Suggestions for Councils, Assemblies and Circles

Honor Parish Priests During Our Celebration

Since the founding of our Order 125 years ago by a parish priest, Father Michael J. McGivney, the Knights of Columbus has maintained a strong and close relationship to priests. To acknowledge and reinforce this special bond between the Knights of Columbus and our priests, all councils are urged to recognize their parish priests in conjunction with our 125th anniversary celebrations. Holding an appreciation event for parish priests is a wonderful way to show the gratitude that the Knights of Columbus has for the men who dedicate their lives to guiding us in the faith. Along with honoring priests and showing that the Knights of Columbus stands “In Solidarity With Our Priests,” such an event can also serve to familiarize nonmembers with the Order and your council. Here are some steps to follow when organizing this event:

• Establish a 125th anniversary committee. This committee’s first charge should be to select a date, time and place for the priest appreciation event.

• Organize a program for the event that will allow attending priests to relax and see that the members of the Order appreciate them and are ready to serve them.

• Assign Knights and other volunteers to greet all priests attending the event and to direct them to their seats. These volunteers should also act as personal hosts during the event.

• Provide guests with pre-dinner refreshments once they are situated. If dinner is to be served, decide whether it will be a sit-down meal or a buffet, and whether it will be cooked by volunteers or catered, and whether Knights will act as servers. Pay special consideration to having Knights act as servers during the meal as a way to show the Order’s willingness to serve our priests. Make arrangements for volunteers to handle these duties.

• Decide upon any appropriate entertainment well in advance of the event and make sure the facility in which it will be held is suitable. Also, decorate the hall/facility for the event. You may also want to consider providing a simple printed program of the evening’s activities to the guests either in advance or upon their arrival.

• Consider presenting each priest with an “In Solidarity With Our Priests” certificate (#4362). This attractive certificate includes spaces for the grand knight’s signature as well as the recipient’s name. Knights of Columbus certificate folders (#4100) are available for $1.80 each and black frames (#1973) are available for $2.25 each.
  

Other Events for Your Council, Assembly or Circle

Along with honoring our parish priests during this anniversary celebration, work with your council officers to plan and promote events to observe this watershed anniversary and let people know about the great accomplishments of the

Knights of Columbus and your council. Here are some suggested activities for your council to undertake between now and March 29, 2008:

• Sponsor a Mass in celebration of our Order’s 125th anniversary. Use this sample speech  as a guide for remarks at this and other anniversary events.

• Hold a Knights of Columbus 125th Anniversary banquet for your parish or the entire community. Consider making this a fancy dress affair with costumes from the 1880s. Be sure to have information on the Order available.

• Show The Life and Legacy of Father McGivney to members, families and guests at events — possibly at your council home, in your parish, or in the local library. This production chronicles the life of this holy and hardworking priest through his boyhood and priesthood to his death in 1890 at the age of 38. Although his life was short, his impact was enormous. This production is available free except for a $3 shipping and handling charge from the Department of Fraternal Services.

• Conduct a special recruitment campaign in your council to bring in new members in recognition of our Order’s 125th anniversary. Also present all new members with the First Degree new member certificate (#268 — available for 25 cents each). Use this link to view suggestions on recruitment strategies.

• Prepare a council history display featuring old photos and written records. Include your council’s charter, any awards it has received, photos of founding members and past grand knights, scrapbooks of projects conducted, and any other available materials. Invite your local or parish newspaper to review this display for a possible story on the council. Ask the appropriate people if the display can be featured in your parish, public library or at the local historical society.  For displays, the Supreme Council Supply Department offers an 8.5 by 11 inch reproduction of original portraits of the Order’s incorporators (#4346).

• Publish and distribute a council history to all council members as well as members of your parish. Ask your oldest council member for his recollections of what the council was like when he joined and how it has evolved. Include a time line with this history to put council events into a historical context. Send a copy to your local newspapers.

• Ask your local governments to issue a proclamation celebrating the Knights of Columbus 125th Anniversary. Use the sample proclamation  in this packet as a guide for your own.

• Recognize your council’s founders — your charter members — by presenting them with Charter Member Certificates (#1456, English; #1456F, French; #1456S, Spanish). These vertical certificates are 8.5 by 11 inches and are available from the Supreme Council Supply Department for 25 cents each. Certificate folders (#4101, $1.80 each) and frames (#1973, $2.25 each) can also be purchased from the Supply Department.

• Hold an awards banquet to honor council members who have made outstanding contributions to your service activities, have perfect attendance at meetings, have recruited the most members, are Knight of the Month or Family of the Month winners, or are Knights or family members who have served the council in some special way. Also consider recognizing the winners of your council’s Knights of Columbus Substance Abuse Awareness Poster Contest or the Knights of Columbus Essay Contest at your event.

• Sponsor a memorial Mass for the Order’s founder and incorporators and the charter members of your council.

• Gather together in prayer as a council. Consider opening the program to the entire Catholic community by inviting nonmembers and their families to participate.  At your service distribute Father McGivney prayer cards (#2617), available in English, French or Spanish from the Supreme Council Supply Department at no cost, during all events. Also distribute copies of The Life and Legacy of Father McGivney booklet (#2045 — available in limited quantities of 50 copies per order).

• Present copies of Parish Priest — Father Michael McGivney and American Catholicism to your parish priests, a local library, Catholic schools, or to outstanding members of your council. See below for more information on odering this inspirational book.

Spread the Word About Your Events

Always be sure to publicize your events by sending a press release to local media (including newspapers, radio, and cable television). Invite the press to your events or, if they can’t attend, offer to provide them with photographs and a written report. 

Use this sample press release  as a guide when preparing notices of your own events.  When preparing press releases or invitations for the press, make sure they are double-spaced, on council letterhead (or prepared electronically as an attachment for an e-mail). Fill in the necessary information, by giving the who,what, when and where of your council’s scheduled event(s). Make sure to include the name, telephone number and e-mailaddress of a contact person.

Also, be sure to give the media plenty of notice on upcoming events (a minimum of one week in advance). Utilize the special Knights of Columbus 125th Anniversary logo on all of your press releases and other anniversary-related materials.

Parish Priest

Parish Priest: Father Michael McGivney and American Catholicismis the definitive biography of our founder, a post-Civil War-era priest at St. Mary's Church in New Haven, Conn., whose cause for sainthood is under consideration by the Vatican.

During your council's celebration of the Order's 125th anniversary, consider reading excerpts from this book at your events, and presenting copies of the publication to your parish priests, a library, Catholic schools, or to outstanding members of your council.

Use this link to order copies of Parish Priest