Our Mission

As an organization, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows aims to provide a framework that promotes personal and social development. Lodge degrees and activities aim to improve and elevate every person to a higher, nobler plane; to extend sympathy and aid to those in need, making their burdens lighter, relieving the darkness of despair; to war against vice in every form, and to be a great moral power and influence for the good of humanity.

For members, the degrees in Odd Fellowship emphasizes a leaving of the old life and the start of a better one, of welcoming travelers, and of helping those in need. The command of the IOOF is to “visit the sick, relieve the distressed, bury the dead and educate the orphan.”

Specifically, IOOF today are dedicated to the following purposes:

• To improve and elevate the character of mankind by promoting the principles of friendship, love, truth, faith, hope, charity and universal justice.

• To help make the world a better place to live by aiding each other, the community, the less fortunate, the youth, the elderly, the environment and the community in every way possible.

• To promote good will and harmony amongst peoples and nations through the principle of universal fraternity, holding the belief that all men and women regardless of race, nationality, religion, social status, gender, rank and station are brothers and sisters

Ideally, an Odd Fellows lodge is a place for fellowship in all its forms, from hanging out and just having fun, to having discussions, to networking, to collaboration on creative and constructive projects, all with an eye not only on our own satisfaction but on what we might offer to the community at large. An ideal lodge is a great venue for a lot of positive energy and all members are encouraged to contribute their share.

In addition, lodges provide an international social network of brothers and sisters that extends to more than 26 countries worldwide. If traveling is an interest, membership can provide a valuable network that will very much welcome an international visitor, and assist in their enterprises, and certainly their travels wherever possible.

Our Creed

Genuine Friendship, which hears all things, believes all things and hopes all things, is the first step toward progress and personal enrichment, and the forefather of Temperance, Prudence, and Justice: unrestrained Love is the basis of all life’s ambitions –the controlling passion of service to humanity–more powerful than the atom–more potent than any finite source: Inflexible Truth, the imperial virtue, begets economic stability, equality under the law, freedom of enterprise, the highest of ethical standards, and lasting peace, the ultimate goal of fraternity: Universal brotherhood of man under the fatherhood of God is necessary to the survival of the world, and can be accomplished only through the catalysis of fellowship — implanting the togetherness which stems from understanding and goodwill among peoples, states and nations.

Information on this page was taken from The Sovereign Grand Lodge Independent Order of Odd Fellows website.