How to Join Us
WHO CAN BE AN ELK?
To be eligible for membership in the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, you must be a citizen of the United States over the age of 21 who believes in God.
You must be sponsored by a member of the Elks Lodge and reside in the jurisdiction of the Lodge you wish to join. You also need two other Elks who will be your co-sponsors. The Elk who proposes you for membership must obtain a Membership Application from the Scottsdale Elks Lodge Secretary.
If you do not currently know any Scottsdale Elks Lodge members, please come in and introduce yourself. We're known as the "Friendliest Lodge in the West" and always welcome new applicants for membership.
After your proposer fills in the required portion, you will be given the Application for Membership. Fill it in, following the instructions and answering all questions. Return the completed application to the Lodge Secretary with the prescribed fees.
Your application will be read at a regular Lodge meeting. It will then be forwarded to the Investigating Committee, who will call you and set up a time for you and your sponsor to meet with the committee so that they can interview you.
After the interview is concluded, the committee will report to the Lodge concerning your membership. The members will be given a notice not less than 10 days nor more than two months before the vote will be taken. When the vote is concluded, you will be notified and asked to present yourself for indoctrination. During indoctrination, you will learn more about the Order's programs and charities. You will also be told during the program the date you will be initiated.
After initiation as an Elk, you can take part in all meetings and social functions of the Lodge. If for any reason your application is rejected, you cannot make application for membership for six months from the date of rejection.
Potential members can pick up an application at the Scottsdale Elks Lodge in Scottsdale, Arizona.
THE ELKS OBLIGATION
The obligation which is assumed by every member of the Order, as an essential part of his initiation, involves certain duties which are necessarily implied, as well as those which are formally expressed.
By that obligation, so assumed, they become a member of the Order of Elks, not merely a member of their own Lodge. The rights and privileges thereby conferred upon them include the right to attend the meetings of any club house maintained by such other Lodge, in accordance with its rules and regulations relating thereto. And, they are as much amenable to the Statutes of the Order as they are to the By-laws of their own Lodge.
They are entitled to participate in the deliberations of their own Lodge; and it is their duty to attend its meetings for that purpose, with proper regard for other duties which may also rest upon them. They share the responsibility for its acts; and they should, by their vote in Lodge sessions and by the appropriate exercise of their influence, endeavor to have those acts reflect their own views. But, they should, with good grace, yield to the majority will, when it has been duly registered.
The charitable and benevolent activities of his Lodge frequently require the personal attention of members other than its officers. Each member should readily respond to any official call upon him for any fraternal service that may be within his reasonable capacity to render.
It is only by the continued display of such a spirit of fraternal cooperation that their Lodge can maintain itself as the instrumentality of community service it is designed to be. And, it is only by generously putting their individual service into this fraternal association that they will secure for themself the greatest measure of satisfaction and happiness which should accompany membership in the Order.