Fr. Mark L. Smith was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Washington on May 28, 2005. He serves as pastor of Holy Redeemer Church as well as an adjunct faculty member at Saint John Paul II Seminary in Washington, DC. Before moving to Holy Redeemer, he most recently served as Pastor of the historical 250 year old parish of St. Joseph in Pomfret, MD. Before that he was Associate Pastor of another Holy Redeemer Parish, in Kensington, MD. During that time, he also served as Assistant Vocation Director. Fr. Mark spent his first two years of seminary at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, MD and the final four years at Immaculate Conception Seminary in South Orange, New Jersey. Fr. Mark grew up in Rockville and followed his 10 older brothers and sisters through St. Mary’s Elementary School in Rockville. Then he was on to Our Lady of Good Counsel High School and Towson State University to study Business Administration. With this undergrad, he worked in business and owned his own fitness training company until discerning his true vocation through involvement in a parish Young Adult Group.