Form #365 — A Fellow FS's Field Guide

What this form actually does

Fellow FS here. If Form #365 just landed on your radar, let me save you the googling.

This is the form where your council tells Supreme who's running each program area this fraternal year — your Program Director, the four pillar directors (Faith, Family, Community, Life), your Membership Director, your Retention Chairman, your Chaplain, and a handful of others.

It's due July 1 — the start of the new fraternal year — and filing it on time is what keeps your Star Council clock running into the new year. Until the new roster is on file, no Columbian Award activity credit in any pillar counts toward Star — even if your council is running excellent programs.

No signup required to use the free builder. Ten minutes. Let's get you filed.

---

Why July 1 matters more than you think

One common reason councils miss Star Council isn't activity numbers — it's that #365 was filed late or not at all, so the Columbian Award clock simply doesn't start until the form lands. If SP-7 credits look strong but Star Council eligibility won't confirm, your #365 status is the first place to check.

Here's the mechanic: Supreme needs to know who is claiming the activities before they can credit them. The Program Director signs SP-7 (the Columbian Award application). Without #365 on file, Supreme doesn't know who the Program Director is. The activities your council ran in October, November, December — beautiful work, real service — won't count if the paperwork says nobody was running them.

Late filing still works. If you missed July 1, file now anyway — the clock starts whenever Supreme records #365. You just lose the pre-filing weeks of credit. That's still better than skipping the year.

---

Who's on #365 (and who isn't)

On #365:

• Chaplain (note: Chaplain is not on Form #185 because they aren't an elected officer — but they ARE on #365 because they're part of the program team)
• Program Director
• Faith Director (same role as "Church Director" on older PDFs — renamed 2018)
• Family Director + Chair Couple
• Community Director
• Life Director (formerly "Culture of Life Director")
• Council Director
• Membership Director + Recruitment Chairs (usually 2–3)
• Retention Chairman
• Lecturer

Not on #365:

• Elected officers — those go on Form #185
• Financial Secretary — appointed by Supreme on GK recommendation, not on either form
• Insurance Field Agent — separate Supreme hire, not council personnel

Up to 18 roles total. Supreme's instructions say explicitly: "it is not necessary to fill every position." I've never filed a #365 with all 18 slots filled, and neither have most FSs I've talked to. Sweet spot is usually 12–15, with your four pillar directors and Program Director always staffed.

---

The 18 roles in plain English

Role	What they do	Critical to Star?
Chaplain	Prays, blesses, counsels — usually the parish priest	Recommended
Program Director	Head coach; coordinates the four pillars	Yes
Faith Director	Runs faith/spiritual programs	Yes (Faith pillar credit)
Family Director	Runs family programs	Yes (Family pillar credit)
Chair Couple	Supports Family Director, runs couple-led programs	No
Community Director	Runs community service programs	Yes (Community pillar credit)
Life Director	Runs pro-life programs	Yes (Life pillar credit)
Council Director	Internal council life — fraternity, fellowship	No
Membership Director	Recruits new Knights	Yes (Father McGivney Award)
Recruitment Chair(s)	Field recruiting	No (roles in the team, not required)
Retention Chairman	Keeps current members active	Yes (affects Father McGivney math)
Lecturer	Presents "Good of the Order" at meetings	No
Other / open	Varies	No

The non-negotiables: Program Director + 4 pillar directors + Membership + Retention. The rest are "nice to have." File with those 7 filled if nothing else.

---

Handling vacancies without hurting your Star chances

Vacancies in the 4 pillar directors = missing a whole pillar of Columbian credit. Vacancies in Membership or Retention = dying Father McGivney math. Vacancies in Lecturer or Chair Couple = totally fine, most councils run without them.

If you can't find a director for a pillar, two realistic moves:

1. Ask your DGK or GK to double up. Less ideal (role stacking gets district-deputy attention) but better than leaving the pillar dark.
2. Ask your state council for help. Some state councils have "program committees" that will run pillar-specific events your council can participate in and claim credit for.

What you don't want to do: leave the slot blank, run activities in that pillar anyway, and then hope SP-7 accepts credits for programs with no director on file. Supreme catches the mismatch.

---

The Faith in Action renaming (old PDF labels vs current terminology)

Faith in Action launched August 2018 and restructured service programs around four pillars: Faith, Family, Community, Life. The old labels mapped roughly 1:1:

• Church Director → Faith Director
• Culture of Life Director → Life Director
• Community Director → Community Director (unchanged)
• Family Director → Family Director (unchanged)

The printable Form #365 PDF lags the branding on some revisions. If your form says "Church Director," that's the same slot as Faith Director. Don't panic. Use the current terminology on the form if both are available. Reference: kofc.org/faithinaction.

---

The Columbian Squires wind-down

Supreme wound down the Columbian Squires youth program in 2020. Older #365 PDFs still show a Squires slot. If your council doesn't have an active Squires circle — and most don't anymore — mark vacant. If you have a youth program under a different banner (parish youth group, Venture crew), list the lead there anyway; Supreme accepts modern youth-ministry equivalents as Family/Community pillar work.

---

Chaplain membership number — what if our priest isn't a Knight?

Totally normal. A lot of parish priests who serve as council chaplains aren't members of the Order. The form says "membership number (if applicable)" for exactly this reason. Fill it in if your chaplain is a member, leave it blank if not. Everything else (name, email, address) is still useful to Supreme for correspondence.

---

Common mistakes I've seen

• Filing last year's roster unchanged. Every fraternal year needs a fresh #365 — even if the same people are in the same roles.
• Typos in Membership numbers. These cascade into SP-7 submission errors. Double-check every number against Member Management.
• Missing the Chaplain row. Most common omission. Chaplain belongs here, not on #185.
• Listing a Chair Couple under just one name. It's literally a couple — both names go on the form.
• Stale emails. If your Membership Director changed emails last year, Supreme won't reach them when a candidate submits. Update.

---

What happens after you submit

Supreme enters your program personnel into their records in about 2–3 weeks. Your state and district deputies get a copy. Your Star Council eligibility clock officially starts. From that point on, every activity, new member, and insurance event counts toward your award totals.

If you're using the paid DuesSync tier, we email the filled PDF directly to Supreme with your GK's approval and track delivery. If you're using the free builder, you download the PDF and email or mail it yourself per the form's instructions.

---

One more thing

Next year's #365 takes 90 seconds if your roster is already in DuesSync. The form itself doesn't change much year to year — what changes is the people in the roles. Keep the roster current across the year, and July 1 becomes a non-event instead of a scramble. That's the whole retention play for DuesSync, and it's also just what I wish I'd done in my first year as FS.

---

Common pitfalls (pinned summary)

• Leaving the Chaplain off (most frequent omission)
• Confusing Membership Director with Retention Chairman (they're two different roles)
• Filing with stale emails — kills downstream recruiting
• Waiting until the last week of June to start — give yourself a full week's runway before July 1

---

Source notes. Draws on Supreme's Form #365 instructions, Faith in Action program documentation (kofc.org/faithinaction), and the Grand Knight Handbook (#915). Send feedback if anything's off. Jurisdiction varies — your State Deputy's guidance governs where Supreme and state differ.

Last reviewed: April 18, 2026. Fraternal year 2025–26.