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