February 1, 2017
Brothers,
I want to begin by congratulating
Douglas Council # 1858 and Phoenix Council # 12708 for their Membership
Recruiting efforts for our special incentive that ran from December 15 to
January 15. These two Council had the
highest percent of new members joining their Councils during that period. Their award is two tickets for each Council
to the sold out Phoenix Men’s Conference.
Each Council will select two of their members to attend and be seated in
the second or third row, within whispering distance from the Bishops.
Have you planned your March
Church Drives yet? Several Councils have
already held theirs over the last few weeks with more scheduled in February and
March. If you need ideas or help please
contact your District Deputy or State Membership Chairman Kevin McCarthy. Often Knights tell us that Church Drives
don’t work. Supreme has gone back to
promoting these after a few years of hiatus because the results prove that they
do work, if done correctly.
Be Not Afraid; get in front of
the table and approach men, women, families as they come out of Church. I know personally that it can be hard if you
are not used to being that forward. It has taken me a long time to become
comfortable doing this but I keep in my mind that I am sharing information
about an organization that I love being a member
I often begin my conversations by
asking them if they are a Knight, or the women if their Husbands or Fathers are
Knights. Last weekend I met Knights from
Washington, Iowa, and Canada that were here visiting. Those that were not I did not ask if they
wanted to join. I asked them if they
have heard of the Knights and offer to tell them more about what we stand for,
what we do and how we support the local Priests and Parishes. It does not always work but I have found
approaches like that are better than saying “Do you want to join the Knights”
as they walked past the table. I have a flyer to give them and ask if they are
willing to fill out a prospect card and assure them they will be contacted soon
with more information.
For those that have not heard we
have a new Hispanic Membership Coordinator.
PGK Raul Chavez has agreed to take on this challenge of bringing the
Knights to the vast underserved Hispanic as well as other ethnic communities in
our Parishes. We have learned over the
last few years that one man cannot do this alone. I ask that you, if you read nothing else of
this message at your next Council meeting, ask all your members if they would
like to join the team that Raul is putting together to assist Councils and
Parishes grow their membership in these communities within our Parishes. Raul’s
email address is kofc3855az@gmail.com
and his cell phone is 623-693-8589. Council
9482 in Chandler brought in over 25 new members recently by responding to one
of their Priests asking if a large community of Burmese men could join the
Knights. Their answer was YES. Working
with the Priest as the interpreter these men took their Admissions Degree in
their language. Look at your own
Parishes to see what fellow Catholics have not been asked to join our Order.
Our State Officers and Membership team is here to help but you need to be the
driving force to grow your Councils.
Are you following our State Theme
to “Be The Leader of Your Domestic Church”?
Supreme has many programs on their website at www.kofc.org to help you
form yourself and lead your family and community in these efforts. If you are attending this year’s Phoenix
Men’s Conference look for the Knights Membership Tent and displays. We will have some of the Domestic Church
Kiosks on display that your Council can order and use for your members or place
in your Church.
Finally I ask each Council and
member to plan to attend one of the upcoming Priest and Clergy Appreciation
Dinners and to sponsor a Priest as well.
Phoenix is on February 10th, Yuma on February 27th
and Tucson on February 28th.
Vivat Jesus,
Sean Halpain – State Deputy
