21st Century
Although there was a decline in membership in fraternal organizations in general during the 20th century, membership in the 21st century has started to increase. The IOOF continues in the 21st century with lodges around the world, and is claimed to be the "largest united international fraternal order in the world under one head", with every lodge working with the Sovereign Grand Lodge located in the United States. Also, the British "Independent Order of Oddfellows, Manchester Unity", and the IOOF have recognized each other inter-fraternally; members of the Manchester Unity and the IOOF can visit each other's lodges, and are welcome as brothers and sisters. Currently, there are about 12,000 lodges with nearly 600,000 members.
Units of the Order in the U.S.A. include:
- Odd Fellows Lodge
- Rebekahs Lodge
- Encampment
- Ladies Encampment Auxiliary (LEA)
- Patriarchs Militant
- Ladies Auxiliary Patriarchs Militant (LAPM)
- Junior Odd Fellows Lodge
- Theta Rho Girls Club
- United Youth Groups
- Zeta Lambda Tau
Read more about this topic: Independent Order Of Odd Fellows
Famous quotes containing the word century:
“The gods help them that help themselves.”
—Aesop (6th century B.C.)