Men Are Waiting to Be Invited

Knights of Columbus: Men Are Waiting to Be Invited

"Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men." — Matthew 4:19

Jesus invited his first disciples. Father McGivney invited Catholic men to the Order’s first meeting.

It’s our turn.

It sounds so simple, yet the data points to the compelling fact that millions of Catholic men are just waiting for the invitation. 

Last year, we commissioned CARA, the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate, to look at Catholic men’s organizations. The goal was to learn why men join them, why some don’t, and for those who don’t, what factors would change their mind.

We learned that in the United States alone,

• 21 million Catholic men are not members of a Catholic men’s organization

• 7 million say they are willing to join the Knights of Columbus

Nearly half of all Catholic men say they’ve not joined the Knights – at least in part – because nobody has asked them to.

Think about that. Seven million new Knights. And there are millions more in Canada, Mexico and across Europe and Asia.

Also in 2023, we conducted a Membership Satisfaction survey, in which many of you participated. 

Responses showed 47% of members report they joined the Order because they were invited to do so by a friend, family member or pastor. However, 33% of us have never asked men to join, and 37% have only done so once or twice a year.

Catholic men are waiting. They are waiting to be invited.

Just imagine if each of our 2.1 million members around the world invited one person to join this year. 

Imagine the impact we would have on our culture and world. We’re calling on every Knight to follow the example of Blessed Michael McGivney and our Lord Jesus Christ – to foster a culture in which we don’t wait for someone to come up to us. Rather, we go out and invite our Catholic brothers to join us in our mission to something greater.

Let us be the fishers of men God is calling us to be.