The Lodge as Relief Organization

A standing committee of most Lodges, typically three to five brothers, whose published function is to evaluate requests for relief beyond the routine and to recommend action to the Worshipful Master or the Lodge. The committee's published practices: confidentiality, written records (without identifying detail for general bulletin), prudent inquiry per Anderson's Charge VI, and timeliness — published Masonic guidance is that delay in relief is itself a failure of relief. The committee shields the Almoner from sole responsibility for hard calls.