State VOAD leadership is comprised of Members from across the State. For information on how to get in contact with our team, please click below on the team member you wish to contact or visit our Contact Us page.
Pastor Phil is the Chairperson of Maryland VOAD. He is a member representative for Lutheran Disaster Response (Delaware-Maryland Synod, ELCA).
Pastor Phil has been a disaster consultant for the Lutheran Church since 1985, when he responded to his first disaster as a parish pastor in West Virginia following the remnants of Hurricane Juan depositing 24″ of rain in 30 hours on the Potomac Highlands. Since then, he as responded to 18 Federally declared disasters throughout the eastern United States and Caribbean. He now serves as Disaster Response Coordinator for Maryland and Delaware for Lutheran Disaster Response through Delaware-Maryland Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
He provides expertise in assisting communities to establish and form Long Term Recovery Committees and Disaster Staff, Disaster Management and Logistics, and Disaster Case Management. At the request of the Somerset County Long Term Recovery Committee, he helped lead their efforts after Superstorm Sandy, from October 2012 through September 2015.
He has served as Chairperson of Maryland VOAD since March 2017. He can be reached by cell phone or text messaging at (410) 375-5053 or by email at chairperson@marylandvoad.org.
Pastor Shawn Paris serves as the Vice-Chairperson of the Maryland VOAD. He serves as the member representative for Adventist Community Services and Disaster Response of the Chesapeake Conference of Seventh-day Adventists.
Pastor Shawn became involved in disaster response during the COVID-19 pandemic where he worked to start food pantries in Western Maryland. Since then, he has continued to work with community services and disaster response and was appointed Director of ACS for the Chesapeake Conference of Seventh-day Adventists in 2023.
Jenn Dorsch-Messler is the Secretary for Maryland VOAD. She is a member representative for Mennonite Disaster Service.
Bruce Morgenstern is Treasurer for Maryland VOAD. He is a member representative for Anne Arundel County & City of Annapolis Community Emergency Response Team.
Hajra Qazi is the Communications Coordinator for Maryland VOAD. She is a member representative for Islamic Relief USA.