Father Thomas P. Vander Woude has been named pastor of St. Mary of Sorrows Church in Fairfax, effective June 27. He has been pastor of Holy Trinity Church in Gainesville since 2011.
Father Vander Woude was born March 26, 1966, in Meridian, Miss., but he has deep roots in the Arlington diocese. The oldest of seven sons, he attended school in Marietta, Ga., until his parents moved their family to Nokesville so their sons could attend Seton High School in Manassas.
After graduating from Seton in 1984 and earning a bachelor of arts in history from Christendom College in Front Royal in 1988, Father Vander Woude began his priestly formation at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md. He served his diaconate year at St. Joseph Church in Herndon, and was ordained May 16, 1992, by Arlington Bishop John R. Keating.
His first assignment was as parochial vicar at the Basilica of St. Mary in Alexandria, 1992-94. He was parochial vicar at St. Catherine of Siena Church in Great Falls, 1994-98; St. Agnes Church in Arlington, 1998-2001; and parochial administrator of St. Elizabeth of Hungary Church in Colonial Beach, 2001-03, and St. Anthony Mission in King George, where he served as pastor, 2003-06. He was pastor of Queen of Apostles Church in Alexandria, 2006-11, immediately before he became pastor of Holy Trinity Church.
