diff --git a/Sources/HummingbirdMustache/Method.swift b/Sources/HummingbirdMustache/Method.swift
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..29b3f39
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Sources/HummingbirdMustache/Method.swift
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+
+protocol HBMustacheBaseMethods {
+    func runMethod(_ name: String) -> Any?
+}
+protocol HBMustacheMethods {
+    typealias Method = (Self) -> Any
+    static var methods: [String: Method] { get set }
+}
+
+extension HBMustacheMethods {
+    static func addMethod(named name: String, method: @escaping Method) {
+        Self.methods[name] = method
+    }
+    func runMethod(_ name: String) -> Any? {
+        guard let method = Self.methods[name] else { return nil }
+        return method(self)
+    }
+}
+
+extension String: HBMustacheBaseMethods {
+    func runMethod(_ name: String) -> Any? {
+        switch name {
+        case "lowercased":
+            return self.lowercased()
+        default:
+            return nil
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/Sources/HummingbirdMustache/Template+Parser.swift b/Sources/HummingbirdMustache/Template+Parser.swift
index 8e714b0..ef1ade5 100644
--- a/Sources/HummingbirdMustache/Template+Parser.swift
+++ b/Sources/HummingbirdMustache/Template+Parser.swift
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ extension HBMustacheTemplate {
             switch parser.current() {
             case "#":
                 parser.unsafeAdvance()
-                let name = try parseName(&parser)
+                let (name, _) = try parseName(&parser)
                 if parser.current() == "\n" {
                     parser.unsafeAdvance()
                 }
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ extension HBMustacheTemplate {
 
             case "^":
                 parser.unsafeAdvance()
-                let name = try parseName(&parser)
+                let (name, _) = try parseName(&parser)
                 if parser.current() == "\n" {
                     parser.unsafeAdvance()
                 }
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ extension HBMustacheTemplate {
 
             case "/":
                 parser.unsafeAdvance()
-                let name = try parseName(&parser)
+                let (name, _) = try parseName(&parser)
                 guard name == sectionName else {
                     throw Error.sectionCloseNameIncorrect
                 }
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ extension HBMustacheTemplate {
 
             case "{":
                 parser.unsafeAdvance()
-                let name = try parseName(&parser)
+                let (name, _) = try parseName(&parser)
                 guard try parser.read("}") else { throw Error.unfinishedName }
                 tokens.append(.unescapedVariable(name))
 
@@ -63,12 +63,12 @@ extension HBMustacheTemplate {
 
             case ">":
                 parser.unsafeAdvance()
-                let name = try parseName(&parser)
+                let (name, _) = try parseName(&parser)
                 tokens.append(.partial(name))
 
             default:
-                let name = try parseName(&parser)
-                tokens.append(.variable(name))
+                let (name, method) = try parseName(&parser)
+                tokens.append(.variable(name, method))
             }
         }
         // should never get here if reading section
@@ -78,12 +78,24 @@ extension HBMustacheTemplate {
         return tokens
     }
 
-    static func parseName(_ parser: inout HBParser) throws -> String {
+    static func parseName(_ parser: inout HBParser) throws -> (String, String?) {
         parser.read(while: \.isWhitespace)
-        let text = parser.read(while: sectionNameChars )
+        var text = parser.read(while: sectionNameChars )
         parser.read(while: \.isWhitespace)
         guard try parser.read("}"), try parser.read("}") else { throw Error.unfinishedName }
-        return text.string
+        // does the name include brackets. If so this is a method call
+        let string = text.read(while: sectionNameCharsWithoutBrackets)
+        if text.reachedEnd() {
+            return (text.string, nil)
+        } else {
+            guard text.current() == "(" else { throw Error.unfinishedName }
+            text.unsafeAdvance()
+            let string2 = text.read(while: sectionNameCharsWithoutBrackets)
+            guard text.current() == ")" else { throw Error.unfinishedName }
+            text.unsafeAdvance()
+            guard text.reachedEnd() else { throw Error.unfinishedName }
+            return (string2.string, string.string)
+        }
     }
 
     static func parseComment(_ parser: inout HBParser) throws -> String {
@@ -91,5 +103,6 @@ extension HBMustacheTemplate {
         return text.string
     }
     
-    private static let sectionNameChars = Set<Unicode.Scalar>("0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ._?")
+    private static let sectionNameCharsWithoutBrackets = Set<Unicode.Scalar>("0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ._?")
+    private static let sectionNameChars = Set<Unicode.Scalar>("0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ._?()")
 }
diff --git a/Sources/HummingbirdMustache/Template+Render.swift b/Sources/HummingbirdMustache/Template+Render.swift
index f6a3ac2..cf703cf 100644
--- a/Sources/HummingbirdMustache/Template+Render.swift
+++ b/Sources/HummingbirdMustache/Template+Render.swift
@@ -6,12 +6,18 @@ extension HBMustacheTemplate {
             switch token {
             case .text(let text):
                 string += text
-            case .variable(let variable):
-                if let child = getChild(named: variable, from: object) {
+            case .variable(let variable, let method):
+                if var child = getChild(named: variable, from: object) {
+                    if let method = method,
+                       let runnable = child as? HBMustacheBaseMethods {
+                        if let result = runnable.runMethod(method) {
+                            child = result
+                        }
+                    }
                     if let template = child as? HBMustacheTemplate {
                         string += template.render(object, library: library)
                     } else {
-                        string += encodedEscapedCharacters(String(describing: child))
+                        string += htmlEscape(String(describing: child))
                     }
                 }
             case .unescapedVariable(let variable):
@@ -81,16 +87,16 @@ extension HBMustacheTemplate {
         return _getChild(named: nameSplit[...], from: object)
     }
 
-    private static let escapedCharacters: [Character: String] = [
+    private static let htmlEscapedCharacters: [Character: String] = [
         "<": "&lt;",
         ">": "&gt;",
         "&": "&amp;",
     ]
-    func encodedEscapedCharacters(_ string: String) -> String {
+    func htmlEscape(_ string: String) -> String {
         var newString = ""
         newString.reserveCapacity(string.count)
         for c in string {
-            if let replacement = Self.escapedCharacters[c] {
+            if let replacement = Self.htmlEscapedCharacters[c] {
                 newString += replacement
             } else {
                 newString.append(c)
diff --git a/Sources/HummingbirdMustache/Template.swift b/Sources/HummingbirdMustache/Template.swift
index 027ce67..cc75280 100644
--- a/Sources/HummingbirdMustache/Template.swift
+++ b/Sources/HummingbirdMustache/Template.swift
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ public class HBMustacheTemplate {
     
     enum Token {
         case text(String)
-        case variable(String)
+        case variable(String, String? = nil)
         case unescapedVariable(String)
         case section(String, HBMustacheTemplate)
         case invertedSection(String, HBMustacheTemplate)
diff --git a/Tests/HummingbirdMustacheTests/TemplateParserTests.swift b/Tests/HummingbirdMustacheTests/TemplateParserTests.swift
index a762d0d..5c48580 100644
--- a/Tests/HummingbirdMustacheTests/TemplateParserTests.swift
+++ b/Tests/HummingbirdMustacheTests/TemplateParserTests.swift
@@ -77,8 +77,8 @@ extension HBMustacheTemplate.Token: Equatable {
         switch (lhs, rhs) {
         case (.text(let lhs), .text(let rhs)):
             return lhs == rhs
-        case (.variable(let lhs), .variable(let rhs)):
-            return lhs == rhs
+        case (.variable(let lhs, let lhs2), .variable(let rhs, let rhs2)):
+            return lhs == rhs && lhs2 == rhs2
         case (.section(let lhs1, let lhs2), .section(let rhs1, let rhs2)):
             return lhs1 == rhs1 && lhs2 == rhs2
         case (.invertedSection(let lhs1, let lhs2), .invertedSection(let rhs1, let rhs2)):
diff --git a/Tests/HummingbirdMustacheTests/TemplateRendererTests.swift b/Tests/HummingbirdMustacheTests/TemplateRendererTests.swift
index f3af40a..d985496 100644
--- a/Tests/HummingbirdMustacheTests/TemplateRendererTests.swift
+++ b/Tests/HummingbirdMustacheTests/TemplateRendererTests.swift
@@ -191,4 +191,32 @@ final class TemplateRendererTests: XCTestCase {
             <h1>Today.</h1>
             """)
     }
+
+    func testLowercased() throws {
+        let template = try HBMustacheTemplate(string: """
+            {{#repo}}
+              <b>{{ lowercased(name) }}</b>
+            {{/repo}}
+            """)
+        let object: [String: Any] = ["repo": [["name": "Resque"], ["name": "Hub"], ["name": "RIP"]]]
+        XCTAssertEqual(template.render(object), """
+              <b>resque</b>
+              <b>hub</b>
+              <b>rip</b>
+
+            """)
+    }
+    func testPerformance() throws {
+        let template = try HBMustacheTemplate(string: """
+            {{#repo}}
+              <b>{{name}}</b>
+            {{/repo}}
+            """)
+        let object: [String: Any] = ["repo": [["name": "resque"], ["name": "hub"], ["name": "rip"]]]
+        let date = Date()
+        for _ in 1...10000 {
+            _ = template.render(object)
+        }
+        print(-date.timeIntervalSinceNow)
+    }
 }