COUNCIL INFORMATION
Council 6514 Meeting Days and Times
Celebrating 50 years of Service!
Council 6514 Monthly Executive/Planning Meetings are held on the last Tuesday of the month at 6 p.m. (1800 hrs.) in the St Joseph Parish Hall. These meetings are for the planning of the next Monthly General Council Meeting and ALL Members are invited and all Officers are encouraged to attend.
Council 6514 Monthly Council Business Meetings are held on the First Thursday of the month, also in the Parish Hall. We begin with a recitation of the Holy Rosary at 6 p.m. (1800 hrs.), and commence serving food (donations accepted) and commence the Meeting immediately after the Rosary.
All Members are encouraged to attend, but if you absolutely cannot be there in person, we plan to offer a virtual option, with both video and audio.
Please remember to bring your current Membership Card and your Rosary!
Check the Events Calendar to confirm meeting times and locations.
Interested in being contacted about becoming a Knight of Columbus?
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About Council 6514
Interested in being contacted about becoming a Knight of Columbus?
Scan the QR code below
In 1882 Father Michael J. McGivney formed the Knights of Columbus, as a way for men to promote charity, unity, and fraternity by working together aiding widows and orphans. In a decree read at the beatification Mass for Fr. McGivney, Pope Francis noted that the priest was unafraid to share “the smell of his sheep. He promoted families whose members were strong in their faith, expressed through generous following of the corporal and spiritual works of mercy, and that he had a “zeal and the proclamation of the Gospel and generous concern for his brothers and sisters.” These “made him an outstanding witness of Christian solidarity and fraternal assistance.”
Athens Council 6514, chartered in 1973, is named after retired Marine Lt. Colonel and Catholic Deacon, William Patrick "Bill" Lakin, Sr. Deacon Bill was a loyal servant to God, his country, his many friends and students at St. Joseph Catholic Church and the University of Georgia, and in the Athens Georgia area in general.
A native of Jersey City, N.J., Deacon Bill was the son of the late Edward Alvy and Madeline Burns Lakin. He served in both Korea and Vietnam with the U.S. Marines and retired after 30 years of service reaching the rank of lieutenant colonel.
Rev. Mr. Lakin touched the lives of many as a longtime member and Permanent Deacon at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Athens, Georgia, and by serving as chaplain for the Boy Scouts of America, Northeast Georgia dioceses.
For 25 years he umpired tennis matches at the University of Georgia and other colleges and universities in the southeast. Deacon Bill was a member of the 4th Degree Patriotic Order of the Knights of Columbus, Assembly 2148, and was also a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 2872 in Athens.
Deacon William P. Lakin Council 6514 serves St. Joseph Catholic Church in Athens, Georgia.
Geographically, Deacon William P. Lakin Council 6514 is within Georgia Knights of Columbus District 10.
After a number of recent graduates, and current college students expressed their desire to join the Knights of Columbus, in 2022 we began pursuing and helping with the creation of a College Council at The Catholic Center at UGA. Midyear 2022, Georgia Martyrs Council #17969 at the University of Georgia was chartered.
With their own officers and membership, they generally serve within various area colleges and universities, but also include a number of Knights who regularly attend the Catholic Center for Masses. We, nonetheless, often find our Councils working together jointly on a service project, event, and other activities in the Athens area. Our prayer and fervent desire are that by being involved with the Knights of Columbus while in college, these young men will continue to be active in both the Catholic Church, and in the Knights of Columbus after they have completed their courses of study. We believe that they also will further develop the traits of charity, unity, fraternity, and patriotism, to become men who are better citizens, neighbors, family members, and friends.
Council 6514 is a highly active and involved Council, both within our parish, the Athens community, and with the Knights of Columbus at the State and National Levels as well.
In Fraternal Year 2021-2022, Council 6514 was once again awarded Star Council recognition, an award that shows superior levels of commitment, effort, and hard work that our men do, and requires us to excel beyond the organization's standard goals of service in multiple areas and disciplines.
Some of our Activities
We host Fish Fries on Fridays during Lent, cook for multiple occasions and events at the church, including picnics, celebrations, and other parish functions, including Breakfast with Santa, a joint effort with the Columbiettes.
In addition, we sometimes take on projects to make urgent modifications or repairs to the homes of elderly or disabled parishioners, assist moving and transporting supplies or material for St. Joseph Charities, spearhead Coats for Kids, where we have collected coats and money to purchase coats for needy children and adults in the Athens area. We recently teamed up with St. Oliver Plunkett Knights to donate 4D Ultrasound Machines to Compass Women’s Clinic in Athens.
We also donate money to Extra Special People (ESP), St. Joseph Charities, Hope Haven, and MultipleChoices™ Center for Independent Living, and assist with Georgia Special Olympics through the Duck Pluck and Polar Plunge fundraisers.
Our 4th Degree, or Patriotic Order of the Knights of Columbus, serve in the Color Corps at funerals, school and community events, and celebrations. They also help with various charitable activities for Veterans, and with Veterans Administration Hospitals in the area. They also help support Catholic Military Chaplains. Our 4th Degree Knights, in addition to being members of our Council, also belong to Assembly 2148.
If you are a Catholic man 18 years of age or older, looking for a way to use your talents and abilities in a fruitful way, enjoy fellowship with other Christian men, and like to have fun, we would love to offer you a way to join us! It is easy and painless. Click here to join online.
Please prayerfully consider joining Knights of Columbus Council 6514. It may turn out that the blessing of serving and helping others will be an even greater blessing to you!
If you are a student in our area, consider joining our College Council, Georgia Martyrs Council #17969 to serve within your College or University community.
Vivat Jesus!