Welcome to the New Fraternal Year Kevin Miller, State Deputy

Transcription

1 MONTHLY NEWSLETTER OF THE OHIO STATE COUNCIL KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS JULY 2017 Welcome to the New Fraternal Year Kevin Miller, State Deputy Welcome to the first edition of the Voice of the Spirit for this fraternal year! On behalf of my wife Tish and the entire Miller Family, I thank you for your vote of confidence in electing me as your State Deputy. I assure you that I will do my utmost to serve you and your needs to the best of my ability in the next two years. The theme for my term is IN HIS HONOR -- which I pray reflects the feelings of all Knights as they conduct business within their councils and the parishes they serve. We should be ever mindful, moving forward, that all that we do and all who we serve is done to HONOR the life and teachings of Christ which comes alive with all whom we come in contact. Each Knight, especially those in positions of leadership, should strive to be ever mindful of Father McGivney s original purpose and goals for the Order -- each of us plays an important role in its growth and development. It is essential if we wish to remain vital within our faith communities we serve to continue to grow -- to promote activities and events which reflect our Catholic values and community involvement, to ensure the safety and security of our families by participation in the insurance program, and most importantly, to identify and recruit those fine Catholic gentlemen who we so desperately need to continually fill our ranks. In this fraternal year, we hope to build upon the successes of the past while providing enhancements to help you and your councils be successful. I strongly encourage your council leadership to make every effort to attend the upcoming diocesan tour meetings being held the weekends of July 7-9 and July At these events, you will learn more about the new state programs, awards for top councils, membership incentive programs, updates on our Football Sweepstakes and Support our Seminarians programs, information about enhancements and changes to our website, and much more. I hope that every council takes the opportunity to attend these important meetings and get off to (Continued on page 2) CHARITY UNITY FRATERNITY PATRIOTISM 1

2 (Continued from page 1) a great start for the year! Lastly, in all that you do in the upcoming fraternal year, I ask you follow one important piece of advice in everything that you do, with every member you encounter, in every dealing with our clergy and members of your parishes, that you always act to be inclusive, not exclusive. Only by working together, by utilizing every resource available to us, by taking advantage of every opportunity and every avenue of success, can we hope to fulfill our true mission and Father McGivney s dream for the Knights of Columbus. I wish each and every one of you success and fulfillment in the coming year -- please feel free to contact your District Deputy, our State Directors, or your State Officers for assistance and guidance. Working together, IN HIS HONOR, with the help of the Holy Spirit, we will be guaranteed success! Vivat Jesus! Kevin P. Miller State Deputy Reflections from State Chaplain Father Peter Gideon, State Chaplain pgideon8@me.com Dear Brother Knights: The Fourth of July can present a wonderful opportunity for having fun while parading around, AND at the same time, spreading the Good News (Evangelization). At my parish, St. Mark, Lancaster, there was already a tradition, before I became pastor, of having a float in the parade. It was a tractor and a hay wagon. Two years ago we were blessed when the Dresden K of C Council bestowed upon us a replica of Christopher Columbus ship the Santa Maria. We invite anyone and everyone from the parish to come join us. And about half of the two dozen who do are willing to walk alongside this ship and handout a trifold about the parish, or key fobs, or a cloth bag with parish information stenciled on it. This year, as we passed the review stand, I was handed a microphone, and I announced to the parade watchers: We ride this ship to honor Christopher Columbus, a Catholic gentleman, who risked much to join the Old World with the New World, and thus enabled our celebration of Democracy today! Gratefully, Father Peter Gideon State Chaplain 2

3 Membership Francesco Iannaggi, State Membership Director My dear friends and brothers in Christ I wish to make you aware the level of participation that is expected of every council and member required to grow the order. This is our obligation and our duty As we kick off this fraternal year the State Deputy Brother Kevin Miller as empowered me to present every Grand Knight of every active council a promissory note for $100 payable to the Grand Knight for the recruitment of 4 new members as recorded by Supreme for the months of July and August. This translates to $ and 1532 new member. I now ask you to take the following pledge: I pledge on my honor as a Knight of Columbus to promote the growth of my council through the implementation of the In His Honor membership program requirements. I promise to seek out new members within my parish community and beyond and invite them to join the ranks of my council, I promise to mentor and guide my recruit in the good works of my council as we promote the faith and the Order We do this In His Honor. July 1, 2017 marked the beginning of the new fraternal year and the beginning of a very simple and profitable membership program. (Please review the membership awards and incentive portion of membership program ). In short, this program is designed to aid you in the growth of your individual councils membership and program participation. We have set a goal of 3000 new members for year and 250 new members per month. These goals are can be easily achieved with one on one recruiting with a simple goal of one new member per month per council. This goal will insure that your council can meet its quota as set by Supreme. To aid you in your quest for new members all the District Deputies have be told to schedule at least one Admissions degree in each of their Districts each month and promptly report exemplifications upon completions. The program consist of 3 mandatory and 2 council choice from 6 outlined for you. Achieve Net 5 in membership through May 1 Supreme report. (Net growth of five members for the state reporting year) (20 points) Conduct a Membership Blitz (Church Drive/Open House) in October of the state reporting year and must bring in at least one new member. (20 points) Conduct a Membership Blitz (Church Drive/Open House) in March of the state reporting year and must bring in at least one new member. (20 points) Council choice electives Activity # H1 - Summer Membership Drive Contest (20 points) Activity # O1 - Recruit The Youth (20 points) Activity # N1- First Degree held between July 1 and April 15 (20 points) Activity # O2 - Membership Quota Attainment 6 months (20 points) Activity # R1- Membership Drive Contest (20 points) Activity # S1 - Re-up A Member (20 points) In future publications of the Voice of the Spirit we will discuss how to conduct church drives, and open houses. Fear not asking question of your District Deputies, and your Diocesan Membership Directors. MEMBERSHIP DIOCESAN DIRECTORS Ray Darr, State Ceremonial Director (radar1618@aol.com) Jim Collins, Toledo (jim@wexforddesign.com Keith Dunnigan, Columbus (kdunnigan5@gmail.com) Michael Felerski, Cincinnati (mfelerski@icloud.com) Michael Jordon, Youngstown (mtjordon@yahoo.com) James Maslach, Cleveland (maslachj@frontier.com) Tom Offenberger, Steubenville (tomoff@suddenlink.com) 3

4 Ohio State General Program Rod Anderson, State General Program Director At the time of this writing, the Diocesan Tour Meetings throughout Ohio have not yet taken place. So, without spoiling the presentations on Tour by the State Officers and Staff, here is a brief glimpse of the new State General Program and some of the reasons for its design. The In His Honor Program was designed to hopefully make it a little simpler, a little more flexible, a little easier, and a little more inviting to encourage more Councils to participate in it. There are only five activities required in each of the Programs, Church, Community, Council, Cultrure of Life, Family, Membership and Youth, to max the State Program. In each Program, except Membership, there are two mandatory and three elective activities. Membership has three mandatory and two elective activities. For Councils who participate in the Featured Activities of Supreme, they will receive credit for all three of the elective activities of the respective State Programs. The mandatory activities will still be required, though, in order to max the State General Program. With these changes which I hope the Councils will find easy to incorporate into their programming for the year, it is imperative that the Council Officers and Program Chairmen review the In His Honor State Program Manual and understand the requirements for each Program area. And don t ignore the Supreme Council s Building The Domestic Church Program and activities required to achieve Star Council. These are found on the Supreme website at Be sure to include these requirements in your Council Program Planning. Along with the Program changes, state awards for Councils are also revamped. The awards are designed to provide meaningful recognition for Councils and their members for their hard work and efforts throughout the fraternal year, all In His Honor. It is so important to recognize those Councils and individuals who truly embrace all that we do as Knights and strive so hard to meet the objectives of our Order for Charity, Unity, Fraternity and Patriotism. Recognition costs so little and yet means so much. So the In His Honor State Program Awards hopefully will fulfill that purpose. Take a close look at the Awards in the State General Program Manual, and encourage your Councils to strive to meet those objectives and be recognized for the efforts. Please avail yourself of the opportunities throughout the fraternal year to use the contact information throughout the State General Program Manual to contact ANYONE on the State Staff or the State Officers with any questions or problems you have. We are all here to assist you and your Councils in any way to achieve success with your Programs and Activities. Please do not hesitate to get in touch with any of us through mail, phone or . Community Robert E. Walsh, Director rewalsh731@aol.com I would like to announce the winners for Family of The Month from Supreme for May and June, the same Family won both months for Ohio, and they are from Council Congratulations to the Robert McFarland Family. As we do great work on big projects in our communities, what kind of help or activities support your neighbors? As you read the Community Program, the activities listed are suggestions of something your Council can do. You have the two mandatory activities and three Council Choices. I will be looking for some different programs. As we start this year In His Honor let us remember why our order was started, to help others in our Parish and Community in need. 4

5 Council Tim Mangan, Director Be A Successful Council: Start Now! Brother Knights! As we begin another fraternal year, there are a few things to consider to help your council have success. Things like planning, communication and recruitment. Planning! Be sure to hold a planning meeting as soon and as early as possible. Plan all of your activities and events for the fraternal year with your officers and directors. Write them down on a calendar. Give your members plenty of notice as the date for these events approach. Communication! Communication is the key! Use your council's newsletters and social media to reach out to your membership. Make sure to get the word out! Also, open your "doors" to parishioners and families. Make pulpit announcements or insert articles in church bulletins to let your fellow parishioners know what your council is doing and invite them to participate as well. Recruit! Use your council activities as a way to recruit new blood into your council. Invite prospects and their family to your council's events. Keep in mind; you do not have to be a member to attend a council event. Use these events as a way to spark an interest and show them that they do fit in as a Knight! Remember, new blood, new ideas. Doing the same event year after year gets old and members loose interest. Keep ideas new and fresh! Finally, Have Fun! Enjoy doing what you do and have a good time! Vivat Jesus! Tim Mangan, State Council Family M. Stewart Vetter, Director BetterWithVetter@hotmail.com Welcome to the "In His Honor" youth program. As a bit of background on me, I'm a second generation Knight of Columbus. I grew up in Van Wert council #6034 and Squires Circle #2927 where I served as Chief Squire. I was Ohio's State Chief Squire from After graduating Bowling Green State University and taking a job in accounting, I joined Bellevue council #752. I am a Past Grand Knight and a Former District Deputy. Today's young men are tomorrow's brother knights, grand knights, and priests. They won't get there on their own though. Young people need to be encouraged to discern their vocation TODAY by people that know the value of a life of prayer and service. We, as Knights of Columbus, understand the value of prayer and of serving our church and our community. We are uniquely positioned to be role models for our young people but only if we are active with them and engaging with them. In return, their excitement and energy is contagious. Our youth have a way of bringing fun to everything they do and that joy attracts people of all ages. Young people are looking for a way to get involved. They are looking for a place to belong and a group to belong to. We need to create the times, places, and groups for them to belong to. The Squires is our preeminent youth organization. It is the best way for we, as Knights of Columbus, to train our young Catholic men in leadership, faith, physical and intellectual development, and to introduce them to the Knights of Columbus. I've asked each district deputy in Ohio to nominate a council in their district as the strongest council and a potential location for a new or reactivated Squires circle. My goal this year is to create or re-activate 3 circles. I'm confident that my brother Knights will support our youth and accomplish this goal. 5

6 Culture of Life Brett Gissel, Director How can we do Culture Of Life programming if we don t have a member that is really involved with many Pro Life groups? I can help you throughout the year. There will be activities mentioned here to help you plan them in advance. When planning activities, I suggest using the Culture Of Life programming page on Supreme s website. The activity should be one that focuses on defending the right to life of every human being, from the moment of conception to natural death and involve volunteering, educating, advocating, donating, and praying. With this in mind and the mandatory Culture Of Life activities in the State Program having a focus on prayers, please plan ahead to hold these prayer services. If possible, hold them at a church, promote it through parish communications, and invite others to participate. Aside the potential to involve more people in the prayer, this can help your council grow as more people are aware of what you are doing and what we stand for. In your planning for the fraternal year, please also consider holding an activity associated with the National Day Of Remembrance For Aborted Children on September 9 or the Order Wide Day Of Prayer For The Unborn Child, which is held on or around March 25 to coincide with the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord. When planning the latter, note that the date frequently gets transferred due to Holy Week and the Octave of Easter. You can also participate in the 40 Days For Life campaign. This is a community-based campaign that takes a determined, peaceful approach to showing local communities the consequences of abortion in their own neighborhoods, for their own friends and families. It puts into action a desire to cooperate with God in the carrying out of His plan for the end of abortion. It draws attention to the evil of abortion through the use of a three-point program 1) Prayer and fasting, 2) Constant vigil, 3) Community outreach. Since 2007 there have been 13,305 lives saved as a result of 40 Days For Life. The fall campaign runs from September 27 through November 5. Finally, contact a nearby pregnancy center that does not perform abortions. Ask them what they need. Most will be happy to take cash donations, but I challenge you to do more than just that. If they identify a specific need, hold some sort of drive to collect the needed items. Get the word out to your parishes what these centers need, ask them to help, and have your council members collecting the items. I have promoted diaper drives for pregnancy centers throughout the fraternal year and I do hope that more councils will do this in the fraternal year. If you hold one, please include a count of diapers (not boxes) in the report. If you have any questions about Culture Of Life programs, please contact me at BrettGissel@gmail.com. Brett Gissel State Culture Of Life Director Ohio State Council 6

7 Support Our Seminarians Ed Olenhouse, Director (614) Our seminarians are our future. Almost everyone is aware of the average age of our priests. Many of our priests now have to serve multiple parishes! The need for more priests means we must continue to increase the numbers of our seminarians. How can the knights help and encourage young men to take on this awesome role in our church? For many years we have contributed to the Pennies For Heaven fund. But, the needs of our seminarians have grown much faster than our pennies could accumulatet. So the program has expanded to become Support Our Seminarians. How does this work? Instead of collecting at Knights meetngs by passing the jug for pocket chance, we can extend the collections to the parishioners. Sound easy? It is. Get with your parish priest and say are you busy? Need help? Of course, we know the answers. Our parishioners may not be aware of the need for more priests, or how the seminarian expenses are funded. Each diocese may be different. Certainly the number of men in seminary varies greatly in each diocese. Our seminarians are normally funded by the each diocese through their vocations budget. But this typically only includes the cost of room and board and tuition. But what about the out of classroom expenses? Seminarians are not permitted to work while in school. Consider their needs for car repairs, tires and gas, medical and dental expenses, emergency travel, or even an occasional movie and a meal out. Support Our Seminarians campaigns by the Knights provides a way to help seminarians with these extraordinary but necessary expenses. Perhaps your Pastor will permit a collection after each mass 2, 3 or even 4 times a year. Maybe he will support this effort with a pulpit announcement to explain the needs of our seminarians. Advance notice of these collections in the church bulletin can also help. The Knights can even request permission to collect at other church and parish events. Hold up a sign with a collection basket and simply say support our seminarians. Can you hold a raffle or a couple of pancake breakfasts? This funding is not new. The Columbus Diocesan Vocations Director has received a sizeable check each year from the Knights for several years thanks to these types of collection efforts from the Councils in that Diocese. This year the amount will exceed $63,000. Each Ohio Diocese can achieve similar results for your Bishop and future priests! Please join your Brother Knights throughout Ohio to expand the efforts to Support Our Seminarians! God Bless, Ed Olenhouse 7

8 Knights of Columbus Forms Tom Mathes, District Deputy Director As we start the new year, it can be a bit overwhelming with all the forms that have to be filled out. Please make sure we get them done and turned in by the due date. If you do not understand or know how fill them out, contact your District Deputy and he will help you fill them out. If you use the K of C Success Planner it shows when everything is due. The Planner has a wealth of information in it. Please use it. If you have any questions contact your District Deputy. Tom Mathes, District Deputy Director You re A Click Away Robert Gilliland, State Website Director Welcome newly elected Grand Knights and welcome all Brother Knights to the State Council website! This is our third year with this new website and we are getting better and better! Using your browser application go to This is the official website for the Ohio State Council. This is the new Banner for the Ohio State Council Website. You must see this banner to know that you are on the correct website. This month, Council Financial Secretaries and Council Grand Knights can begin processing their Form 185 (Report of Officers), and Form 365 (Service Program Personnel) forms on the State website. Council Financial Secretaries and Council Grand Knights will have access to a special Council Administrative Forms section on the State website. 8

9 (Continued from page 8) Council Financial Secretaries will see a CFS after their name designating them as Council Financial Secretaries on the State website. Likewise, Council Grand Knights will see a CGK after their name designating them as Council Grand Knights on the State website. Council Financial Secretaries and Council Grand Knights will have equal access to the Form 185 (Report of Officers) and the Form 365 (Service Program Personnel). The Form 185 (Report of Officers) The Council Financial Secretary will see a screen like the one below that will allow selection of any member in the Council roster to fill the elected position. Start the process by clicking on the Officers Election Date and select the date of the Council Election of Officers from the calendar date picker that pops up. Select the appropriate Officer from the dropdown list for each officer position in your Council. As you change the officers, you will see a red notice at the bottom that the data has changed. Not to worry, it is a safeguard for you to let you know that something was changed. If a particular office is unfilled (no one is elected to that position and it is empty), simply leave it at the -- Please Select -- option and the position will remain unfilled when the form is printed. When all of the Council officers have been entered into the State website, click Save Form on the bottom of the page so that the selected information can be stored in the State Website. This is important because the forms are generated from the saved data. Even if you do not have all of the officer positions elected, you can still submit the Form 185 and then re-submit it again later when the positions are filled. (Continued on page 10) 9

10 (Continued from page 9) This way, if a position changes throughout the fraternal year, a new form can be easily re-submitted to Supreme Council with the updated information. If at any time an officer is changed, even if it is clicked on the Print Form and Submit Form to Supreme buttons will be hidden and a message reminding the user to save the information will be displayed (see next image). You need to simply click the "Save Form" button and the buttons will become visible again. You can save the form and come back to it at any time in the future. The website will remember what officer you have selected for a particular office and you can continue filling the form in when you come back to it at a later time. Once the data has been saved, click on Print Form and after a few seconds, a PDF document will download to your computer for you to print off and keep for your records. When the Submit Form to Supreme button is pressed, the same PDF that is generated in the Print Form will be electronically ed to Supreme Council, the State Council, your District Deputy, and to the Council Financial Secretary. The nice thing about this new system is that the Submit Form to Supreme can be repeated, without having to enter the data again. The saved data will be used for the report. This also make is easier to submit a new form partway in the fraternal year is any officer position changes. This system is an important step in building up the Council Officers for the State Directory and keeping it current with up-to-date information about the Council and its officers. The Form 365 (Service Program Personnel) Report Just like the Form 185, the Service Program Personnel report conveys information about who in the Council is in charge of the various service programs like the Council General Program director, the Church, Community, Council, Youth, Membership, and Retention directors. Both the Council Grand Knight and Council Financial Secretary have access to this form. Even if you do not have all of the director positions appointed, you can still submit the Form 365 and then re-submit it again later when the positions are filled. This way, if a position changes throughout the fraternal year, a new form can be easily re-submitted to (Continued on page 11) 10

11 Supreme Council with the updated information. As of this writing, over 60 Councils have completed the Forms 185 and 365 through the State website. We are off to a great start this fraternal year! Please feel free to me at bobgkofc@gmail.com if you have any questions. Thank you. Robert Gilliland State Website Director Voice of the Spirit & Social Media Jim Maslach, Director maslachj@frontier.com Sometimes it seems that the outstanding work we do as Knights for our Church and community is our best-kept secret. That s unfortunate, because these works would attract qualified men to join our Order and increase our ability to do good for others. Public relations can be a very useful communications tool in letting people know what the Knights of Columbus is about and the good works that our members do. If this is your first time looking at the Voice of the Spirit - WELCOME. We started this publication two years ago under Immediate PSD Robert Collins. The Voice is designed to be your monthly communication with the State Council Officers, Membership and Program Directors. Key information on upcoming events, programs and even special incentives will be announced through the Voice. Signing up for the Voice is easy and convenient. First, you can sign up on the state website by clicking over to and selecting the VOS Subscription link and complete the form. Second, you can forward your name, address and council number to osckofc@gmail.com. We will be glad to have you. As for social media, the Ohio State Council is on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Google + at this time. We will be sharing stories from Supreme, State Council and from you, the councils from the Great State of Ohio. So, if you would like to share a story or two with us, simply go to the state website, log-in and go to Publications and Newsletters. Use the VOS Article Submission link. You can send us a small article and a couple of pictures. We will try to include them in future Voice issues and our social media outlets. 11