The Knights of St Columba (KSC)
The Knights of St Columba are an Order of Catholic Laymen, founded in Scotland in 1919, dedicated to the Service of the Church and fellow man. The Order is non-political and exists to support the mission of the Catholic Church and at the same time to work for the spiritual and material good of its members and their families. Members strive to achieve their aims through the fundamental virtues of Charity, Unity and Fraternity.
The KSC is completely open; potential members may attend meetings as part of deciding whether to join. It is a Family Organisation, dedicated to The Holy Family and is firmly committed to the protection of human life and defence of the family.
A Brief History
The Basildon branch (Council 452) was inaugurated in 1951 and was based in Laindon. In 1963 after St Basil’s was built, it was decided to divide the area and create another branch (council 575) to look after just St Basil’s while the original Council looked after Holy Trinity and Laindon. Following a drop in membership, the original council folded in 1969 and 3 years later the new council also folded. In 1981 the current council was erected and this time the decision was made that all three parishes were to be covered by one council. Over time this proved prophetic as now the three parishes have themselves become one parish, exactly paralleling the area served by the KSC.
What we do, and how to join.
We currently have 13 members. One of our pet projects is the Brentwood Catholic Children’s society where we raise funds for their work by taking part in their annual sponsored Walk. Despite the size of our council, out of over 30 councils in the Brentwood province, we tend to raise the greatest amount of money for the walk, over £28,000 in the last 12 years. We provide the Easter and Christmas posters to the 3 parishes and to the Church at Stanford-le-Hope and have also supplied them to other Christian Churches in the area. We help in the Parish in whatever way we can – providing transport for those who need it, stewarding large events, etc. We constantly participate in activities for the betterment of the community at large and are committed to many charitable causes.
To join the order there are two entrance requirements:
- You need to be a practising Catholic
- You must be 16 years of age or over
Our dues are £2 per month (£24 per year) and we meet on the second Wednesday of every month at 8.00pm in the Holy Trinity Hall.
If you would like to join or wish to know more about us, please contact one of the following:
Jim Walker
01268 452786
Charles McCafferty
01268 545451