Meet Our Pastor

Father Albert van der Woerd (1960) is a native of the Netherlands and a graduate of the Rotterdam Conservatory and Saint John Seminary, Camarillo. He holds advanced degrees in Music Education, Divinity, and Spiritual Theology. Ordained by Archbishop Gomez in 2016, his first assignment was as Associate Pastor at the Mission Basilica San Buenaventura.

In July 2019, he was appointed Administrator of St. Mark and was installed as Pastor on July 10, 2021, by Bishop Edward Clark. He has started energetically to help unlock Saint Mark's great potential for the future, growing as an authentic and diverse Catholic community. Living in the United States since 2009, Fr. Albert perfected the art of baking Flemish fries with American potatoes and the Dutch delicacy of Stroopwafels using ingredients from Californian soil. If you are early on campus, you can hear him practicing Beethoven Sonatas on the piano or his Jazz improvisations on the sax. His day of reflection is on Monday.

If you would like to listen to a sample of his preaching, click HERE to be directed to his Podcast of daily liturgy.