Welcome to the 5,033 new Knights that joined our Order in 2007-2008. First allow me to congratulate Immediate Past State Deputy, Larry Zapalac, and his team for a tremendous achievement. But the State Deputy and the team are not the only ones to be congratulated. Congratulations to all the Brother Knights in Texas who believe in the Vision of Father McGivney and who recruited these new Knights. It is through your hard work, dedication and love for the Order that Texas continues to grow.

The bar has been set high for this new fraternal year. However, with your help Texas will again have a tremendous year. Not only in membership, but in Charitable work, in Programming, and in New Council development. Therefore, Texas asks that you continue your recruitment efforts, your Charitable efforts, and your programs in your council. It is with effective programs in our councils that we can attract new members, bring back the members who have not actively participated and retain the members the councils already have.
The membership goal for Texas is 5,060. You ask why? The answer is quite simple. This fraternal year I will be turning 50 and Terry Simonton, the membership director, will be turning 60. Therefore, 5,060. Texas needs your help to reach that goal. Last year Texas recruited 5,033. All Texas needs to reach its goal is another 27 new Knights.

Start by planning your first degrees. If the first degree is planned, recruitments should be planned around it. Let’s grow the Order in Texas. Why? Simple, the more Knights we have the more the Order can do to promote charitable works, to promote pro-life issues, to promote prayer, to support our Bishops and Priests, to support our families, to support our parishes, to support our communities, etc. There is so much to be done that we as Order can do better with more members.

The Charity goal for this fraternal year is $844,000. Texas has met or exceeded its Charity goal two years in a row. Let’s keep the record going and help Texas meet the Charity goal three years in a row. Our respective Archbishops and Bishops would greatly appreciate a bigger check so they can promote their respective activities in their respective dioceses.

Council Growth is special to Texas. In Texas we have over 715 councils. The Vision of Father McGivney was to have a council in every Parish. Certainly there are Parishes in Texas who do not have a council. We should promote Father McGivney’s vision and talk to the Pastor of that Parish to inform him of how the Knights can help the Parish. If the Parish is too small to support a council, then let’s start a roundtable. The Knights will still have a presence in the Parish and through its home council, will be able to help the Pastor, the Parish, the families in the Parish and the community.
We have struggled with councils suspended by Supreme. The number of suspended councils continues to grow in Texas. This is growth that Texas is not proud of. We need to work extra hard on these councils. Let’s find out why they were suspended, where the membership is located and then let’s make every effort to reactivate that council. Reactivating a suspended council also fulfills the vision of Father McGivney.

Many councils struggle to have a quota for their meetings, struggle to have volunteers help with an event and even struggle with surviving as a council. Programming is an effective tool used to keep the council active. With exciting and effective programs, the council’s membership will want to participate in the council’s activities. Plan your programs well in advance and publicize them. Moreover, invite the families to the events. Once your council is having successful programs, then other Practical Catholic men will want to join the council. The best position for a council to be in is to have Practical Catholic men asking to join. This makes recruitment easier. Publicize your council’s events in the Parish Bulletin, in the local newspaper, in the local radio stations, etc. Get the information out to the public. This will draw more potential members to your council.

My brother Knights, it is with a great deal of humility that I take on this leadership role for I know that I cannot do it myself. Without good leadership in the local areas, and without your hard work, dedication and love for the Order, Texas could not achieve its stature as the best Jurisdiction in the Order. With your help, Texas will have its best year yet this year.