ARE YOU LOOKING FOR ONE NEW MEMBER EACH MONTH?:
Click here to download the October Membership newsletter from Supreme.
In a recent meeting with his staff, Supreme Knight Carl Anderson stated, “This is an organization that offers something good to every, single Catholic man”. If that is true, and I for one sincerely believe that it is, why then are we not getting that message out? Perhaps it is because we are too complacent, too comfortable with our council as it is. While we say we want new members, we are more comfortable with those men we know. In the end, our complacency allows us to slowly watch our council become smaller and ineffective until eventually we can’t fill all the Officer positions and we feel we have to close the doors. I fail to believe that any member wants that to happen to his council, so how do we change this fate?
It begins by first changing our attitude. We need to reflect on the fact that our council doesn’t belong to us! If it belongs to anyone, it is to those who have gone before us. Our job is to protect the council, to grow it, to make it better than it was and to protect its legacy and history. Many former and past members made our council what it is today, we do not have the right to allow it to fall into disrepair.
Every one of us, when invited to join the Order, was given a gift, the gift of belonging to the finest and largest Catholic Family Fraternity in the World. Our gift is having one of the strongest insurance forces in North America to protect us. Our gift is a large and very strong fraternity, and our gift allows us to be known as the “strong right arm of the Church”.
So we do not own our councils, they are ours to open up and give to others, especially younger members. The Knights of Columbus is YOUR gift to share with others. To borrow a phrase, be “…the gift that keeps on giving” and you will find your councils getting stronger allowing you a real opportunity to contribute to your church.
With October already upon us, let us begin with our first successful church drive of the year and continue to pass our gift to new members each and everyday of the year. If your council focuses on bringing in a minimum of one new member each month, you can’t help but be winners!!
In a recent meeting with his staff, Supreme Knight Carl Anderson stated, “This is an organization that offers something good to every, single Catholic man”. If that is true, and I for one sincerely believe that it is, why then are we not getting that message out? Perhaps it is because we are too complacent, too comfortable with our council as it is. While we say we want new members, we are more comfortable with those men we know. In the end, our complacency allows us to slowly watch our council become smaller and ineffective until eventually we can’t fill all the Officer positions and we feel we have to close the doors. I fail to believe that any member wants that to happen to his council, so how do we change this fate?
It begins by first changing our attitude. We need to reflect on the fact that our council doesn’t belong to us! If it belongs to anyone, it is to those who have gone before us. Our job is to protect the council, to grow it, to make it better than it was and to protect its legacy and history. Many former and past members made our council what it is today, we do not have the right to allow it to fall into disrepair.
Every one of us, when invited to join the Order, was given a gift, the gift of belonging to the finest and largest Catholic Family Fraternity in the World. Our gift is having one of the strongest insurance forces in North America to protect us. Our gift is a large and very strong fraternity, and our gift allows us to be known as the “strong right arm of the Church”.
So we do not own our councils, they are ours to open up and give to others, especially younger members. The Knights of Columbus is YOUR gift to share with others. To borrow a phrase, be “…the gift that keeps on giving” and you will find your councils getting stronger allowing you a real opportunity to contribute to your church.
With October already upon us, let us begin with our first successful church drive of the year and continue to pass our gift to new members each and everyday of the year. If your council focuses on bringing in a minimum of one new member each month, you can’t help but be winners!!
Ron Cacini
AZ
State Membership Director
