October 2016 ~ AZ Knights of Columbus

Monday, October 31, 2016

Council 11855 Work Day at Saints Peter & Paul Catholic School

10/31/2016 09:10:00 PM azka No comments

Council 11855 Work Day at Saints Peter & Paul Catholic School

The Knights of Columbus enhance an Eagle Scout Project by Nick Cancola who added a concrete sidewalk to create a safe path away from the busy street for parents and children away from a busy street. Council 11855 (& State) Chaplain Fr Crino and Seminarian Jesus help out the early morning work crew.

2016 Mid Year Meeting

10/25/2016 10:33:00 PM No comments

Worthy District Deputies, Worthy Council Officers, and Brother Knights,
The 2016-2017 Fraternal Year Mid-Year meeting will be hosted by Raul Navarrete Council 9482 at St. Andrew the Apostle in Chandler Friday December 2-4, 2016.

Click here for the Registration Packet.

The registration packet contains information for this year's State Mid Year meeting. Please excuse the delayed timing of this notice as we worked to find another Council after the original Council in Tucson that was planning to host had to withdraw due to Parish schedule conflicts.

I ask that you notice of the deadlines for registering and take prompt action so we can plan on having you there without the need for your Assigned State Officers to follow up with you in a few weeks.

I look forward to seeing you in Chandler. Please come with questions to ask and ideas to share.

Regards,

Sean Halpain

State Deputy

Arizona Knights of Columbus

Flag Retirement Ceremony

10/23/2016 09:12:00 AM azka No comments

St. Joseph Assembly 2126, led by Faithful Navigator Butch Kohs, prepares to symbolically retire a United States of America flag which has served proudly and will be properly honored before being ceremoniously disposed of by burning. The replacement flag was flown on three combat missions over Afghanistan. The ceremony took place earlier this month at St. Helen Catholic Church in Glendale Arizona.

St. Helen council donation

10/21/2016 12:18:00 PM azka No comments

Glendale, Arizona Knights of Columbus council 11738 Deputy Grand Knight Randy Hughes presents St. Helen Catholic Church Pastor Fr. John Ssegawa A.J. with a check for $8000. to assist the parish in it’s mission. The funds were raised through the council’s first annual “Roll Over Raffle”, in which there are three winners drawn for $100, $300 and $500 every month for 9 months, and each winning $25 ticket is placed back in the drawing to be eligible for every subsequent drawing.

RECRUIT!!!

10/18/2016 06:50:00 PM No comments

Brothers All:

What is the goal of your life? The goal of my life is to get to Heaven. I do not have any other goal that is as important as that one. It shapes all of my other priorities. I want to go to Heaven, I want to experience eternal life. It is a tough climb for me, and it may be for you as well. I think we make the climb only as readily as the team that we climb with. There are many ministries, groups, and organizations within the world of the Catholic Church. As we make that ascent, I do not think that there is a stronger climbing team to be with than the Knights of Columbus.

Many times we have heard that we owe it to every Catholic male over the age of 18 to ask them to join the Knights of Columbus. In addition, we are asked to encourage them to earn full Knighthood into our Order, generally implied as the Third Degree. Little is done afterwards to keep them involved or to actually earn “Full Knighthood” which I believe to be the Fourth or Patriotic Degree. Any Third Degree Knight is invited to accept the gift of patriotism and take the Fourth Degree.

Full Knighthood benefits include the honor of serving as a council officer (elected or pro-tem), and a degree team member. It also allows them to attend Chapter, State, and Supreme Council business meetings. First and Second Degree members can attend the State and Supreme Council meetings, but they are not allowed in the business sessions.

We need to foster programs to keep ALL of our Knights involved and active. We also need to do more to encourage our Third Degree Knights to join the Fourth Degree. They DO NOT need to be current or former military, law enforcement, fire fighters, or border patrol. ANY Third Degree Knight is now eligible to join the Fourth Degree.

Fewer than 18% of Knights join the Fourth Degree. In 2006 there were a total of 1,703,307 members in the Knights of Columbus, but only 292,289 were Fourth Degree Knights. This number increased to 335,132 in 2013. Coincidentally, this was also the year the required one year waiting period between becoming a Third Degree Knight and a Fourth Degree Knight was eliminated. Now, any Third Degree Knight is eligible to join the Fourth Degree without a waiver.

Here in Arizona we have a total of 16,126 Knights of Columbus members. Of this number, 4,448 are members of the Fourth Degree. This comes to 27.6%. Pretty impressive compared to the national average! Can we do better? Of course we can! How can we do this?

Sample Pamphlet
Sample Dialogue
Program Manual

Feel free to use them and let’s get out there and RECRUIT.

Fourth Degree Knights may optionally purchase and wear the full regalia and join an Assembly's Color Corps. The Color Corps is the most visible arm of the Knights, as they are often seen in parades and other local events wearing their colorful regalia. The official dress for the Color Corps is a black tuxedo, baldric, white gloves, cape, and naval chapeau.

Councils play an enormous part in the success of the State and Assembly's making their goal. If we surpass those goals, as it did this past year, it is almost a certainty that the Assembly's will make their goal, or surpass it. That is how important this is for the Knights of Columbus as a whole!

I want to acknowledge the Fourth Degree, the Assembly's, and the Color Guard that have been present at a number of events to include: Confirmations; presenting checks for the Seminarians' Fund; parade’s; March for Life events; and grilling burgers at Community Ministry Fairs; as well as many other important activities too numerous to list. Whenever you go out in the community where something important is happening, you are going to see Knights supporters - both in leadership roles, and behind the scenes.

The Knights are also known as the "strong right arm of the Catholic Church". The Dioceses and our Parishes look to the Knights because the Knights add strength to the Parishes. When we have strong Knights Councils/Assemblies, we have strong Parishes. If we do not have strong Knights Councils/ Assemblies in the Parishes, the Parish life suffers.

As a Knight of Columbus, we are strengthened first and foremost as men of God committed to the Church and committed to our own personal growth. We are going to share this commitment with a group of men who are equally dedicated. Their dedication is as strong as ours. And, because we are being strengthened in our discipleship, we can become stronger husbands, brothers, fathers, and sons.

All family relationships and family life are the key to holiness. By being strong holy men in our families, we can strengthen our families in their discipleship, and that does not stop. Once that commitment is made, we begin touching more and more lives with the truth of our Catholic faith, with the energy of the Holy Spirit, as we make that ascent together. Together, we strengthen those bonds of charity, unity, fraternity and patriotism, and we are privileged to do it in a free country. If you belong to a number of organizations, as a Catholic, you can belong to no better organization for your discipleship, for your strength and your response in Jesus Christ than the Knights of Columbus.

Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF): RECRUIT, not only for the 4^th Degree but for the 1^st Degree as well.

Bryant R. Sayers, PSD

AZ District Master

4th Degree Knights in Action

10/17/2016 10:40:00 PM azka No comments

Members of Saint Timothy’s Assembly 3029 and Saint Mary Magdalene Assembly 3327 had the Honor to welcome home Veterans returning from Washington DC from the “Honor Flight Arizona” trip on October 6^th 2016. These Veterans visited the Veterans Memorials and had the opportunity to visit with other WWII & Korean War Veterans. Honor Flight AZ works year-round to plan and conduct 8-10 trips to the memorials in Washington, D.C. Flights “take off” as scheduled if funding and guardian needs are met. Honor Flight Network is a non-profit organization created solely to honor America’s WWII and Korean War veterans for all their sacrifices. Honor Flight Arizona transports our heroes, at no cost to them, to Washington, D.C. to reflect and be honored at their memorials.

Learn more about “Honor Flight Arizona” by visiting the following website: http://honorflightaz.org/flight-schedule/

2016-2017 Membership Promotion Program

10/14/2016 10:02:00 PM No comments

Greetings, Brothers. We have great news!

Due to “popular demand”, the Arizona Star Recruiter membership incentive is back, and it’s better than ever! The “Arizona Star Recruiter” pin is back for your first member recruited and we’ve added additional incentives for recruiting 3 members and recruiting 5 or more members. We also have some additional goodies for councils and District Deputies.

Remember, there are no postcards required for this year-long membership promotion program! Individual awards are based on the proposer on record at the Supreme office. This means it is very important that complete and accurate proposer information (including Name and Member Number) is printed on the new member’s form 100.

Flyer is here.

Year-Long Member Incentive

Recruit a new or reactivate a member and print your name and member number in the proposer information on the form 100 during the 2016-2017 Fraternal Year. Upon the Arizona State Council’s receipt of the monthly membership notification from the Supreme office you will receive the following:* Recruit your first new member and you will receive a special commemorative “Arizona Star Recruiter” pin.*Recruit 3 new members and in addition to the pin, you will receive a special commemorative “Arizona Star Recruiter” keychain.*Recruit 5 or more members and in addition to the pin and keychain, you will receive an award worth $25 at Knight’s Gear, and a $5 award for each additional member thereafter that you recruit.

See the attached flyer for additional details on the 2016-2017 Membership Promotion Program.

October and November Council Incentive

In addition to the year-long program, we have a special incentive for the next two months. For each 2 new members a council recruits in October and November, the council will receive an “Arizona Star Recruiter” apron. Grow the Order in Arizona and outfit your council in style at the same time!

District Deputy Admission Degree Incentive

District Deputies, we know that frequent Admission (First) Degrees help spur membership growth, and we set the goal for a minimum of one Admission Degree per District per month. We have been tracking this since the fraternal year began and several Districts are meeting this goal. To encourage Districts to promote Admission Degrees, in addition to the year-long Membership Promotion program those Districts with at least one Admission Degree each month, or with a minimum of 13 Admission Degrees during the Fraternal Year will receive a special incentive. Stay tuned for details. Remember, we base this incentive on your submission of form 450s so don’t forget to send them in.

Finally, all of these incentives are in addition to the Incentives offered by Supreme.

Brothers, the Order, our state and our councils must continue to grow. If we are going to continue to support our bishops and our clergy, and if we are going to continue to support our communities and all of the individuals who depend on the Knights of Columbus, if we are going to “Build the Domestic Church while Strengthening our Parishes”, we must continue to grow. Hopefully these incentives will help energize your efforts.

Fraternally,

Kevin McCarthy
State Membership Director
Arizona State Council
Knights of Columbus
Cell: (602) 684-8125http://www.azknightsofcolumbus.org
Be the Leader of Your Domestic Church

Knights in Action - Tucson

10/02/2016 07:58:00 AM azka No comments

14th Spaghetti Dinner Fundraiser For Saints Peter & Paul Catholic School

The Knights of Columbus hosted the 14th Spaghetti Dinner fundraiser for the 8th Grade year end trip to Catalina Island Marine Institute. The Knights cook and clean the kitchen, and the 8th Graders set-up the dining room, serve the food, and clean the hall. This dinner raised $1800. Over the years, the dinners have averaged more than $2000 each. More than $32,000 has been raised to-date.