Brother Knights,

Work continues on several projects and we should see the fruit of our labors in the coming months.  We must remember the various mottos of the Order and themes from past conventions as we move forward in our works.  They provide excellent guidance and focus for us a group and as individuals.  Here are some of them:

Be Worthy

Charity, Unity, Fraternity, Patriotism

Be Our Brother’s Keeper

Thy Will be Done

So that the world may know new hope.

In Service to One. In Service to All

That last one is the primary public motto of the Order, but do we really know what it means.  It is really quite simple.  It means that we serve The One, Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, by serving all of His people.  Simple, to the point, and very powerful.  So remember as we move through the next couple of months that we serve God by serving others in everything we do, and what we do, is very important.

Vivat Jesus!

Stefan Farrow

Brother Knights,

Last fall Pope Benedict XVI announced that starting in October 2012 the Catholic Church will observe a year of Faith.  This presents an amazing opportunity for the Order to help men, both brothers and other members of our parishes, renew their faith with their families.  The Supreme Knight has identified this opportunity and is asking all councils to plan faith based events before, during, and after the year of Faith.

We will be hosting a men’s Lenten Retreat this Lent in preparation for that year of faith and an Advent retreat in December.  Other programs are being investigated both at the council and district level.

The Year of Faith is an amazing chance to grow the membership of order, but more importantly to run and sponsor faith building programs for all those in our community.  I look forward to working with you all as we move into this exciting year.

Vivat Jesus!

Stefan Farrow

Brother Knights,

I would like to take a moment to thank everyone for their efforts in 2011 to promote our programs and our Order.  2012 will be a new year and a new start for our council.  We will be launching a number of new programs in the first part of 2012 and we will need everyones support.  First will be a Parish Spaghetti dinner.  The second project that I would like to see come to fruition is a Men’s Conference and Retreat during lent for the men in our parish and area.  Full planning for both of these events will start in January.  Both are areas that were identified last June at the Round Table Discussion as lacking in our Parish and Council, and both received numerous Check Marks when we advertised the different ideas at our Sept and Oct meetings.

It is time to start thinking about the elections coming next spring.  Please consider running for one of the executive positions.  Talk to those you think will be a good fit and ask them to serve.  It is the responsibility of each of us to ensure the strong future of our council and our order.  Anyone interested in taking on the position of Grand Knight is welcome to talk with me about how I will assist them with their office on an ongoing basis.

We have no major activities planned between now and the end of January, so take the time to rest, be with your families, and spend some time with Jesus.  In January we will come back together and embark on the next steps of our journey.

Vivat Jesus,

Stefan Farrow

The following is the text of the report I gave at the September 2011 General Council meeting.
Brother Knights,

Here we stand on the threshold of another year.  It is time to look forward and time to move forward.  The executive has worked hard over the last couple of months to brainstorm and develop the ideas that came out of the Council Retreat and Round Table in June.  We have narrowed the list of programs that came out of that day down to a list of the most plausible for the coming year.  You can see each of these suggested programs on the sheets around the room.  Please look them over and sign up for the ones that interest you.  The final decision on a programs viability will be based on the response tonight and at our next meeting.  We have programs that span the entire year and the estimated dates are included on each event so you can plan the ones that will be happening when you are around.  There are programs that only require 2 or 3 people to get together and little to no work, all the way up to a weekend men's retreat and conference, that will require the assistance of most of the council.  These programs are all critical to the vitality of our council.  As we become more active we will attract more members of all ages and our council will grow and grow.

My mother recently forwarded me a story that I would like to share with you.  It is titled “When Your Hut’s On Fire” and goes like this.  The only survivor of a shipwreck was washed up on a small, uninhabited island.  He prayed feverishly for God to rescue him.  Every day he scanned the horizon for help, but none seemed forthcoming.  Exhausted, he eventually managed to build a little hut out of driftwood to protect himself from the elements, and to store his few possessions.  One day, after scavenging for food, he arrived home to find his little hut in flames, with smoke rolling up to the sky.  He felt the worst had happened, and everything was lost.  He was stunned with disbelief, grief, and anger.  He cried out, “God! How could you do this to me?”  Early the next day, he was awakened by the sound of a ship approaching the island!  It had come to rescue him!  “How did you know I was here?” asked the weary man of his rescuers.  “We saw your smoke signal,” they replied.  The moral of this story: Its easy to get discouraged when things are going bad, but we shouldn’t lose heart, because God is at work in our lives even in the midst of pain and suffering.  Remember that the next time your little hut seems to be burning to the ground... it just may be a smoke signal that summons the Grace of God.

Brothers lets work together with the Grace of God and our Lord Jesus Christ to make this a year to remember.

Vivat Jesus!

Stefan Farrow

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