Brother Knights,
The 100th State Convention and Council meeting recently convened in Surrey. The theme of the convention was “Thy Will be Done”. Your Worthy Treasurer Brother Rob Braun and I attended as your delegates. The experience was humbling. Seeing so many amazing Brother Knights with truly amazing ideas and success stories.
A new State Executive was elected. Our current State Secretary, Wil Wilmot, will take over as State Deputy in July. Several other new members were elected and some have moved positions. Full details of the new State Executive will be available on the state website soon.
If one thing became apparent, it is this; While our council is a strong council, we have a long way to go. The program possibilities for our council are endless and we must work hard to bring these programs to our council. The council that was recognized as having the most successful programs had membership growth in excess of 300% of their quota. One program that they ran brought in more than 30 new members. We currently are only at 62% of our quota and 0% of our insurance quota.
To this end, On June 4th I will be hosting the First Annual Council Retreat and Round Table to bring us all together to plan for a future that we can all be a part of, while also providing an opportunity for spiritual growth for our members focused on the principles of our Order; Charity, Unity, and Fraternity. It is my hope that all of you will attend and take part in this important step in the growth of our council.
The second significant item that I brought back from this experience is the need to make long term financial plans that lead to an independence from Government Gaming Funds and other grants. While this has been a focus of mine over the past year, it was made even more clear this past convention. To that end I spoke with a number of Grand Knights, Past Grand Knights, treasurers and other brother Knights from some of the successful councils from around the province to gather information. The feedback that I got was invaluable, and the suggestion that I heard the most, both from councils with and without, was that a separate charitable foundation should be formed to give the council the ability to issue tax receipts, and hold long term funds outside of the government restrictions relating to gaming funds. A charitable foundation will give us the ability to begin to build long term capital and begin to create a financial future that will be stable even in years when very little income can be received. As such, today I am creating a task force committee on the creation of a Charity Foundation. I would ask any member who is interested to please contact me to join the committee. Later during the meeting I will ask you to authorize the committee in conjunction with the executive to examine and if they see fit implement the process of forming this Charitable Foundation, which will be controlled by the Knights of this Council.
With less than two months left in our fraternal year, I would like to take a few moments to reflect on the past year. Our council had a bit of a rough start. First we had difficulty filling all of our officer positions. Then we saw first a delay in receipt of our gaming, funds, but finally a significant cut in the amount of said funds. However, amidst all of that we had a very successful BBQ for the Father Pandosy Mission anniversary and we continued most programs. I would like to thank all my Brother Knights for your patience with me as I learnt and continue to learn your names, and a little bit about you. The position of Grand Knight is not an easy one, and not having been involved with this council for very long or knowing many of you very well presented a huge challenge to me. It was only with your help and patience that I have been able to get the job done. However, I feel that much of my and the executives time was spent on procedural things and on solidifying our financial position. Not enough time was spent on programs in our Church and our community. We had only one council event, the annual Christmas party. Now that a strong and efficient base has been re-established in our council we can move forward next year and build our programs and in turn our membership!
At the State Convention much time was spent contemplating the theme and I wish that I could adequately reproduce everything that was said there, but unfortunately, I can only remember so much. Our order was founded on the principal of Charity. Charity is Love. God’s will is that we Love our Neighbor and support those in need. The convention theme could easily be a motto for our order. Thy Will be Done. With our convention falling on Divine Mercy Sunday, and the Beatification of Blessed Pope John Paul II much time was also spent reflecting on the life of the late Holy Father. One phrase that was heard many times, was perhaps the phrase that our Beloved Pope said more than any other during his Papacy. These words were first presented to us at the Holy Fathers Inaugural Homily in 1978. They were: “Be Not Afraid. Open wide the doors of Christ”.
Brothers, we must heed these words and open the doors. We must not be afraid to stand up publicly for what we believe and stand for. We are an organization that has its roots in public exercise of our ministry and we need to move forward to that end. Consider these words as you elect your 2011/2012 executive tonight and as we complete the planning for the next fraternal year. Lets make this coming year the most successful that our council has seen in many years. Together we can “Be Not Afraid”, and we can “Open wide the Doors of Christ!”
Vivat Jesus,
Stefan Farrow
The 100th State Convention and Council meeting recently convened in Surrey. The theme of the convention was “Thy Will be Done”. Your Worthy Treasurer Brother Rob Braun and I attended as your delegates. The experience was humbling. Seeing so many amazing Brother Knights with truly amazing ideas and success stories.
A new State Executive was elected. Our current State Secretary, Wil Wilmot, will take over as State Deputy in July. Several other new members were elected and some have moved positions. Full details of the new State Executive will be available on the state website soon.
If one thing became apparent, it is this; While our council is a strong council, we have a long way to go. The program possibilities for our council are endless and we must work hard to bring these programs to our council. The council that was recognized as having the most successful programs had membership growth in excess of 300% of their quota. One program that they ran brought in more than 30 new members. We currently are only at 62% of our quota and 0% of our insurance quota.
To this end, On June 4th I will be hosting the First Annual Council Retreat and Round Table to bring us all together to plan for a future that we can all be a part of, while also providing an opportunity for spiritual growth for our members focused on the principles of our Order; Charity, Unity, and Fraternity. It is my hope that all of you will attend and take part in this important step in the growth of our council.
The second significant item that I brought back from this experience is the need to make long term financial plans that lead to an independence from Government Gaming Funds and other grants. While this has been a focus of mine over the past year, it was made even more clear this past convention. To that end I spoke with a number of Grand Knights, Past Grand Knights, treasurers and other brother Knights from some of the successful councils from around the province to gather information. The feedback that I got was invaluable, and the suggestion that I heard the most, both from councils with and without, was that a separate charitable foundation should be formed to give the council the ability to issue tax receipts, and hold long term funds outside of the government restrictions relating to gaming funds. A charitable foundation will give us the ability to begin to build long term capital and begin to create a financial future that will be stable even in years when very little income can be received. As such, today I am creating a task force committee on the creation of a Charity Foundation. I would ask any member who is interested to please contact me to join the committee. Later during the meeting I will ask you to authorize the committee in conjunction with the executive to examine and if they see fit implement the process of forming this Charitable Foundation, which will be controlled by the Knights of this Council.
With less than two months left in our fraternal year, I would like to take a few moments to reflect on the past year. Our council had a bit of a rough start. First we had difficulty filling all of our officer positions. Then we saw first a delay in receipt of our gaming, funds, but finally a significant cut in the amount of said funds. However, amidst all of that we had a very successful BBQ for the Father Pandosy Mission anniversary and we continued most programs. I would like to thank all my Brother Knights for your patience with me as I learnt and continue to learn your names, and a little bit about you. The position of Grand Knight is not an easy one, and not having been involved with this council for very long or knowing many of you very well presented a huge challenge to me. It was only with your help and patience that I have been able to get the job done. However, I feel that much of my and the executives time was spent on procedural things and on solidifying our financial position. Not enough time was spent on programs in our Church and our community. We had only one council event, the annual Christmas party. Now that a strong and efficient base has been re-established in our council we can move forward next year and build our programs and in turn our membership!
At the State Convention much time was spent contemplating the theme and I wish that I could adequately reproduce everything that was said there, but unfortunately, I can only remember so much. Our order was founded on the principal of Charity. Charity is Love. God’s will is that we Love our Neighbor and support those in need. The convention theme could easily be a motto for our order. Thy Will be Done. With our convention falling on Divine Mercy Sunday, and the Beatification of Blessed Pope John Paul II much time was also spent reflecting on the life of the late Holy Father. One phrase that was heard many times, was perhaps the phrase that our Beloved Pope said more than any other during his Papacy. These words were first presented to us at the Holy Fathers Inaugural Homily in 1978. They were: “Be Not Afraid. Open wide the doors of Christ”.
Brothers, we must heed these words and open the doors. We must not be afraid to stand up publicly for what we believe and stand for. We are an organization that has its roots in public exercise of our ministry and we need to move forward to that end. Consider these words as you elect your 2011/2012 executive tonight and as we complete the planning for the next fraternal year. Lets make this coming year the most successful that our council has seen in many years. Together we can “Be Not Afraid”, and we can “Open wide the Doors of Christ!”
Vivat Jesus,
Stefan Farrow
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