Dignity/Washington will be pleased to welcome Warren R. Hall as our guest speaker. His presentation, titled “Sensus Fidelium: What God’s People Believe,” will take place at St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church (1820 Connecticut Avenue, NW DC 20009), January 29 at 7:15 pm, immediately following the 6:00 pm Mass.
Warren R. Hall, a native of Jersey City, NJ was ordained as a priest of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Newark in 1989. He attended Seton Hall University earning BA, Master of Divinity, and Master of Theology Degrees.
In May 2015 Warren Hall was removed from Seton Hall University by Newark Archbishop John Myers for his support of LGBT Equality. Hall subsequently came out as gay. On August 31, 2016, following a year of ministry as Parochial Vicar of St. Peter and Paul Church in Hoboken, Archbishop Myers suspended Warren Hall from priestly ministry, for his continued involvement with the LGBT community, and for “confusing the faithful”.
Join us on Sunday, February 19th after the 6:00 Mass to hear Earl D. Fowlkes, Jr.
This session will focus on the similarities and differences between African Americans struggle for equal and the LGBTQ fight for equal rights. Also, to be explored are reasons why there is discomfort and sometimes resistance to LGBTQ Rights within the African American community, and a look at the difficulties in discussing race issues in the broader LGBTQ community.
Earl D. Fowlkes, Jr.
President/CEO, Center for Black Equity, Inc.
Chair, LGBT Caucus, Democratic National Committee
Chair, DC Commission on Human Rights
Earl Fowlkes serves as the President/CEO of the Center For Black Equity, Inc. (formerly the International Federation of Black Pride -IFBP). He founded the IFBP in 1999 ago as a coalition of organizers the United States, Canada, United Kingdom and South Africa formed to promote a multinational network of Black LGBT Pride and community-based organizations. There are over forty plus Black Pride events around the globe with over 250,000 attendees each year.
Prior to working at the Center For Black Equity, Earl previously served fifteen years as the Executive Director of the DC Comprehensive AIDS Resources and Education Consortium (DC CARE Consortium) and Damien Ministries, organizations that provided services to Person Living With HIV/AIDS in Washington, DC. Earl has worked on health, political and LGBTQ issues in many communities for nearly thirty years. Earl currently serves as Chair of the DC Commission on Human Rights, and was former chair of the DC Mayor’s GLBT Advisory Committee.
Earl has always been politically active focusing on voter registration and getting out the vote activities particularly among communities of color and LGBT Democrats. In 2009, he was appointed by then Virginia Governor Tim Kaine as an At-Large member of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). In August 2013, Earl was reappointed, and elected Chair of the DNC LGBT Caucus. In December 2014, he was elected President of the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club which is the second oldest LGBT Democratic Club in the United States
Earl has received numerous honors and awards for his community service, and was named one of three 2013 Grand Marshalls of the Heritage of Pride (NYC Gay Pride) along with Harry Belafonte and Edith Windsor. In September 2014, Earl was given the 2014 Wanda Alston Democratic Service Award by the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club in Washington, DC. Earl is considered an expert on LGBT and HIV/AIDS issues. He has written numerous articles and op-eds, and has appeared on the Roland Martin and Michael Baisden shows. Earl currently resides in Washington, DC.
Resistance is what love looks like in the face of U.S. policies of global military supremacy, “preemptive war” and “defensive strikes” by lethal drones.
The Rev. Chris J. Antal is the called and settled minister of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Rock Tavern, New York. Prior to that he was a chaplain in the U.S. Army and served one tour in Afghanistan. While there he witnessed armed drones and since then he has joined the growing number of religious voices resisting U.S. drone policy. His ministry has been featured in Disarmament Times and Sojourners and his public resignation in protest was reported on Democracy Now!, in Army Times, and on ABC news.
He is active in the D.C. based Interfaith Working Group on Drone Warfare and joined their delegation as the Unitarian Universalist Representative for Disarmament, Peace and Security Advocacy at a recent meeting on drone killing with staff members of the National Security Council.
Join us as we open up to the season of Advent with reflections on “Calm” by Michael A. Smith. This book focuses on developing a sense of calm and mindfulness to improve one’s own life and the world. These evenings programs will run from 7:00 – 8:30 pm at the Dignity Center and will include soft drinks and light snacks. We will meet on the four Tuesdays of Advent: November 29 – December 20. All are welcome, and sign-ups will be available in the back of church in the next few weeks. Denis and Jeff will lead the discussion.
Jesus said to his disciples, “Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come. It is like a man traveling abroad. He leaves home and places his servants in charge, each with his work, and orders the gatekeeper to be on the watch. Watch, therefore; you do not know when the lord of the house is coming, whether in the
evening, or at midnight, or at cockcrow, or in the morning. May he not come suddenly and find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to all: Watch!” —Mark 13:33-37
Dignity/NoVA will celebrate mass on Christmas Eve at Immanuel Church on the Hill (3606 Seminary Road
Alexandria, Virginia) at 7:30pm followed by a potluck dessert social. Of course, all are welcome!
Dignity/Washington will celebrate Christmas mass on Sunday, December 25 at 6:00 PM at St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church.
All are welcome to join and bring any family or friends visiting for the holidays with you.
On Sunday December 4, at 7:15 pm, at St. Margaret’s Church (1820 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20009) Dr. Ibrahim Sundiata will speak on “Sex, Slavery, and the Church.” Slavery and marriage have something in common – both are nearly institutions. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all have urged clemency and manumission. Yet, the expansion of each has called into question the regulation of unequal sexual relations, property and labor.
It was only about two-hundred and fifty years ago that the movement for the total abolition of slavery everywhere came about. Debate rocked the Roman Catholic Church, from Georgetown in D.C. to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. Eventually, abolition became incorporated into Church social policy as an integral part of its social mission. The struggle should remind us of the current struggles around sexuality, gender, and reproductive and civil rights that continue to confront us.
On Saturday evening, October 1, the Dignity/Washington community will gather for our 44th anniversary dinner. This is a potluck event, so please bring your best and most mouth-watering dish for the community to share.
Kenneth Dowling presents award to Martin Witchger at Dignity Washington 42nd Anniversary Dinner
Tickets will be sold beginning Sunday, September 11 after mass, in the social hall. Tickets will be $20 each; scholarships are available.
In addition to the potluck dinner, there will be a silent auction. If you are interested in donating items for the silent auction, please submit a list of items to Vin Testa (vtesta914@gmail.com) for approval. No more than 5 items per donor and the total inventory will not exceed 60 items. Items will be accepted until Sunday, September 25. Thank you in advance, and we hope to see you on October 1!
In the final weekend of July, three current young adult members of Dignity/Washington (Michaela, Keith, and Martín) joined a group of about twenty other LGBTQ young adults from around the country for a retreat in Chicago with the theme “Telling Our Story, Creating a Home.”
The retreat was led by Judy Brown of the Hesed Project. Judy — a long-time parish faith formation leader and retreat facilitator — was fun, energetic and a great storyteller herself, and she led the group through personal and small-group reflection time to help tell our own stories.
The storytelling concept was based on the premise that there is too much violence in the world, and that violence comes from fear, and that people fear what they don’t know. So if we tell our stories and become known, we can help dispel fear, reduce violence, and make a more peaceful world.
Throughout Saturday, the retreatants told their stories in their small groups and then workshopped them with others to tell it in any creative way they wanted in preparation for an evening of storytelling to the whole group. Members of Dignity/Chicago brought dinner and shared the meal with the young adults and guests then shared an evening listening to the prepared stories of about 10 young adults. Each story was powerful and heartfelt — some devastating, painful, or humorous — but all were very real and honest about the struggles of coming out as LGBTQ to themselves, with their families, and in their faith communities. It was a powerful witness to the real struggles that so many in our community find ourselves and to the courage and perseverance to continue to live and to love among a society and a church that too often does not want to accept or see us and our full human dignity. It was also a blessing and affirmation to our community to know that so many of us have found a wonderful home with Dignity.
A young adult tells his story.
Young adults with members of Dignity/Chicago enjoying dinner together.
A special focus throughout the weekend was learning and brainstorming how we can be more inclusive and attentive to the trans* individuals among us. We learned and discussed the unique struggles and challenges that trans* people go through and many simple things we can do with our spaces, our language, and our activism.
The weekend ended on Sunday morning with a discussion with DignityUSA board members and leaders Mark Matson and Bob Butts to hear from young adults about our vision and hopes for the future of DignityUSA — how the society and world is changing, and how the organization must as well. Many ideas were shared and be sure this will be an ongoing conversation in the months and years to come.
Many thanks to the several chapters, including Dignity/Washington, and DignityUSA who helped sponsor the retreat — as well as the several individuals from Dignity/Washington who donated on their own to help send young adults from our chapter to the retreat. It was truly a spirit-filled weekend that helped bring young adults from across the country together in loving fellowship and closer to Dignity as we build the next generation of DignityUSA.
Young adults with Dignity/Chicago guests.
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