Please welcome our new Pastor, Reverend Andrew T. Wakefield from St. Patrick Church in Washington, D.C. who will be at St. John’s starting July 5. Originally from Ann Arbor, Michigan, Fr. Andrew graduated from Albion College where he majored in history and then came to Washington, DC where he worked in area social service agencies through his participation in the Jesuit Volunteer Corp.  After his “Ruined for Life” year in JVC, he attended the University of Michigan where he earned degrees in law and public policy before returning to Washington.  After working as a contract attorney for a couple of years, he entered the seminary and was in the first class at the Archdiocese of Washington’s own St. John Paul II Seminary and completed his seminary formation at Theological College, through which he earned his theological degrees from The Catholic University of America.  During his time in the seminary, Fr. Andrew completed pastoral placements in various archdiocesan parishes, as well as a L’Arche community and the Pastoral Care Office at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital.  He also participated in the Institute for Priestly Formation Summer Program for Diocesan Seminarians and completed the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. 

Fr. Andrew was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Washington by Cardinal Wuerl in 2017 (on the same day as his parents’ 40th anniversary!), and he served as Parochial Vicar at Annunciation Catholic Church in Northwest Washington, Assistant Chaplain at George Washington University, and Administrator and Pastor at St. Joseph Parish in Beltsville, Maryland, before being assigned as Pastor at St. Patrick Catholic Church. 

Fr. Wakefield will become Pastor of St. John the Baptist on Wednesday, July 5.