Joining Knights of Columbus - what to expect?

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jatkins29

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I am joining the Knights of Columbus and really don’t know what to expect. I read over their entire website but could someone explain to me more in depth as to what they do?

Thanks!
 
Welcome to the Order.

The short answer is we serve the Church and her members. The ways that we do that are numerous. My council just finished a flower sale with the funds going to the pro-life ministry and we have a Polka night coming up for some fun. I lead a series of family rosary/campfire marshmallow roasts in the summer.

Talk to your membership director and Grand Knight about ways that you can get involved. Many activities don’t take much time and you can get your family involved too.

God Bless,
Michael
3rd Degree
11044
 
At first it was like being the new kid at school. Everyone knew everyone else and no one knew my name. I didn’t know their name. It didn’t take long for us to get familiar with each other. Just show up to meetings and events and wear your name tag. You’ll become good friends with all of them. After all we’re working for the glory of God.
We (my council) cook a lot. We sell stuff. We raise money. The money goes to various charities and seminarians. We are there when services are needed like selling hotdogs at a Catholic Schools Fall Festival or something a priest might need. Its nice, I met a lot of great men. At Mass we give each other a wink and a nod as brothers.
 
Thanks both of you for providing some insight into the KOC. I look forward to joining!
 
Bottom line is that the knights serve the needs of your parish, or district. There are many functions that are served by knights and there isn’t any pressure to participate in any. Look around at the various activities in your home council and start off by helping in one or two. Go at your own speed. Our council here is just like an extension of our families.
 
I have turned in the registration form and am awaiting approval. I can’t wait to get started!🙂
 
jatkins29 said:
I am joining the Knights of Columbus and really don’t know what to expect. I read over their entire website but could someone explain to me more in depth as to what they do?

Thanks!
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A friend joined the Knights and was asked to work on the counsel’s history book committee and agreed. No one subsequently contacted him. At the next meeting, the Knight in charge asked him for a status report on their history book, as though he was in charge of the committee. He replied that he had volunteered to help, but not to be in charge.

After hearing this story, I chuckle whenever a Knight tells me it takes only “one hour a month” of my time to attend a meeting. I politely decline since I prefer to devote my time to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.

Bottom line: be ready to be assigned to a committee of some sort.
 
sedonaman said:
A friend joined the Knights and was asked to work on the counsel’s history book committee and agreed. No one subsequently contacted him. At the next meeting, the Knight in charge asked him for a status report on their history book, as though he was in charge of the committee. He replied that he had volunteered to help, but not to be in charge.

After hearing this story, I chuckle whenever a Knight tells me it takes only “one hour a month” of my time to attend a meeting. I politely decline since I prefer to devote my time to the Society of St. Vincent de Paul.

Bottom line: be ready to be assigned to a committee of some sort.
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This is not typical of most councils. Yes, you should expect to be invited to participate, but most councils will not ask brand new members to head new initiatives. One bad experience is no reason for you to doubt the sincerity of the entire group, especially when so many others, like myself and presumably the other Knights posting in this thread, can vouch for its quality. Were we such a poorly managed organization, we certainly would not have over 1.8 million members in 11 nations.
 
In 2010, the Knights of Columbus donated over $154 million to various charities, and tens of millions of volunteer hours. But, your experience will depend on you. If you want to get involved, you will be able to to the level you desire. As with any effort, you get out what you put in. Have fun!
 
Howdy all, I have been wanting to join the KofC for a while now but as you can see frm my status I won’t be confirmed till next month, but hope to join soon after. I did have one question though, I am 23 and am afraid that I will be the only “young” person there, and will feel weird because of my age, is this true? Also, I live in a major university town, does this help my odds of having more people around my age?
 
jatkins29 said:
I am joining the Knights of Columbus and really don’t know what to expect. I read over their entire website but could someone explain to me more in depth as to what they do?

Thanks!
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Well, you’re a brave one. I absolutely won’t because I’m afraid of all of the ordinations. Apparently some “mischief” goes on during them, and since I’ve been told it’s quite embarrassing, I won’t join until a Knight cracks. These are my terms and I won’t let up. 😃
 
I joined about a year ago and like others have said, it is what you put into it.

There are almost 100 men in our council yet less then 50 participate or show up for meetings. They all pay their dues every year but don’t all participate.

I was asked and agreed to head a comittee after I had been there about 9 months but nothing was forced. I agreed because I plan of working my way up the ranks so to speak and would like to be a Grand Knight some day.

I have gone all the way through the degrees…I just got my 4th degree last month. So I can tell you (ATeutonicKnight) that there was no “mischief” involved in any of the exemplification ceremonies.
 
NorthTexan88 said:
Howdy all, I have been wanting to join the KofC for a while now but as you can see frm my status I won’t be confirmed till next month, but hope to join soon after. I did have one question though, I am 23 and am afraid that I will be the only “young” person there, and will feel weird because of my age, is this true? Also, I live in a major university town, does this help my odds of having more people around my age?
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I was the 18 year-old in a council of mostly 40-somethings to 60-somethings, so I know a bit about this issue. Yes, you may end up being the only young guy, but the more young guys that are visibly active in the council, the more draw there is for other young guys. Both of my recent councils have made concerted efforts to be more welcoming to the youngsters and they have worked wonderfully. While many councils may look that way, the Knights are not an old men’s group. We have an enormous amount of young men, especially in the college councils.
On that note, if you’re in a college town, and going to college there, you might look into whether there’s a college council associated with the university. That will be more likely to have guys your age who are very active Knights.

Also, on the matter of “mischief”, our ceremonies are solemn affairs, no mischief involved.
 
The Knights are primarily a service organization. When founded, Catholics faced a great deal of discrimination, so the Knights also offered camaraderie – a sense of belonging. This social aspect remains important, as a number of Knights’ functions are intended to build fellowship among Knights and their families. Knights also foster Catholic teaching and values in the parish and society, and in recent years have taken an active interest in pro-life matters.

In my old parish, the Knights included most of the men in lay leadership roles – some really great guys very actively involved in the parish. They ran the parish BBQ, which involved activities for kids, a dance, etc., raised money for the intellectually handicapped, helped out with the greeters ministry, and encouraged Eucharistic adoration. At their meetings, they also had a ten-minute teaching/discussion of a doctrinal topic so that they could grow in their understanding of the faith…

The web page for the Knights of Columbus at my old parish will give you a better idea: sttheresecarmel.org/258205.ihtml

Every group of Knights is a little different, depending on the men who are members and the needs of the parish and community, so please check out your parish’s organization.
 
trekkie4christ said:
I a council of mostly 40-somethings to 60-somethings,
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WOW…I guess that makes me feel old :crying: I will be 40 in January.

There are several of us “younger” guys in my council but the majority are well over retirement age. I look at us 40-somethings as the next generation.

There is not such an age gap that we have nothing in common yet there is plenty we can learn from the “older” guys.

But that is the way it works. If there is not a younger generation to pass it on to then it just dies out.
 
Hey Im a twenty seven year old fourth degree knight. I joined the order some time ago and if i were you, as long as you get into a good council i’d advise you not to listen to any of the people who are bashing the knights. Joining and being a part of the order has been one of the greatest experiences of my life. there are some younger guys in the order but most of the guys have good values and you’ll learn a lot. A lot of priests and clergy are involved in the knights too. The Catholic Church is the largest charity on the planet and the knights have been called the strong right arm of the church. There is nothing in the ceremonies that doesn’t have reverence for the holy or in opposition to the church. The only reason they are kept secret is to have an impact on you. I highly recommend joining and hope you make it to fourth. it is the experience of a life time. you’ll be good. If you don’t like it you can always come to our council. 👍

SK Joshua J Kellahin
council 3148
James Francis Cardinal McIntyre Assembly
 
LOL, I’m one of the young guys in our council. We have a about 450 men all together, and we do all kinds of stuff, like various sales and other fundraising for charity, assistance to the needy, work around the church, prayer, coverage for All Night Adoration, bowling and softball, etc. Some guys are present at every meeting and event, and some guys volunteer for a couple hours a month. You can participate as much or as little as you want. The only thing mandatory is paying your dues! 😉
 
Granted, just because it worked out so badly for me, that doesn’t mean it won’t work out for you. I’ve been told that there are good councils out there.

As long as you can take care of yourself, or have someone who will help take care of you, like a spouse, if you don’t need to count on the Knights for anything, and if you always have plenty of money for yourself, that you don’t need to ask them to waive your dues, or it becomes that desperate, that you can’t afford the dues, if you belong to one of the bad councils, you may never become that strongly aware of what a bad choice you made joining the Knights.

As was stated in the last post, the only thing mandatory is paying your dues. My tough luck is my tough luck, not theirs. I filled out an application for relief from dues, and although my Fourth Degree Assembly has waived my dues, my council ignores my communications and has not waived my dues, even though I paid dues promptly for over 20 years, and attended meetings for many years, too. I’m not going to bash the Knights as some have. The Knights were the ones who treated one of their own worse than a red-haired stepchild.
 
ATeutonicKnight said:
Well, you’re a brave one. I absolutely won’t because I’m afraid of all of the ordinations. Apparently some “mischief” goes on during them, and since I’ve been told it’s quite embarrassing, I won’t join until a Knight cracks. These are my terms and I won’t let up. 😃
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There is NO ‘mischief’ that goes on during any of the ordinations, there’s nothing embarrassing, and nothing to which one would be ashamed. It’s quite tame, there’s only 3 degrees to regular membership, and nothing weird or crazy goes on there. Yes, it’s a secret because of the teaching and learning nature of the degrees. I’m a 3rd degree member and there’s nothing I’ve taken part of that was embarrassing or weird in any way. Heck, they were so tame I don’t remember most of it.

I joined because most of the service projects I was a part of at the church were attended by KofC members. I figured since I was doing these things with them, might as well be a member too. It has been beneficial and enlightening, and offers me greater opportunities to serve my church and community.
 
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