Candidates for Dignity/Washington Board of Directors

Dignity/Washington has six candidates running for open seats on the chapter’s Board of Directors. Please see the candidates photos and a brief statement from each below. You must be a member of Dignity/Washington in order to vote. The vote will be on Sunday, May 10.
 

 
Daniel Barutta, Chapter President
With great appreciation for all the wonderful support Dignity/Washington members have given me during my three years as Chapter President, I humbly ask for your support for a fourth term as your President.
You all have helped me grow by leaps and bounds in my Catholic faith and have helped expand my leadership skills. In return I would greatly enjoy showing my gratitude by focusing on these three major areas: expanding our diversity efforts, ensuring the upkeep and renovation of our wonderful Dignity Center and working on improving our community infrastructure as a non-profit organization.
As for my qualifications for the position, an old song comes to mind with the lyrics: “if you don’t know me by now….”. Seriously for those of you new to the community please don’t hesitate to speak with at mass or whenever you see me.
Again, Thank You all so much – I have been truly blessed to be your President!

 
Tom Bower
I have been a member of Dignity/Washington since 1977, was on the board during the early years of the organization and rejoined the board ten years ago. I have served as Secretary, Vice President, helped organize Anniversary dinners, and am a lector, Eucharistic Minister, and member of the Liturgy Committee. My continuing thought on rejoining the board was that I would offer historical observations to current plans, not as a statement of this is what we have done, but as insights that could help instruct current opportunities. We are now more forward looking than at any time in the past and that is a good thing.

Several years ago the D/W board decided to put our future in the hands of the Holy Spirit and place renewing the community physically and fiscally as our primary goal. By the grace of God and a generous unafraid membership we have put ourselves in a sound financial position and are now attracting new, younger, and more diverse individuals (sexual and racial minorities) to our services and organizational processes. A good idea and enthusiasm are the needed credentials for activities and leadership, not just experience which is used as leavening to provide structure for growth. There is still much to do for us to be seen as a force for good by the Church hierarchy and for us to be a valued voice for Christ’s teachings by the LGBT community, but, with your vote, I will continue to work as hard as possible to make both of those goals reality.

Jake Hudson
It has been an honor and a pleasure to serve on the Dignity/Washington board of directors. I continue to be enriched by the activities of the community and the work of many devoted people. The past year has seen much work to reaching out to women, youth, and people of color and I hope to continue those efforts. I will also continue in my role as treasurer to maintain the sound fiscal policies that have served the community well.

David Lamdin
I have been a member of Dignity Washington and Dignity USA since 1975. I have also been a member of Dignity Northern Virginia since its founding in 1992. I have served as the Treasurer of D/NoVA since 2006, and I have been the DW Bookkeeper since 2011. I have been on the DW Liturgy Committee and in charge of scheduling the presiders and other ministers for many years. I am pleased to have the opportunity to offer my services to my DW faith community.

James Sweeney
1) Dignity Washington has unique opportunities in 2015 to be a voice on GLBT issues in the American Catholic Church. There will be a papal visit to DC and Philadelphia in September, a worldwide Synod on the Family in Rome in October and an annual gathering of all American Catholic bishops in Baltimore in November. As the largest local chapter in the USA located at the center of the action, we at Dignity Washington should engage the American Catholic bishops this year on both a local and national level. Our first goal should the elimination of “inherently disordered”.

2) We should develop new programs to address the changing spiritual and material needs of the numerous aging members of our congregation

3) We have done an impressive job of attracting younger men and have given them opportunities to develop leadership and organizational skills. Many of these young men relocate out of DC and will carry these skills to other local chapters of Dignity and perhaps even found new ones. We should continue to develop and encourage these young men; they are the future.

4) Our efforts to encourage the participation of women in Dignity Washington have not been as fruitful and remain the great weakness of our congregation. We should redouble our efforts to recruit female participation and offer women the same opportunities to develop their leadership and organizational skills that we offer to young men.

Kevin Hennessy
Mark and I have been Dignity Washington members since 1998. I have had the privilege of serving on the Board for two terms already, including as Treasurer during the second term. I currently serve as a lector. I look forward to re-joining the Board and serving in a more in-depth manner again.