About the Knights of Columbus
The Knights of Columbus were founded in the midst of a society hostile to the Catholicism, including its values of charity and service. Father Michael J. McGivney, a parish priest from New Haven, CT conceived of a way to rescue the men of his parish from the miasma of New England in 1881. He gathered a few of these men in the basement of St. Mary’s church in order to discuss his plan for a fraternal society, which would eventually become the world’s largest Catholic family fraternal service organization.
Since those early days in the organization, the Knights have been inspired by the principles of charity, unity, fraternity, and patriotism. The Order grew as a group of Catholic laymen committed to the values of an idealized Christopher Columbus, discoverer of America who brought Christianity to the New World. This commitment manifested itself in charitable works, donations, evangelization programs, as well as the Order’s Insurance program. Created by Fr. McGivney for the purpose of protecting the widows and orphans of deceased Brother Knights, the program has consistently received high rankings from national organizations such as A.M. Best and Standard & Poor’s. The Order quickly flourished throughout the country. Today, the Knights of Columbus continue to offer an escape from an increasingly secular society, where a commitment to faith-inspired service is considered strange. The organization has been called, “the strong right arm of the Church,” which is just one example of praise from various Church and world leaders. Collectively, the Knights have contributed over $175.1 million and 73.5 million hours of service over the past year alone. Since Supreme Knight Carl Anderson took up the leadership of the Order in 2000, the Knights of Columbus has donated more than 653 million hours of service and $1.4 billion to charity. Membership in the Knights of Columbus is open to practicing Catholic men in union with the Holy See, who are at least 18 years old.
A practicing Catholic is one who lives up to the Commandments of God and the precepts of the Church. Applications are available from any Officer of the Knights or you can start the process online: CLICK THIS LINK TO SIGN UP ONLINE: www.kofc.org/en/join/sign-me-up.html
If you would like to take the Exemplification (Degree) Ceremony now, online,
through the Supreme Council, you can register through this website: www.kofc.org/en/for-members/resources/ceremonials.html?1tab=1tab1
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On November 4, 2020, State Treasurer Michael Lynch presented GK Matthew Hoffman with
the Contest of Champions Award for 2019-2020, an award only given to two councils in each state each year. It is awarded based on net membership growth for the council in the previous year. In 2019-2020, we brought in 47 new brother knights into our growing council! It was the first time our Council has ever been awarded this rare honor! |