Scottish Rite Structure
The Scottish Rite seems kind of confusing to me in its organizational structure, not being a member of it. I understand that there are 3 different bodies all with their own initiation fee's and dues, but here at least they all meet at the same time, in the same room etc...
Can someone clear it up a bit for me? It seems unnecessarily complex to me
I share that sentiment, being of the York Rite find the organizational structure of the S.R. confusing. Hopefully someone can clear this up for us.
Scottish Rite is, as you say broken down into three bodies. It may seem redundant, but each body has its own officers, its own initiation fees, and its own dues. Each body is responsible for putting on its own degrees. This is one of the reasons that it is broken down into three bodies. It would be way to much work for one group of officers to do
The Supreme Council is nationwide. It is not broken down by provinces like Grand Lodge and Grand Chapter. The country is divided into local jurisdictions known as Valleys. Not every Valley is large enough to have all three bodies. Not every mason joins the Scottish Rite so you really can't have to many bodies close together.
It can be confusing in areas that have all three bodies, but it's simplified by the fact that the first of the three bodies is responsible for the collection of dues and usually all three combined is about the same or less than your blue lodge dues will probably be.