Brother Knights,
As the new fraternal year begins, I wish to thank our immediate past Chapter President Jeff Griggs and immediate past Chapter Vice President Tim Griffith for their outstanding leadership. Thanks to their passion, the Chapter spent the better part of last year working with its members, State leadership, and past Chapter leaders to confirm the Chapter’s intended purpose and to adjust its structure and focus with the hope of making the Chapter more relevant to its member councils and District Deputies.
To the many who wonder what the Chapter is and why it exists…
• The Chicago Archdiocesan Chapter is made up of all the Knights of Columbus councils in the Archdiocese of Chicago. Its voting members are comprised of the Grand Knights and additional representatives from each of the dues paying councils along with all of the District Deputies in the archdiocese and any State or Supreme officers who reside within the archdiocese.
• The Chapter’s primary purpose is to provide a regional platform for collaboration between councils throughout the archdiocese. It should accomplish this through effective communication and education. The Chapter also exists to help its members, member councils and DDs by organizing and promoting archdiocese-wide events and programs.
With its purpose clarified, the Chapter updated its by-laws and launched a Chapter website (kofcchicago.org) at the end of this past fraternal year. The new website’s creation would not have happened without Jeff and Tim’s hard work. Although it is still in “beta” form, the Chapter’s website will quickly become an incredible resource for council leaders, brother knights, and the general public to learn about the many great works the Knights of Columbus are doing throughout the archdiocese.
Another consensus change determined this past year is to adjust the frequency, format, and location of the Chapter meetings. For the 2026-27 fraternal year, the Chapter will meet six times instead of monthly. The six meetings will take place on to-be-determined Saturdays at 10:00 am with the location rotating to a different part of the archdiocese each time. The “business” portion of the Chapter meetings will be limited to approximately 45-60 minutes followed by a 15-30 minute town hall (Q&A) and/or training session focused on a pre-determined topic requested by the DDs and GKs in advance of each meeting.
The first meeting of the fraternal year will take place at St. Bede – Pius X Council #3788’s meeting hall (36380 N. Wilson Rd., Ingleside, IL) on August 1st at 10:00 am. The agenda will be circulated via email and posted on the Chapter’s website as we get closer to the meeting date.
On behalf of the newly elected officers of the Chapter, I want to thank the voting members for your confidence in us. The Chapter’s success will be measured by the success of its member councils so it is critical for GK’s, DD’s, council representatives, and the Chapter’s officers and chairmen to collaborate in ways that will improve each council’s ability to serve its parish(es), families, and neighbors.
Printed in the Chapter’s current newsletter is one of my favorite prayers, the Litany of Humility. As we begin another fraternal year, let us not lose sight of why we volunteer our time.
Vivat Jesus!
SK Robbie Gawronski