State Deputy’s Message for August 24

District Meeting August 22 Saskatoon

Brother Knights

I want to thank the organizers for the invitation to speak to you here tonight. Summer is passing us by, and I thank each and every one of you for staying active these past months. I cannot believe how fast the past year has gone by.

Returning from Orlando and attending the Supreme Convention I once again am very proud to be a Knight. The impact we have on the world not just in our province but yes worldwide is astonishing. We all must remember the importance we have to stay focused and committed to helping our Priests build up our communities and parishes. Yes, the world needs us today. People are searching for faith. People are searching for belonging. We must be there to offer this gift of Knights of Columbus to all our Brothers. As I said before we are investing in our future.  We did not make Circle Of Honour this year we fell short capturing 81% of our quota. I am very proud of the order here in Saskatchewan. We may have not made this quota but I believe we have changed the face of the Knights here in our province, Congratulations to you all for your dedication, hard work and your evangelization. This investment in building our membership will be the cornerstone of our strong future. Staying strong and wearing what we believe on our sleeve is the key to success. Ask a man to join, get him active, ask him what he would like to see happen, make him feel involved, and mentor him, we must look for future leaders every day.

The State Officers and I are here anytime to assist you. We may not always have answers but we will do our utmost best to help you in any way. Our field team will be here soon to do training for all in leadership positions. Bob Barkman, Rob Young, Dan Devers and our RGD will be working together to bring training to each and every one of you.  The men working for Supreme will be making the trek out here to ensure our success. We must show them the dedication we as Knights have to ensure a healthy prosperous province by attending these sessions.  Bob Barkman our State Trainer will be on board to explore our needs and wants answer questions and help us realize solutions to achieve our goals. Our goal here is to achieve Circle of Honour, the goal is to put out challenges for every council to recruit to be part of this achievement, focusing on those councils that have not recruited in the past 5 years. Let’s get our councils active in recruiting, and actively hosting events. Let’s be Knights. Let’s show our communities who we are and why we do this. Let’s be proud of our achievements and share it with others. Our goal this year is 385 new members. To make Circle of Honour we must reach this goal, plus host three Holy Hours and have 21 Star Councils. If we make 50% of our goal in intake by December 31, we can reduce our target by 5%. I challenge you right now, each one of you, to sign a man today, tomorrow and the next day. Who have I shared my Knights experience with? Every morning ask yourself this question and ask a man.

The Knights Amazing Race Saskatchewan is a great way for councils to come together, attract new men and get active. I am asking you to promote this incentive. Get councils to sign up it’s not too late. The first quarter ends September 30, and the Race right now is going strong in Season Two. Please get councils enlisted in this, it’s fun, it has rewards. The winner quarterly will be announced with a State Officer hosting a party for the winning council, this has been well received by the First Season winners.

Safe Environment, I want to remind all here about the importance of being compliant. With so many things happening in the world we all must be protected. The Church is an easy target and we as Knights do not need that kind of publicity. I am very vocal about this, only 25% of the council’s years before having completed this course. I am sorry but that is not good enough. 100% compliance is my goal, with your help in reminding all about the importance is key. Please ensure your council, DDs in your Districts, and State Officers are positive about the importance of this. I know many exclaim that is my personal information, I don’t need that out there……sorry to say as soon as you sign up for a visa card, open an email account, go on Facebook, Twitter or breathe…..your information is out there already. This is an excuse, so we all must be compliant with the protection of our order.

I want to instill in every man who is here tonight the importance of involving your parish priest in the Knights. Priests need our prayers, they need our Fraternity, they need our help. We must help evangelize our parish communities, look after our priests, and include them in our decisions. We can go to them not only for spiritual guidance but also for moral support and advice. All councils will grow spiritually, in manpower and have success with a parish Priest backing them.

In closing, I want to thank you for your leadership in this great order. We could not exist as we do without your commitment dedication and your focus for success.

I want to call up our District Deputies on behalf of Patrick Kelly, thank you for your appointment, for your commitment, and dedication and for saying yes to the call to serve. My congratulations also on your appointment with many successes.

Congratulations men, applause. Thank you for organizing this evening.

ONLY TOGETHER AS A GROUP OF CATHOLIC MEN WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN OUR COMMUNITIES AND PARISHES

Vivat Jesus

Larry Packet State Deputy Saskatchewan

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