Brother Knights,
Before we get ahead of ourselves, I wish to take a moment to personally thank our Immediate Past State Deputy Paul Burchell for two truly magnificent years of hard work and leadership. The reports are in, and it appears South Carolina has achieved the Pinnacle Award for the second consecutive year! Rebecca and I are truly thankful to have the mentorship of Paul and Judy available to us as we have our sights set on a threepeat!
While I was in New Haven, CT for my own installation, the Supreme Knight highlighted the Knights of Columbus Mission, which is: The Knights of Columbus empowers Catholic men to live their faith and serve their family, parish, community, and country. He reminded us we treat our members as brothers; we foster a high-performing culture that puts people first; we offer high-quality products and programs people value, supporting their spiritual, insurance, financial, and charitable needs; and we continually assess our members’ needs and adapt to them.
This year, as we embark on this mission together, you will hear the theme “Zeal to Further.” Think of zeal as a strong action-oriented desire to advance in the direction of righteousness. Zeal puts love into action and strengthens the resolution to progress in virtue and sanctity. “To further” represents growing in your own spiritual life and faith, growing your parish and the Church, and even growing our Order as we invite Catholic men to embark on a path of spiritual growth.
To that end, I am pleased to report that South Carolina has been selected to participate in the next wave of COR. COR focuses on men’s formation in our faith. This is meant to be parish wide. This is not to compete or replace any “men’s groups” that are already attempting some sort of faith formation, but to compliment or enhance them. Due to the delicate nature of implementing this properly, we are sending two Knights to be trained in New Haven by the team that has developed COR. To further help with implementation, there are three new Faith Programs that will be debuted at the Supreme Convention. These programs are all designed to be done as part of COR.
No matter what has come our way in the last few years, our Councils and their leaders have persevered! I believe we will truly live up to all the expectations as we work together to make this Fraternal Year the best one yet! Remember this weekend, to spend an extra five minutes in prayer, and to ask a man to become a Knight. If done in the right order, there is no stopping us!
Jeffrey Crouch
State Deputy
Semper Fidelis!
