The Arch
Newsletter of The Archdiocese of Cincinnati Knights of Columbus – July 2021
Celina - Coldwater - St. Henry - Fort Recovery - Sidney - Versailles - Greenville - Russia Covington - Wapakoneta - St. Marys - Minster -Russells Point - McCartyville - Springfield Urbana - Bellefontaine Fairborn - Eaton - Huber Heights - Vandalia - Englewood - Piqua Troy - Tipp City - New Carlisle - Dayton - Xenia - Beavercreek -Centerville - Kettering Hamilton - Fairfield - Harrison - North Bend - Monroe - West Chester - Carthage - Sharonville New Burlington - Norwood - Shandon - Wilmington - Morrow - Mason- Lebanon - Milford - Loveland - Springfield Middletown - Miamisburg - Franklin - Trenton - Cincinnati - Ripley - Fayetteville - Hillsboro - Greenfield - West Union - Waynesville
New Fraternal Year – New Team – Let’s Rebuild Happy New (Fraternal) Year Brothers! With the new fraternal year comes some changes. Let’s start off with personal: The State Membership Director is our very own Michael Freil. His team here in the Arch is made up of Dan Tebbe for the “North” region (see his first column in this issue), Vic Lauterbach for the Central region (Dayton Chapter), and Richard Bischoff for the South region (Cincinnati Chapter). Dan Warnock will be helping with Retention and New Council Development along with Robert Hernandez. Tim Mangan has taken over the position of District Deputy Coordinator for the Archdiocese, and Andrew Nuckols is the new State Program Director. You can find their contact information along with the contact information for the State Officer programs on the last page of this issue, and you’ll get to meet everyone at the State Tour stop… …speaking of the State Tour, it will be held in person on Saturday, July 17, 2021 at 1:00 PM hosted by Father Aufderheide Council #12912 in the Saint Christopher school cafeteria (Vandalia). During the tour stop I will present our Support Our Seminarians (SOS, nee Pennies for Heaven) check to Fr. Dan Schmitmeyer, Arch Vocations Director.
As happens in Baseball (and other sports) this is a rebuilding year. Supreme has provided us with some tools to help continue the recovery from COVID as we return to normal. Not the “New Normal” (I reject that idea) but the pre-pandemic normal. However, this doesn’t mean there are no new challenges. No matter how much of a toll the pandemic has taken on us, we are still the same Knight of Columbus we were before it all started eighteen months ago. Maybe we can’t tackle everything we used to do right out of the gate but we can concentrate on those things we can do, and which we do well.
A great tool is to utilize the State Program as a framework for our goals during the fraternal year. Once again the State Program parallels the Supreme Program for Star Council. There are many opportunities to make a difference in your parishes. For one thing, consider awarding your Family of the Month to a family whose father is not a member of the Knights. It is a great opportunity to promote The Domestic Church in your parish and maybe an opportunity for new membership. Councils covering multiple parishes have even more opportunity to celebrate great Catholic families. Also look at promoting Ruah Woods’ award winning program on Pope Saint John Paul II’s Theology of the Body. This is an excellent program which many of our Catholic schools already embrace and is tailored for each grade. Plus the organization is located right here in the Archdiocese! Full disclosure, I am a big JPII fan. There are many more things we can begin doing and there will be more examples offered during the State Tour on July 17th. Finally, this will be a big year for me as State Treasurer. With that job comes the chairmanship of the Super Cash Bonanza charity raffle. If you have not heard, Jeff Kiliany broke Gary Eckstein’s long standing record by selling over 184,000 tickets. He and I both believe with that momentum there is no reason we cannot reach One Million Dollars for charity starting next February. It looks like I’ll have a lot of tickets to count!
Stay focused, stay confident. I assure you there is no reason we can’t make a positive difference in our parishes and grow the Order as we rebuild! Vivat Jesus! Michael Felerski State Treasurer
Dan Tebbe
Archdiocese Membership Director (North)
Growth
As the new fraternal year ramps up with many more social events, in-person meetings and gatherings it is also time to work on getting our councils ramped back up and moving. Yes, the logjam is starting to budge loose and a few new members can be the dynamite it takes to clear it! The state team has assembled a wide array of incentives, and it is up to us to step up and claim them. There are incentives for proposers, DD’s and also for new members. Some of these incentives are already in place so check on the state council website often to see what is available. The e-membership program was great for operations during the covid lock-down, and it is still available and still free using the promo code ‘MCGIVNEY2020’. In my opinion though, nothing beats and in-person degree with a live team and a crowd of members waiting to congratulate, welcome the New Knights, and get them engaged. Encourage a big turnout of current Knights, as we all need a refresher course from time to time to recall why we joined. By showing our immediate support for these men I think we stand a much greater chance of engaging them as active members willing to participate. Family participation would be better still, getting the whole family on-board and fired up. The new degree exemplification is very well laid out, and easy to put on as it can be read, so if your council does not have a team please consider trying your hand at it. If you have members that are or have been teachers or lectors at church (comfortable speaking in front of people) you are most of the way there. It costs you nothing to try, and you’ll be able to bring new men onboard without having to travel or wait for an exemp! The new exemplification ceremony can be found and downloaded from the supreme council website. Your diocesan membership directors are here to help and are eager for your success. If there is ANYTHING we can do, or find out, or get for you – just ASK! Vivat Jesu! Dan Tebbe – Archdiocesan Membership Director, Cincinnati North Dtebbe1@outlook.com
- 419-953-7902
We need to start off our new Fraternal Year with a Bang !! Jul 4th alwa s celebrates the Birth of our Nation. We need to bring New Life into our Councils b recruiting New Members to keep our Councils vibrant for ears to come. The First Four (4) Councils who Bring in 4 New Members, will each receive $200.00. The First 2 District Deputies whose Districts bring in 10 new members will receive $100.00 each. The First 4 Proposers will win $50.00 each. Four of their newl degreed members will receive $25.00 each or a State Council polo shirt.
The Arch - July 2021
On Facebook: ArchCincyKofC
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By Jason Staas
General Agent
Fraternal Benefits
Summer is in full swing; vacations and backyard barbecues, outdoor sports and yard-work! I look forward to this time of year with flowers in bloom and thoughts of a much needed and anticipated summer vacation. I hope your summer is going well for you!
In last month’s message I mentioned taking stock of all the things that need to be done around the house. And I further suggested that taking stock should extend to seeing where you and your family stand when it comes to financial protection. It’s interesting to read about Blessed Michael McGivney’s attitude in Faith and Fraternalism by Christopher J. Kauffman: “Though he [Fr. McGivney] seems to have been well aware of the value of ceremonials as the binding force for fraternal unity, he spent his energy in promoting the insurance feature.” You know the story well; how the untimely death of his father nearly derailed Fr. McGivney’s plans to become a priest. As the curate of St. Mary’s he encountered families in similar situations. So it’s no wonder he was so practical when it came to making sure families were financially sound.
In our position, we feel a deep kinship with Fr. McGivney in helping to protect Catholic families. We see ourselves as your partner in facing this planning process. You don’t have to go it alone. With our new financial needs analysis tool, with cutting edge software, robust and in-depth, we can approach this together. Since my last message, several members have reached out to us. Let us give you a fictionalized account about two of them. We recently met with a brother Knight and his wife who have a couple of young children. Together, we were able to see that based on what this couple wanted for their family, there was a need in two particular areas. One, the brother’s group life insurance, while free as a benefit, was not enough to do what he wanted his life insurance to do. He desired more to make sure, if he had an untimely passing, his wife and children could stay in the same home, could still attend Catholic grade school, and could afford to make a college education a reality. The other area that he had not thought about was what I call the “death of his earning power.” What if he became sick or hurt and could not work? His employer provided very minimal coverage for a few months, but after that there was nothing. We explored how the Knights could fill that void and make his family whole. All this from spending time with me. The best part for him…and for you, is that this service is a free fraternal benefit. Many others in the industry charge fees for this kind of analysis. It’s a fraternal benefit that we are happy to provide.
The other couple was recently retired. Well past the stage of this former young couple. We completed a financial needs analysis for them. They were in very good shape financially; had all their proverbial ducks in a row in almost every area. The area that they were concerned with was an extended care event. How could they protect all that they had worked for and saved in the event of needing help with daily living activities? We were able to help them plan for that and shift the financial burden to the Knights. The other issue they looked at was setting aside a little of what they had saved to help their grandchildren. We were able to set up a plan to pass that money tax free to them.
Maybe you have similar concerns; meeting with us can allay them. We are your partners as we share our brotherhood in the Order. That kind of relationship is rarely found elsewhere in the financial services world. Let’s get together and see where you stand.
Vivat Jesus!
Jason C. Staas, MS, FICF
General Agent
KNIGHTS of COLUMBUS
YOUR SHIELD FOR LIFE
LIFE DISABILITY INCOME LONG-TERM CARE RETIREMENT
The Arch - July 2021
On Facebook: ArchCincyKofC
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Cincinnati Archdiocese Quick Reference Guide 2021-2022 State Sites… State Council Website: Facebook Page:
www.kofcohio.org
www.facebook.com/OhioKnightsOfColumbus/
Arch Sites… Dayton Chapter: Cincinnati Chapter: Facebook Page:
www.daytonkofc.org
www.cincykofc.org
https://www.facebook.com/ArchCincykofc-345658459241510/
About The Arch…
A newsletter featuring relevant news and information for Knights in the Archdiocese of Cincinnati published twelve times a year! It can be viewed and downloaded at:
http://www.daytonkofc.org/DayCh_Arch_Newsletter.html
Or at kofcohio.org > For Members > Diocesan Pages > Cincinnati
To subscribe for delivery directly to your email inbox, please contact Michael Thomas at:
michaeldthomas@aol.com
2021 Matching Funds
2021-22 Support Our Seminarians
State Advocate Jim Maslach
4927 Autumnwood Ln
Brunswick, OH 44212
Immediate Past State Deputy Bob Byers
565 Indian Run Rd
Marietta OH 45750-6693
kofcjkm@gmail.com
robert_byers@hotmail.com
State Membership Director
2021 Measure Up*
Michael Freil
mcfreil2019@gmail.com
State Advocate Jim Maslach
4927 Autumnwood Ln
Brunswick, OH 44212
kofcjkm@gmail.com
Archdiocese Membership Team Dan Tebbe: I-70 North dtebbe1@outlook.com
2022 Super Cash Bonanza
Vic Lauterbach: Dayton [Chapter area] vslauterbach@gmail.com
State Treasurer Michael Felerski
1580 Gelhot Dr. #234
Fairfield, OH 45014 mfelerski@icloud.com
Rich Bischof: Cincinnati [Chapter area] richbischof@outlook.com
2021-22 State Per Capita Payments State Secretary Jeffery Kiliany
559 Walnut Street
Leetonia, OH 44431
District Deputy Coordinator Tim Mangan
tjmangan@icloud.com
State Program Director Andrew Nuckols anuckols@cinci.rr.com
jtktg@yahoo.com
*2022 Measure Up will go to Chris Sarka, SW. The Arch - July 2021
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