The official newsletter of the BC & Yukon State Council

Transcription

1 Spring : 2018 The official newsletter of the BC & Yukon State Council State Deputy s Message Dear Brothers Knights, Daylight Savings Time has just started. Spring is here and Summer is coming. That also implies we are stepping closer to the end of Fraternal Year. How is our jurisdiction is doing? Our jurisdiction has been leading US and Canada in membership growth since early in this Fraternal year. According to past record, February is a slow month. This year is no exception. In the next few months, our membership growth should move a lot faster than the previous months. Realistically, in the first 12 days of March, our membership growth did not show any explosive speed after the February church drive. The primary role of the Grand Knight is to lead the growth of the Council and show the parishioners and Brothers the value to be a Knight. When I received the report from the Supreme Council, surprisingly, it showed the Grand Knight and the Financial Secretary are low in attendance of the online Officer leadership training in our jurisdiction. Grand Knight has a commitment to his Council members and his jurisdiction to succeed in the growth of the Council, running charitable programs, serving the church, caring for the Brothers and their family by uniting the Brothers. Leadership is one of the important entities to contribute to the success of the Council. Supreme can only acknowledge the success of the Council and the jurisdiction by numbers. How many members families are protected is determined by the number of new insurance members. How active the Council is determined by what and how many programs it runs. The value of the Councils is determined by number of withdrawal, suspension and new members. If the members see the value to be a knight in a Council, they are willing to pay the dues, and no member will be suspended. The members will self-initiate to welcome eligible men to the Council. Let s strengthen your Council and work towards obtaining the Star Council award. Supreme has implemented a new incentive to the growth of our Canadian jurisdiction. Starting from March, all Canadian jurisdictions are in the membership growth challenge, named Amazing Race to the Finish. So far, we are behind Ontario, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Dear Brothers, we should unite together and show the Canadian jurisdictions the strength of unity of British Columbians and Whitehorsians. We are looking for at least 10% growth for each month until the end of the Fraternal year. We still have more than 51 Councils, more than one-third of Councils, who have not recruited a single member in this Fraternal year. As a fraternal leader, please show your ability to grow your Council. Every Council needs to recruit energetic young members. We need them to move the Councils in charitable programs as well as to strengthen the Catholic faith. Building the Domestic Church initiative is a Supreme program to strengthen both our families and our parishes. Many programs can be utilized as the tools to bring their families closer together and closer to God. On the other hand, some Councils create their own programs, such as Family Easter Egg Hunt, Family Free Throw Championship, Youth for Christ (YFC) under the Couples For Christ, etc. Please share the idea by submitting your brief story with photos to Supreme Knights in Action and the State PR & Communication Chairman, Brother Mark Pan. As per the Supreme Council, each local Council can add a new role to appoint a Domestic Church Couple and start to put this program in action. The State AGM Convention is approaching. Every Council has an obligation to send your members as delegates to this annual meeting. Each delegate has the right to vote and share the success of our jurisdiction. It is also a good time to meet with the Brothers around the BC and Yukon as well as pray for our deceased Brothers. I hope to see you at the State Convention. We have just passed the Lenten season. Besides penitential prayer, fasting, repenting for failures and sin as a way to focus on the need for God s grace, we focus on charitable deeds, especially helping those in physical need with food and clothing, or donate to charities. This is really to prepare to celebrate God s marvelous redemption at Easter, and the resurrected life that we live and hope for as a Catholic Brother. My wife, Marianne, joins me in wishing you all a wonderful Lenten Season and a blessed Easter. Vivat Jesus! Koon Ming Lau, State Deputy British Columbia and Yukon State Council Knights of Columbus State officers State Deputy Koon Ming Lau State Chaplain Most reverend Stephen Jensen State Secretary Dale Hofer State Treasurer Edgardo Panes State Advocate Marcel Renaud State Warden Herb Yang Immediate Past State Deputy Arcie Jose Lim Executive Assistant to SD Christopher Chen

2 State Service Programme Directors BC & Yukon District Deputies State General Program Director Herb Yang District 1 Shawn Leckie State Church Director Richard Whalen District 2 Wayne Sapieha State Family Director Aurel Muego District 3 Clement Yapp State Community Director Frank Visentin District 4 Edgar Nacar State Council Director John Vukovic District 5 Camil Chan State Youth Director Ariel Estrada District 6 Eduardo Valdez State Culture of Life Couple Edgar & Priscillla Ursua District 7 District 8 Mike Guterres Randy Carson State Membership Programme Directorate District 9 Murray Oppertshauser State Membership Director Dan O Hara, PSD District 10 Mike Jones State Retention Chairman Marcel Renaud District 11 Karl Schoenberger New Council Development And Round Table General Agent/Insurance Gabriel Sta. Maria Richard Lee Wah District 13 District 15 Grant Brons Lorenzo Sia State (BC) Charity Foundation Foundation Administrator Michael Yeo, PSD Charity Appeal Chairman Donald McPherson Legal Advisor Paul Fang Bursary Chairman Edgardo Panes State Specialty Programme Chairmen District 16 District 17 District 18 District 20 District 21 District 22 District 23 Don Coburn Douglas Wigglesworth Eduardo Suarez Robin Smith Glenn Wynans Wayne Feser Federico De Castro State Communication Chairman Mark Pan District 24 Shawn Veters State Convention and Conference State Archivist State Parliamentarian Henri Mercado Marcel Fillion, PSD Douglas Fox, PSD District 25 District 26 Ryan DeHaan Robert Tan State Ceremonials and Protocol Father McGivney Guild/Vocations Legal Advisor Marcel Renaud Rui Carrao Paul Fang District 27 District 28 Nelson Pluff Richard Lionel Aloysius State Webmaster Richard Lionel Aloysius District 29 Paul Laliberte

3 Chaplain s Report D ear Brother Knights:The seasons of Lent and Easter remind us of the Lord s promise: I make all things new (Revelation 21:5). His words refer first of all to the personal renewal every believer can experience through faith and repentance, but they also imply our corporate mission as members of the Church. Our State theme, Building together with Christ reflects this mandate we share by Baptism. The Knights of Columbus contribute to the work of renewing society through our collective witness as Catholic men and through the programs of evangelization and service we support. The recent Listening Session with four guests from the Supreme Council highlighted several ways we can be better formed for this mission. Into the Breach an eight week program designed for Catholic men to reflect on what it takes to be Catholic men, husbands, fathers and grandfathers. Family Hour of Prayer Building the Domestic Church this kiosk has a series of booklets on our faith. Catholic Information this series has material on almost every popular subject related to our Catholic Faith. I encourage every Council to consider how it can use these resources in Building together with Christ. Bishop Stephen Jensen State Chaplain State Advocate s Report M y Brothers, as we near a critical time in our Fraternal Year for Star Council progress, I feel I must go over with you the requirements for the Safe Environment Program. As you know there are 2 main reasons for getting your Council compliant with this program: 1) The safety of the children who participate in our programs, and 2) Compliance with this program is now one of the required steps in achieving the Star Council Award, and the financial benefit of that award to your Council. For most Councils, the following are required in order that your Council will be compliant with the Safe Environment Program: 1) The Grand Knight must take the online course or the refresher course, if he did it last year. 2) The Council Youth Director must take the online course and have a Criminal Record Check done. If your parish has conducted a similar program, you must also take the program through the Knights of Columbus. No other program will satisfy this requirement. All Councils who wish to achieve Star Council must have a Youth Director, and that Youth Director must do the steps outlined above. You will find on the State website, under Documents and Forms the form needed to give Supreme permission to get the criminal record check done. You do not go to the RCMP for this criminal record check process. It is best to your Criminal Record Check documents to Supreme. I cannot stress enough how urgent this matter has become. You must get this done immediately, as it can take some time for the Supreme office to log in all of the Councils who are going through this process at the same time. In order to get access to the online course, the Grand Knight and Youth Director must each youthleader@kofc.org with his name, membership number, Council name and number, and his current position in the Council. If you are not sure if your Council has completed all necessary tasks for this program, please contact me right away and I will update you on your Council s status. If you have any questions about how to get your tasks completed, again, please contact me. Don t let the Safe Environment Program be the reason your Council does not achieve Star Council status. Vivat Jesus Marcel Renaud, State Advocate

4 The Director Says... Worthy Sirs and Dear Brothers, The AGM is just around the corner which means we have only the month of April left to be at our membership target of 100%. However as you should already know from a previous circulated earlier, recruiting for the month of March has been disappointing leaving us just shy of 73% to date. It will be difficult I know to expect councils to add 27% in the next month, so lets agree that by the AGM we will be at 90% leaving us 2 months to recruit the final 10%. You will soon have a new tool to help you!! On 02 April, BC/Yukon will launch the new, On-Line Membership program, a program that has already seen good results in several of the pilot jurisdictions. Why On Line Membership? The Supreme Council has conducted numerous listening sessions and surveys with both members and non-members over the last few years. Among the many findings was a strong indication that the Supreme Council should develop a new, online way to recruit potential members and form those men for committed, lifelong membership in the Knights of Columbus. This new fraternal program seeks to help the Order maintain sustainable long-term membership growth by providing the opportunity for membership throughout the modern man s life cycle. This streamlined alternative helps acclimate men to the Order. Once a man has joined online, we will then work to incorporate him into a council and get him fully integrated with its activities. This initiative is an important step for our Order, and presents a tremendous opportunity for membership growth and engagement. The initiative allows for: A Faster Way to Join One of the most common objections to joining the Knights of Columbus is I don t have time. Through Online Membership, a join process that can take as many as two months now takes five minutes. A Digital Experience This initiative provides a new membership experience that is tailored to younger men and busier men who may not yet be ready for council-based membership. This lowpressure, low-commitment and digital experience meets men where they are, helps to form them as Catholic men, and enables us to bring more men into the fold. An Amplified Message The Online Membership initiative is backed by a substantial marketing campaign that will find and work to convert prospective members. Imagine conducting a Church Membership drive and a man is interested enough to leave you his name and number. Now we can offer him another option,that of joining the Knights of Columbus without making a full commitment. The Online Membership Initiative: Does not change requirements for membership. Membership in the Knights of Columbus remains open to practical Catholic men. Does not eliminate degrees. Men who join online are non-degreed members. Once they are ready to convert to a local council, they are required to take the first degree. Does not eliminate councils. The goal of online membership is to form men for committed, lifelong and council- based membership in the Knights of Columbus. In fact, Online Membership creates a pool of recruits for local councils to engage with. Does not eliminate dues. Online Members are required to pay $30 annual dues. Does not create a new class or type of member. Online Members are members of the Knights of Columbus. They are non-degreed members, and they do not belong to local councils, but they are not provisional or partial members. In the next couple of weeks I will be offering training sessions both live and using Go-To- Meeting to help you prepare and understand what the future holds for us. We will also do a 20 minutes orientation at the AGM for those councils not able to avail themselves of other training opportunities. These are exciting times and we encourage every member to get behind this new initiative, one that will make joining the Order faster, more flexible and more appealing to those men who really don t have time to attend meetings. There will be much more to follow! God Bless! you for all you do! B. Dan O Hara, PSD State Membership Director BC/Yukon Knights of Columbus Res: Cell: Fax: danjo@telus.net Visit us at: Have YOU recruited one new member this month??

5 Supreme Visit... On Thursday, March8th, the BC & Yukon State Council hosted four very special visitors from Supreme. Brothers Mark McMulllen, Bob Ennis, Wojciecj Dadak and Scott Reed. Also in attendance was brother GuyPrecourt, who is the MPC for our Region. Brother Knights from all over the lower mainland came to be heard by Supreme and many ideas were suggested. The Supreme representatives were here to listen and the message was quite clear that more needs to be done to attract younger members. The Supreme Representatives promised to look into the many suggestions and get back to us quickly. As of this moment, one of the main complaints was that there wasn t enough Canadian content in the Columbia Magazine. Recognizing this, Supreme will be dedicating a special section specifically for Canadian content in the Columbia magazine!

6 State Warden s Report S ince the last newsletter, lots have happened and with the State AGM coming up soon, I will be busy working with our State Convention Chairman, Brother Henri Mercado. I organized the Charity Appeal Main Draw Dinner event. With the culinary skills of Brother Wing of St. Francis Xavier Council and the council members, it was a successful event. There were 110 people attend this event with the highlight being the main draw. We had a 50/50 draw that raised $190. The bar sales profit was $ The intention of the proceeds was to support our Middle Eastern Christian brothers & sisters. We also have some leftover beer that we will add to our inventory for our Hospitality during our State AGM and the DD s Organizational Meeting. With Brother Jolly Rabala resigning the State Youth Director position, I worked with our State Deputy to select a replacement. We were able to get Brother Ariel Estrada to agree to take on the position as our new State Youth Director. Having been the State Youth Director for 2 State Deputies, I was able to guide Brother Ariel on the expectations. I am please to see his progress on getting up to speed in that role. Planning for our State AGM, I have been working with our State Convention Chairman. I was able to develop a self running Powerpoint that will project the banners of all the councils in our jurisdiction. The display of all the banners during the State AGM is an onerous and now expensive task. In addition to many volunteers needed to put them up, the hotel is charging $800 for that. This year instead of putting up the banners, we will project them on the wall or on the screen. The banners will be identical to the original. As we are past the halfway point of the fraternal year, we need to start to focus on the Star Councils. I will review the councils that have a good chance to achieve this prestigious goal and work with them to ensure they reach that goal. Looking forward to the planning and execution of this year s State AGM. Vivat Jesus! Herb Yang State Warden Bishop Thomas J. Lobsinger, OMI Memorial Bursary Program Underway The annual British Columbia and Yukon Bursary Program is known as the Bishop Thomas J. Lobsinger, OMI Memorial Bursary Program. The 2018 program is now receiving applications. Once again we are privileged to offer thirty bursaries of $ each to Catholic students across the Province of British Columbia. These bursaries are made available on a one-time-only basis to young practicing Catholic students who are in their second or subsequent year of post secondary education at a recognized institute of higher learning within the Province. Applications are accepted from January 1 st, 2018 until June 30 th, 2018 with the bursaries being awarded in the fall. The Terms of Reference can be found on our web site at Requests for applications should be addressed to: Knights of Columbus BC & Yukon Attn: Edgardo Panes, Bursaries Chairman rd Avenue Richmond, BC V7E 5A1 We would like to once again congratulate the many recipients over the past years and look forward to the opportunity to assist many more young people in the advancement of their education.

7 Knight of The Year / Month Our Knight of the Year has supported, encouraged, applauded and even directed our council at times. As a man of great Faith, we seek his prayers and guidance for our Council and the work we do. St MaryParishioners also enjoy and are privileged to receive his mentoring as well. Council 5246 choice for Knight of the Year is Father Gilbert Bertrand Ed Landry was Council 9990 Knight of the Month! Brother Lou Thibodeau receiving The Knight of the Month award from WGK Doug Greenwood from 7359 (photo by Bro Ernie Poitras)

8 Coats For Kids F rom Richmond to Cache Creek, Surrey to Penticton...Knights of Columbus councils all around the great jurisdiction of British Columbia & Yukon rallied around the poor, disadvantaged and the needy to provide the essentials to a cold winter...warm winter coats, for chidlren. These pictures below are just a few of the many that were submitted. Thank you brothers, for the good work that you do in touching the lives of many around you! State Community Director, Frank Visentin, coordinated with the District Deputy #10, Brother Mike Jone, to distribute coats in the wildfire area. Surrounding the Immaculate Heart of Mary Shrine and Centre, the mountain was affected by the fire. It was only tens of metres away. Thanks to the contribution from funds raised by Brother Frank, General Agent, the Knights of Columbus (BC) Charity Foundation and the State Council, approximately 200 coats were purchased. At the same time, St. Francis Xavier Council donated almost the same amount of blankets for the contribution at the same time. On November 26, we started to distribute the coats outside the church at 10:00am. State Deputy, Ming Lau and his spouse, Marianne, the State Secretary, Brother Dale Hofer, and District Deputy, Brother Mike Jones and his spouse, Sandra, presented with the knights from William Brennan Council 8132 and St. Francis Xavier Council in this event. The rainy day affected the number of kids in need benefited from this distribution. The distribution finished at 1:00pm. The left over coats would be distributed at the community in Kamloops, Vernon and Prince Rupert. Brother Knights Larry Whyte, Gerry Lockwood, Yvo De Boer and GK Ken Claridge delivering four boxes of winter jackets to Chilliwack Community Services (CCS) as part of our commitment to the Coats for Kids program. The Chilliwack Council is the single largest service club donor to CCS on an annual basis. Coats for Kids distribution held at Richmond Caring Place January 10, The coats were donated by the 4 councils and Assembly 2485 and all four District 23 Grand Knights GK 6855 Domingo Arca, GK John Braganza, GK Teody Parejo, GK Eddy Ho participated. The Coats for Kids Program was made possible under the leadership of District Deputy #23 Federico De Castro. Also in attendance were State Culture of Life Director Edgar Ursua and Faithful Comptroller SK Ben Santos of Pope John Paul 1 Assembly 2485 and members from the four councils of Richmond.

9 COMMUNITY SHOWCASE Grand Knight Rum Hykaway of Council 7991 presenting a cheque to Oceanside Special Olympics. Grand Knight Rum Hykaway of Council 7991 presenting a cheque to Crossroads Crisis Pregnancy Centre. Council 3842 hosted their 10th Annual Baby Shower in January The program aims to collect donations of various baby supplies and clothes which are then offered to local Birthright or pregnancy crisis centres for distribution. A baby crib was set up in St.Peter s Church foyer and used to collect the donations. Parishioners responded with great generosity! In the picture, Bro. Brian King, chairman of this year s drive, looks over the many donations having been dropped off. All items were presented to the Nanaimo Crossroads Crisis Pregnancy Centre, who sorted them and provided an estimate value of an incredible $3, for all the items donated. so generously Knights from Our Lady of Fatima Portuguese Parish, Vancouver - Brothers Duncan, Brothers John Morgado and Johnny Morgado, Brother Steve, and Joseph, weighed, filled up a van and a truck, with all the donations of food from our parish. Two grade seven students, Jacob Valinho and Dante Silva, helped in the weighing and calculating of the actual amount of food that was delivered. Father Antonio then let us know that two parishioners donated $200 to go with the 833 pounds that was delivered to The Door is Open.

10 Charity Appeal News The presentation of the $50,000. first prize to Nicholeen Christison by Ticket Chairman Don McPherson, Barrie Herod and Alfred Czengery. Len Nabe from Powell River was the 10th Prize winner of $ in the Early Bird draw on January 20, Len (left) is presented with $ check by Knights of Columbus member Don Bourcier. The giant ticket rollder that rotates for a few minutes before State Deputy Ming Lau unlocks the device to pick the winning tickets.

11 COMMUNITY SHOWCASE Bishop Coudert Council 6232 in Whitehorse held its 47th Annual Sourdough Pancake Breakfast during the Sourdough Rendezvous on Feb 24-25, More than 1,300 people attended the breakfast which was held in the basement of Sacred Heart Cathedral. This event is the largest fundraiser for the Council and approximately 35 volunteers were needed to stage this breakfast. Bro. Joe Hanrath GK is pictured in the large group in front of the KC banner. He is kneeling in front(vest).

12 Degrees & Events We would like to focus on degrees. If your council has had any degrees, please make sure to take pictures and send them to the State PR & Communications Chair, together with a short explanation of whom the men were, which council as well which degree team or host council. We d like to continue to show degrees be they Admission, Formation, Knighthood or Patriotic Degrees. On February 10th, Council 14110, St. Andrew Kim in District 6, Surrey hosted a Formation Degree with over 30 candidates! Thanks to the Team from District 7. The Agency Degree Team hosts a First Degree on the First Thursday of every month complete with wine and cheese after the degree. Whether it is with just one candidate (as in this photo) or several, they are committed to hosting this degree. Even if there are no candidates, they will simply do a dry run...this practice should be encouraged for all Council Degree Teams. Hold a degree at a set date and time every month. Then your members will never have to wait! The culmination of yet another hugely successful Patriotic Degree many new brothers joining the 4th. Welcome Sir Knights!

13 Degrees & Events Council hosted a massive Formation Degree with 23 candidates at St. Joseph the Worker parish on Jan. 13, Worthy State Treasurer Bro. Ed panes, DD23 Bing de Castro, DD4 Bro. Ed Nacar attended the Ceremony. Council hosted a Formation Degree with 16 candidates from 7 councils. Worthy State Warden brother Marcel Renaud and his team conducted the degree with distinguished guest Bishop David Monroe. From top left to right, The Agency Team hosted yet another Admissions Degree for one member from Council 3239 Maillardville and another for 4 new members. 4 new members for Council 9844 in Burnaby and 4 new brothers hosted by the team from Council 9846 in Port Moody.

14 The Field Agency Says...