The current Knights of Columbus St. Jude the Apostle Council was founded on August 1, 2016, with John Jedlicka as the founding Grand Knight. The Charter includes 45 founding members. The Council strives to follow the Knights of Columbus mission to serve the Church, its parishioners, and the poor and the needy in the community following the teachings of Jesus Christ. A more complete history is described below.
The Knights of Columbus has a long and storied history at St. Jude the Apostle Catholic Church. Before I-285 was finished, when Spalding Road was a simple two-lane street leading to our church, when most of the houses we see as we make our way to Sunday Mass didn’t exist, the first church in the “distant” suburban areas of Sandy Springs and Dunwoody, St. Jude the Apostle Catholic Church firmly planted the flag of Catholicism.
Buoyed by the migration of Catholics from the northern states St. Jude grew to be “the parish” in the middle of the rapidly growing “Golden Crescent” between I-85 and I-75 soon to be connected by the yet-unfinished I-285. In fact, it was the only parish close to the rapidly growing suburban subdivisions in Sandy Springs and Dunwoody.
In 1973 St. Jude’s pastor, Fr. Donald Kiernan, recognized the need for a men’s group to support his efforts in nurturing the less-than-ten-year old church. Based on his experience with other parishes where he served, Fr. Kiernan contacted the national headquarters of the Knights of Columbus in New Haven, CT and asked for help in starting a Knights of Columbus council at St. Jude.
The national group, known as the Supreme Council, agreed and in 1973 helped Fr. Kiernan form Council 6517, the first “Golden Crescent” council. Under Fr. Kiernan’s tutelage and pastors following him the council grew to become one of the most important councils in the state. At one time Council 6517 had more Past State Deputies in its membership (4) than any other council in Georgia.
As time went by and St. Jude entered the 1980s and 1990s demographics took hold and changed the way St. Jude parishioners interacted with the K of C. The council went dormant until the mid-2000s when Msgr. Edward J. Dillon (ret.) requested that 6517 move to his church, Holy Spirit.
The council moved and, once again, found a receptive group of men who made 6517 one of the stellar councils in the state of Georgia. In 2014 the Archbishop of Atlanta named a new pastor for St. Jude—the Rev. Msgr. Joe Corbett. He waited a bit and decided that it was time for St. Jude to have a Knights of Columbus council once again. Under his guidance (after all, Msgr. Joe is a Former State Chaplain) in 2016, Council 16513 formed with a group of men whose names are memorialized on a charter that hangs in the Ministry Hall. Many of those named men are still members, albeit wiser and, yes, older. Msgr. Corbett was the council’s charter chaplain and, to this day, remains the council chaplain.
Council 16513 has consistently won awards for growth in membership, insurance and programs serving the entire council. It is the leading council in the annual statewide Coats For Kids promotion. Year-after-year Council 16513 raises funds to provide winter coats for more children in the Sandy Springs/Dunwoody area than any other council in the state.
As we enter our second decade serving the parishioners of St. Jude the Apostle Catholic Church two events have particularly become a parish-wide expected celebration of the season: our annual Monastery Gift Sale and our annual Communion Breakfast in early Spring. Old and new members alike continue to heed the call of our founder, the Blessed Fr. Michael J. McGivney, to help our priests in their vocation and serve our fellow parishioners.
