Nice deacons meeting knife. 😉
I suspect it was not intended as a weapon at all. The handle shape is not consistent with maintaining a secure grip, IMO, especially with sweat or blood soaked hands.
My guess is that it was a prop. 100 years ago there were many chapters of very secretive organizations like Knights of Columbus, Knights of Pythias, Knights of Pythagoras, etc. The members of some of those dressed in costumes for their "secret meetings". I remember as a child going in a large upstairs room above a big country store. There was a coffin, elaborate robes, armor, even swords. They were all props for their rituals.
That knife looks very much like those things I saw.
