Indiana State Council Officers

Scott W. Schutte

Immediate Past State Deputy

Home Council : 16305 - SAINTS FRANCIS AND CLARE GREENWOOD, IN

Home Assemby : 245 - BISHOP CHATARD INDIANAPOLIS, IN

My Worthy Bother Knights,

We have reached the halfway point of the year. I am excited as we begin the road to our annual convention. My term as IPSD is here to be a mentor for the State Family. Below are comments that I prepared to give to the State Family of Officers, Directors and Chairmen and the District Deputies at the mid-year meeting of the State Council. These comments apply to us all as we begin the second half of our fiscal year.

Let us all thank these gentlemen that have stepped up to provide leadership and guidance for the State of Indiana. These roles take a significant amount of time from these men’s lives. Please show them the respect that they deserve.

Emmanuel – God is With Us

For those who attended the Eucharistic Congress this last summer, we were reminded that Christ is with us through the Eucharist. More importantly, it is important for us to remember that Christ is always with us. He is not in our Past but is Present today and Always. At the conclusion of the Congress, we were challenged by the Bishops to make this a Year of Evangelization. In Evangelizing, we are called to share that Christ is present to us.

As part of evangelizing, it is important that we continue to form ourselves in our faith. I have begun using the Hallow app to provide me with access to new and interesting content regarding our faith. I would encourage others to look at it. It has very interesting content at a reasonable cost.

Additionally, we as Knights have been asked to take part in the COR initiative. The Initiative asks us to form ourselves in our faith as Fr. McGivney with the first members of the Knight of Columbus. In doing this we become first in Faith as in Charity.

I ask you all to consider the tenets of our Order.

Charity

Charity comes from the love of God for us all. This is reminded to us each year as we celebrate Christmas and Easter when we relive Christ’s birth, death and resurrection when he showed us the greatest of Charity by providing us a pathway back to God.

We Knights in Indiana have three special charities that we address each year from a State-wide perspective. First, we provide Gibault Children’s Services. This incredible organization was created by a bequest of the Knights by the Bishops of Indiana just over 100 years ago. We continue to improve the lives of children across Indiana through this organization. Your support makes a major difference for this organization.

Secondly, Special Olympics is an organization that the Indiana and Knights, internationally, support annually. This organization helps the marginalized to enjoy sport and competition. Last year we provided the Indiana Special Olympics with the biggest donation from the Indiana Knights. We should aspire to continue on this effort. First we should be involved in their most participated sport of bowling. Scoring, coordinating, coaching are but a few ways to be involved. We can also be involved in fundraising: tootsie roll drives and of course the annual Polar Plunge. Please consider supporting me and other Knights that raise funds through these events.

Thirdly, we started a new charitable endeavor two and a half years ago to support women in Indiana. The Women’s Care Center Endowment is an effort by the Indiana Knights of Columbus to provide for women and children in Indiana. These Women’s Care Centers provide ultrasounds, parenting classes and assistance to your families in raising their children. Our Goal is $10,000,000 in 10 years. Let’s exceed that goal and leverage Supreme’s ASAP program to complete this.

Unity

Unity is about the need to work together. When we do so we can accomplish so much more than by ourselves alone. In considering this tenet, I ask that our District Deputies focus on helping the Councils in inviting new members. I look at it in an interesting story from the book of Mark Twain: Tom Sawyer. Tom was given the task of painting a fence. This was not a task he found enticing on a hot summer day, but he did find an answer in letting the other young men in the area know that it was the best job possible and that it was his great responsibility. He could only let them help him for a price. While his ploy may have eliminated his task and made him a profit. The important thing was that the young men of the area all wanted to partake. He just had to give them the reason. And perhaps more importantly, by sharing the workload the fence was completed in record time.

We have a similar opportunity in membership and our works.

We also have a responsibility to engage those men that join our organization. If we do not find what charitable works these men wish to work on then we will lose their efforts. Please have frank discussions with them to see what is in their hearts when they join the Knights and find a way to put that into charitable action.

Fraternity

Fraternity is defined as having a shared purpose. We as Knights are here to do the good works of the Church. We should be proud of that fact. In Indiana we have the ability to show our pride in the Knights by purchasing a Knights of Columbus license plate. Let everyone know that you are a Knight and that you are working to do God’s work. In addition, you should know that by purchasing a plate for your vehicle, the money raised goes to the Charity Fund Inc. CFI provides funding for our disaster relief efforts, as well as emergency funds for brother Knights in Indiana in significant need. Thank you for being proud of our organization.

Patriotism

Our last tenant is Patriotism, a support of our nation. Our patriotism includes being active in voting, guiding our members to vote in conjunction with Church teaching and being active in our community. I ask that you all support the Fourth Degree of our Order. Remember that they are our community face that is seen in parades, church processions and in the background working to assist our veterans and other charitable programs.

Closing Thoughts

We are well behind in our efforts to meet our membership goals for this year. Let’s share the importance of our work for the Church and encourage our brother Catholics to become part of our organization. Keep dreaming big and be ready to Evangelize Through Our Works.

Vivat Jesus

Scott Schutte
Indiana State Council - Knights of Columbus
State Deputy
ipsd@indianakofc.org
webpage HERE
Vivat Jesus

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