February 2019 Voice of the Spirit

MONTHLY NEWSLETTER OF THE OHIO STATE COUNCIL KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS

State Deputy News and Notes

bias against the Catholic faith, it is much more than that – is an emerging bias against all people of faith; a bias against the very principals of religious freedom that Kevin Miller is every American’s birthright as As you may have seen recently in the guaranteed to us at the founding of press, the challenges we face in the our nation. From the time of the first settlers arriving at our shores, “public square,” both as Catholics religious freedom has been a driving and as Knights, have intensified as never before. Direct questions have force in the growth and development of our great land – and it is this very been raised by some of our elected freedom that has allowed our officials whether those engaged in public service can live by the tenants Church, and the Knights of of their Catholic faith and still serve, Columbus, to become a major force for good in our country. and whether the Knights of Columbus itself is an organization with “extreme” views, making those We should wear as a badge of honor who are members inherently illegible these forms of criticism; they are clear proof that the Knights of for service.

Columbus is standing as a true While many cite this as an example defender of our faith, an organization

FEBRUARY 2019

who believes in and constantly proves its commitment to charity and helping those in need. In fact, these occurrences should be a rallying point for all Knights … we should take greater pride in our membership and demonstrate that pride in the way we do best … though service.

It is clear proof that we need to “stay the course;” to continue to be a strong voice in support of our Church, our faith, and the ideals that, as loyal and faithful Knights, we all represent. We must continue to stand firmly and united with all people of faith, defending our Catholic principles and our right, based on these principals, to go forth and spread the Good News and the

CHARITY | UNITY | FRATERNITY | PATRIOTISM

(Continued on page 2)

(Continued from page 1) Joy of the Gospel. As we have done throughout our history, we need to make ourselves known on the public square though our good works and acts of charity. We need to find more interested and engaged Catholic men to assist us in this important task and in carrying on our legacy. And lastly, we need to be more mindful in spreading the word of our efforts – not only among our Catholic

community, but the community as a whole.

fraternity, to demonstrate our true patriotism! As always, thank you for your hard work and service – I remain, in His Honor,

I know that each of you, as you have heard these comments, have been concerned and maybe frustrated. But Vivat Jesus! each of us has at our disposal the tools to dispel these matters – our Kevin Miller faith, our willingness to serve, and State Deputy our confidence in our Brother Knights. Continue to do the good work, my Brothers! Continue to serve for charity, in unity, with

2018-2019 Marian Prayer Program A Higher Purpose Spread devotion to Our Lady and pray for our brothers and sisters of faith who are at risk around the world through the Marian Prayer Program. As the new Marian image is brought on pilgrimage through the jurisdiction, councils will host the Our Lady Help of Persecuted Christians icon for a prayer service at their parish.

Overview The 2018-2019 Marian Prayer Program presents the 18th Marian image sponsored by the Knights of Columbus, this time of Our Lady Help of Persecuted Christians. Each Knights of Columbus jurisdiction receives several Marian images, which serve as the centerpieces for prayer services conducted in churches and council meeting places throughout the Order for the duration of the initiative. Since its inception in 1979, the Knights of Columbus’ Marian Prayer Program has held more than 166,900 local council and parish prayer services with some 20 million participants. This year, the prayer service is intended to raise awareness of the plight of Christians persecuted for their faith and to stand in prayerful solidarity with them.

Visit: https://www.kofc.org/en/programs/faith/marian-iconprayer.html#/ for more information.

District Deputies; Your should be receiving the icons in September for distribution per the table.

Measure-Up 2019

If your council is unable to “Shake your Cans” outside of your traditional Mike Felerski, State Warden location, consider other options like hosting a steak fry, or sell preordered It’s never too soon to start preparing! sub sandwiches during the Final Four. Also look to see if an area I’m sure that most councils have restaurant such as Applebees, Bob finalized their schedules for the 2018- Evans, or BW3 offers a fundraising 19 fraternal year. Although it might opportunity. You could also try seem like a long time out, the 2019 placing donation containers in local Measure-Up Campaign will be here businesses. Look for those high before you know it! traffic areas and businesses. And don’t forget to publicize the fact that

they are helping or have helped you in your efforts to support our premier charitable program.

Put together your Measure-Up plan of action. Collecting for Measure-Up and using those funds to support our community’s special population truly is putting our Faith in Action!

Membership

Frank Iannaggi, State Membership Director Five Months, in the last quarter of the biennium My dear brothers in the faith, as we continue to plan for the next 5 months and the end of this second fraternal year let’s get ready to implement the plan for March Blitz. Let’s think of this as the fourth quarter and first and goal seeking the winning touchdown. It may be more difficult to implement during the Lenten Season with everyone preparing for the Easter season, but let’s think outside the box. You have the plan and the tools to implement and make your intake goals, and you have the resource of your District Deputy to assist you. Remember that goal is one member away, all that’s needed is that you ask him to join. Now easier than ever, because you can sign him up on your smartphone by pulling up your council’s custom Prospecting Landing Page.

The future Knight can simply type in his name and email address to learn about upcoming council events he and his family may want to attend. He'll get information about the Knights, even if he's not ready to commit at that moment. He enters his email address — and right away, he gets a message thanking him for his interest and giving him the council’s contact information.

How can my council get a custom Prospecting Landing Page?

1. Visit info.kofc.org/pagerequest.

2. Provide your council’s basic information. Using these details, the Supreme Council’s Online Membership team will set up a landing page specifically for your council.

3. Try out the page. You can work with supreme team to customize it so the message is right for your council.

Your council’s custom Prospecting Landing Page extends the conversation with potential members beyond a few minutes.

Now, you can keep them in the loop about council events and reasons to join. Meanwhile, these men will also receive weekly emails about the Knights from the marketing team at the Home Office.

Visit info.kofc.org/pagerequest for details.

There are many financial incentives still available to the Grands Knights and the District Deputies and you don’t have to repeat previous intake. Incentives can be found in the membership awards section of your program binder and our state web site.

There are also individual incentives from Supreme for proposers of new members, see Supreme website.

Membership is the life line that sustains the Order and your council, you must intentionally pursue it as feverishly as you pursue the Eucharist which sustains your soul. Maintain this lifeline, by managing your council membership, by contacting your brother knights often and not only during the billing cycle, ask them to participate in your March church drives. Put your membership to work at recruiting members and not suspending members. Let new recruits know that they are needed to promote the great works of the council and that their membership in your council is vital to its continued evangelization and a strong presence in your community. Let them know that they are the fibers in the fabric of the Order. Encourage them to share the gift of Father McGivney and invite a new member to be a vital part of our great work. By sharing they can also gain personal satisfaction in knowing that they are part of the new evangelization of the Church.

Our membership growth as not been as robust as in previous years at this time in the fraternal year, however, with your efforts with scheduling admission degrees prior to every business meeting, we can meet your Council quotas as well as District and State quotas. Our success must be intentionally planned and executed only then can we be successful as brothers in Christ.

Below are the current Statewide statistics by diocese. We can, with your help achieve all the goals set for this fraternal year, simply because, all that we do, we do IN HIS HONOR

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eMembership

Gary Anderson, State eMembership Director In my first few months since taking over as the State Online Membership Coordinator, I have been doing my level best to work through the issues plaguing the effective execution of the program here in Ohio. Your patience is much appreciated as we do our best to smooth things out.

disconnect once new online members have been assigned. It is essential that grand knights or financial secretaries check the Prospects tab regularly, hopefully on a weekly or bi-weekly basis at a minimum, to see if any new Assigned members have shown up. Yes, many of the 70 Assigned members we currently are holding go way back, as early as the A few items of great importance stand out first quarter of 2018, but that issue should that I would like to briefly address here: diminish over time. Once a new Assigned 1) The Online Process, 2) Prospecting member appears on the Prospect tab, it is Landing Pages, and 3) Seminarian imperative that a council representative Program contact him to discuss joining the The Online Process: When a gentleman council. joins the Order online, he becomes an Upon taking his First Degree, the grand Associate member with all the rights and knight or financial secretary must go back privileges of knighthood with the to the Prospects tab on Membership exception of voting. He then shows up as Management, insert the date the First an Unassigned member on Officers Degree was taken, then formally transfer Online/Member Management, only the gentleman to the council. Or, a Form visible to a handful of state officers and 100 can be sent in. Do one or the other, membership directors. I am also notified. but not both!

Within a few days, the new member receives a welcome email from me, But this is not happening in a great many telling them that they should be contacted cases, brothers. Assigned members are by a local council shortly to discuss just sitting in limbo, not being contacted formally joining the council. In cases and processed by councils. These are new where the new member has identified the members delivered on a silver platter council in which he is interested, I state guys, so I urgently request that your that a representative of that council will council develop the habit of checking the be in touch soon.

Prospects tab regularly and reaching out to these new members.

If the new member does identify a council, I will immediately assign him to Prospecting Landing Pages: that council, at which time his Membership recruiting has now moved membership will show up on the into the 21st century! Call it a digital council’s page on Member Management, prospect card, to be used at council under the Prospects tab. When a council events such as open houses, fish fries, is not identified, but the council is an pancake breakfasts, etc. Your council can obvious choice-such as when there is a have a custom URL created by Supreme council at his parish-I will also go ahead in just a few days. Council members can and assign him to that council. When open up the PLP on any smart device there is no obvious choice, or there are such as a phone, tablet, laptop, etc., and multiple possibilities, I will contact the use it to sign up gentlemen who are respective District Deputy and/or interested in learning about the Order, but Diocesan District Deputy Coordinator for maybe not ready to join. The form asks his advice on the best fit for the new only their name and email address. Once member. I will then assign him to that the information is submitted, the council. gentleman will receive an automated, custom email from the council that Currently, we have a significant

includes a link to join online if he so chooses. He will continue to receive weekly emails, keeping him updated on what is happening with the council and Order. This drip e-mail campaign is an invaluable tool for nurturing and cultivating new members over time. The emails are hand crafted to give the prospective member more information about who the Knights are and what we do. Finally, it allows the online membership team to track the prospective members to better understand the content prospective members are interested in and clicking on.

The Prospecting Landing Pages are proven, effective, and very easy to use.

The council will periodically receive a copy of all contacts enrolled via its custom PLP. For more information on the Prospecting Landing Pages and how to order one for your council, see A New Tool for Recruitment in the Digital Age on Page 4 of Knightline by CLICKING HERE. Seminarian Program: Membership in the Order is free for all seminarians who join online by using the promo code SEM18. After joining online, they have the opportunity to join a council.

Seminarians who do join online using the promo code may maintain their free membership for as long as they remain in seminary, by simply attesting to their continued enrollment at the time of their membership renewal. The process takes place entirely online. If a seminarian is ordained to the priesthood, he is granted honorary life membership and continues to be exempt from dues. Important note: this program is for online memberships only.

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General Programs

Rod Anderson, State General Program Director The Ohio In His Honor General Program TOP 10 COUNCILS IN STATE AS OF 10 JANUARY 2019 Council Number

Dis

Council Name

11216 4603 14995 947 4733 4801 14502 11550 5128 15942

37 43 8 27 72 28 60 9 14 27

St Peter Perpetual Help Monsignor Lawrence K Breslin Painesville Holy Martyrs Don Bosco St. John Xxiii St Joseph Of The Three Rivers St Malachy St Mary Of Chardon

Location

Diocese

Div

OVERALL TOTAL

Columbus Grove City Kettering Painesville Canton Mentor Perrysburg North Bend Morrow Chardon

COLB COLB CINN CLEV YOUN CLEV TOLE CINN CINN CLEV

2 1 2 2 2 3 1 2 2 4

460 440 420 400 400 400 400 380 360 360

As of the end of the November/December Reporting period on January 10m 2019, the above table shows the standings of the top 10 Councils in the state based on points awarded by the State Program Directors. As you know, there is a total possible of 700 points in the State General Program this year, 20 points for each of up to 5 Activities in each of the 7 State Programs, for a total of 100 points in each.

Here are some other interesting numbers. There have been 1402 approved Activity Reports by 174 Councils which have reported at least one Activity for a total of 28,040 points in the State General Program. These Councils and their members have indeed been very busy doing a great job of living out the principles of the Order, Charity, Unity and Fraternity!

There are, though, a couple of concerning statistics as of this report, which hopefully will be wonderfully improved upon by the end of the State General Program on April 15. There have only been 97 Culture of Life Activity Reports approved so far. I am encouraged, though, that the many March for Life and other Pro Life events led by or at least participated in by Knights in Ohio during January will result in a significant increase in Culture of Life Activity Reports for the January/February period. More concerning though, is that just a mere 65 Councils submitted at least one Membership Activity Report up through December! That means that only approximately 16% of the Councils in Ohio conducted and reported a Membership Activity in the six months of July, 2018 through December, 2019! Just think how much more the Councils in Ohio could accomplish if the number of Councils conducting and reporting at least one Membership Activity doubled to just 130, or 32%! And keep in mind that if all approximately 400 active Councils in Ohio reported just ONE activity, requiring the recruitment of at least 1 new member, that would be a minimum of 400 new members statewide! Think how many more hands that means (800 at least!) to help at Fish Frys, to help with fundraisers like Charity Raffle Tickets and Football Frenzy Tickets, to help with regular Rosary sessions, etc.

I am extremely grateful to the Councils who have embraced the State General Program and continue to work diligently to Report their Activities to the State Council. Keep up the good work! And always remember that programs and service are what attract new members and families to your Council and the Order, so “If you build it, they will come!�

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Church Mike Nam

.The Church program consists of two mandatory programs. They are: 1-Chaplain of the Year or Religious of the

Year, 2-SOS with final turn-in post marked not later than April 15. Then the Council can submit 3 choices. These 3 choices are any program that helps the priest or the Church community.

Please keep in mind that for the reporting of activities, they all need to be in the April 15, 2018. Don’t forget to send me the report for the Chaplin or Religious of the year. If you just send the Activity Number 1 report to me.

You will receive the 20 points. However, that person will not be included in the contest for the person of the Year.

We are at the end of the first six months of the fraternal year. I have seen a lot of great programs throughout the great State Of Ohio. Many councils are doing great things helping their Priest and Church community. The SOS program is gaining speed, as many councils have submitted reports that show several dollars going to help our seminarians. During this Holiday season please remember to help the seminarians with prays as well as financial help. What better way to show that the Knights care then to help young men with expenses. Please make sure that you take the time to report of the great work that your council does to help those in need.

Hope all had a great Christmas and I wish everyone a happy and healthy New Year. Please take time to report your Church Activities to me. It doesn’t take long.

Community Robert Walsh

.With just over two and a half months left in this program year, you still have time to complete the Community Program. Please review that you have all three Council Choice programs and the two mandatory ones.

The two mandatory requirements are Volunteer or Bluecoat of Year. Your Council has a number of people that Volunteer their time to some great causes, or a member of the Police or Fire Department in your Community. Why not honor them for the work by nominating in the appropriate category.

Save Our Seminarians Ed Olenhouse

“OUR SEMINARIANS AND YOU” Aside from your immediate family, few times in life do we have the opportunity to say, ‘I helped mold an individual’.

“SUPPORT OUR SEMINARIANS” is the way. As KNIGHTS, this is a known opportunity and each of us are aware of it. ARE YOU? If you are not, call me? 614-7774244? Email at: eehouse@yahoo.com God bless each of you and our Seminarians.

Perhaps we don’t teach a seminarian, we should inspire, and pray for them. DO YOU? In addition, we should help them with their expenses outside of the classroom. DO YOU?

Cash Bonanza Charity ticket sales. To report this activity you need to sell 1.5 tickets per member with the first turn in.

If you have an activity that was outstanding for your Council please write it up and send it to me by mail 3668 W. 133rd St. Cleveland oh. 44111 or email rewalsh731@aol.com. Thank you for all the hard work you do for “In His Honor”.

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Family

Tom Buehner Family of the Year Nominations The deadline for Family of the Year nominations will be here before you know it! Please start planning to submit formal nominations for Family of the Year to me by April 1, 2019. This is a chance to recognize, at the State level, a Family that goes above and beyond and truly stands out within your council and/or parish.

I will continue to stress the importance of submitting a nomination that provides enough information to make your Family of the Year stand out from all the others that get submitted to me. Please take the time to make the nomination special and consider submitting more information than just the one-page

Council Tim Mangan

Brother Knights, as we get closer and closer to April here are a few reminders.

Knight of the Year is due to me by April 1st. Knight of the Year is a mandatory requirement to max out your council program activities. Remember, the more in the write up and the more supporting documentation there is, the better the chance of your nominee getting recognize at the state convention. So, if you have not already started working on your Knight of the Year, you need to do so now!

The same thing with Lady of the Year.

Lady of the Year is also due to me by April 1st. If you need credit for submitting your Lady of the Year, then you can turn in your Lady of the Year as a council choice activity. If you already have all three of your council choice activities turned in and received credit for them, then you just need to nominate a lady as your Lady of the Year. Just like Knight of the Year, the more in the write up and the more supporting documentation there is, the better chance

form in the General Program Manual.

This is a mandatory activity for the State Program, and I want you to be able to max out the State Program!

Family program, Good Friday Family Promotion. This aims to educate families and create more involvement around Good Friday services through a promotional campaign. As Knights of Columbus, Pray as a Family During Lent we have an opportunity to set a great Lent is nearly here! Have you example by attending Good Friday thought about how you and your services with our families and by council will make the most of this working with our pastors to season to help continue to build the encourage parishioner involvement at domestic church? Family Prayer these liturgies. Visit the following Night is a way to encourage prayer within the home. Supreme has great web site for more information: https://www.kofc.org/en/programs/ information on their web site, complete with Action Steps, Guides, family/good-friday-familyand Resources to put on this program promotion.html Please remember to take the time to within your councils and parishes.

This is a great way to come together submit your activities on the State website and reach out to me with any in prayer to strengthen the bonds questions! within our parishes and build faithfilled families! Check out http:// www.kofc.org/prayernight for all of the details on the program!

Good Friday Family Promotion Finally, please consider the Supreme your Lady of the Year will get recognize at the state convention. I encourage you to submit Lady of the Year regardless if you need the council choice credit or not!

Every council has a lady that is worth being nominated!

Also, a copy of your SP-7, Columbian Award Application is due to me by April 15th! This is your second mandatory activity to max out your council program activities. Remember, this is a new version of the form that has never been submitted before! If you haven’t already, start working on this new form now!

That way when April rolls around, you’ll be ready to submit a copy of it to me by, April15th!

better chance that council program activity will earn you an award at the state convention! So, I also encourage you to submit your best council program choice activity to me by April 15th!

As you can tell from this article, you have a lot of write ups and a form to fill out by April! Yes, it’s a little bit of work.

A little bit time consuming, but hard work pays off! The councils who get this recognition at the state convention are the councils who put in the work! It’s a great feeling to know your hard work paid off when you get that best activity of the year award or even a nominee of the year at the diocese level! So yes, it’s a little bit of work but totally worth it!

Now, I have been receiving a lot of good reports on the state website! Some of these reports include photos! Even though I want you to continue doing a great job with your online submission reports, start thinking about which activity you want to submit as your best council choice activity for this fraternal year! Just like a nominee of the year, the more information you put in your write up and the more supporting documentation that comes with it, the

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Youth

Stewart Vetter

accomplishments in a folder or binder.

The better the write up, the better the chances.

It’s February. The month when we celebrate love. It’s time to show some love to a local youth by beginning to collect information and recommendation letter. The form in the program book should be a guideline or better yet an outline. Feel free to put the recommendation letters, pictures, and a detailed write up about your youth’s

On February 2, four teams met up at Seton Parish in Pickerington to determine the winner of the State Dodgeball Tournament. Play was strategic and sometimes brutal but always fun. Congratulations to Miraculous Medal #4624 for winning the tournament. They also played the counselors. Thank you to Seton Parish

#4891 for hosting another great tournament.

Lent is around the corner. Our Lenten retreat is in Logan on March 16. More information will be coming out soon.

The following weekend, March 23, is the state basketball tournament in Danville.

It’s not too early to plan for Squires Convention at Ashland University on June 7-9. In the near future, you’ll receive the first call to Squires Convention.

Age 9 9

Sex Male Female

Name Mitchell Valentine Isabelle Mahl

Council # 1801 4424

Diocese Cincinnati Cincinnati

10 10

Male Female

Caden Lewis Alexis Martens

5128 14502

Cincinnati Toledo

11 11 12

Male Female Male

Charlie McElhewey Julie Gahn A.J. Day

14502 14502 14502

Toledo Toledo Toledo

12 13

Female Male

Lucy Kuh Michael Gallivan

14502 500

Toledo Cincinnati

13 14 14

Female Male Female

Hannah Theis Joseph Dzierwa Anna Petre

14502 14502 14504

Toledo Toledo Cincinnati

Lancaster Council 1016 Knights of Columbus Helping the Community Knights of Columbus Council 1016 in Lancaster has presented a check for $500.00 to Jerry Walker of St Vincent De Paul to feed the needy families in Lancaster this Christmas Season.

The council donates our hall for two days, December 13 and 14th to box all the items to be delivered to the families on December 15th. This is a yearly program for the Knights, just another way we help the community we live in.

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