Fr. Wessman, Fr. Dorsey, Brother Larry
Father Dan Dorsey, 68, was elected president of Glenmary Home Missioners during the society’s Chapter of Elections May 6-10 at St. Meinrad Archabbey in St. Meinrad, Ind.
Glenmary’s president leads a three-person executive council consisting of himself and two vice presidents. Elected to serve with Father Dorsey were Father Aaron Wessman, GHM, as first vice president, and Brother Larry Johnson, GHM, as second vice president.
Father Dorsey, a native of St. Louis, is returning to the office of president after serving in that post from 2003 to 2011. In the interim, he has served as co-director of Glenmary’s novitiate program. Father Dorsey also served as first vice president from 1999 to 2003. He succeeds Father Chet Artysiewicz.
First vice president Father Wessman, 37, begins his first term on the council after serving as pastor of Holy Spirit Church in Windsor, N.C., since 2017. Father Wessman, who grew up in Cokato, Minn., made his final oath with Glenmary in 2011 and was ordained in 2012. He also has served as an associate in the Diocese of Knoxville at Glenmary-led Catholic missions in Union and Grainger counties.
Brother Larry, 66, was re-elected as second vice president after serving in that role since 2015. He has been involved in youth and social outreach ministry. Brother Larry is from Cleveland, Ohio, and has served Glenmary in Tennessee, Arkansas, Georgia, and Kentucky in his more than 40 years as a missioner. The new executive council’s term runs through 2023.
Glenmary Home Missioners, also known as the Home Missioners of America, are a Catholic society of priests and brothers based in Cincinnati who, along with co-workers, are dedicated to serving the spiritual and material needs of people living in mission counties throughout Appalachia and the South.
The Glenmary Home Missioners currently lead the parishes of St. Teresa of Kolkata in Maynardville and St. Michael the Archangel in Erwin as well as the Catholic mission St. John Paul II in Rutledge.
