not by a machine. Trust is passed on as it is in Lodge.
The project lives on its subscriptions, not on its users' data. That is what allows us to stay true to our commitments.
The first prototype solved the agape and attendance-sheet problem for a single Lodge. Then another Lodge wanted to use it. Then another. We realised the need was everywhere: in France, Belgium, Canada, Spain, Italy, Germany, Portugal — and beyond.
Languages were added. Rites were added. Obediences were added. Roles were refined. The product went from “the Lodge Secretary's tool” to an international platform.
Today, My Lodge is no longer merely a solution to an agape problem. It is a complete digital space for the life of the Lodge: communication, calendar, documents, members, inventory, anniversaries, papers, mutual aid — and, with Acacia, that space opens onto a network reserved for verified Masons.
But at heart it remains true to its origin: allowing Brothers and Sisters to focus on what matters, without sacrificing security or fraternity.