What is the minimum number of officers required to open a Lodge?

This is an area in which the Masonic Law and the Masonic Ritual are in conflict, and when that happens the Law prevails. There is a Judge Advocate opinion saying that a Lodge can open a communication with as few as three officers, so that is the law of the land. However, six officers opening as a Master Mason Lodge is the least number that can perform the opening ceremonies within the spirit of the Ritual.  These would consist of the three principal officers together with a Chaplain, a Junior Deacon and a Tiler, with one of the officers inside the Lodge room recording minutes and the Junior Deacon attending at the Altar. Whether it would be a good idea for a Lodge to open with only six Masons present—never mind as few as three—is a separate and important question.  It’s hard to imagine a circumstance in which it would be necessary and advisable to open a Lodge with an insufficient number of Masons to perform the opening ceremonies as written.  Note also that as few as eight can open a communication on the Second and Third Degrees in full form with the Secretary at his desk, and only one more is needed to open on the First Degree.  I should hasten to add that the minimum numbers specified in the opening ceremonies for the various Degrees are meant to be symbolic, not literal.