Father Derek Lappe
Pastor
Father Derek Lappe has been the pastor of Our Lady Star of the Sea since July 1, 2008.
Born in 1972, the second of five children, Father Lappe spent most of his youth in Longview, Washington and attended St. Rose de Viterbo parish. He discovered his vocation to the priesthood when he was a sophomore in high school. Through prayer and study, his love for Christ and the Church grew and helped him to say yes to God’s plan for his life.
After high school, Father Lappe attended community college for a couple of years before being accepted as a seminarian for the Archdiocese of Seattle and entered Mount Angel Seminary. In 1996, Archbishop Murphy sent him to Rome to study Theology at the Pontifical North American College. On June 10, 2000, he was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Alexander Brunett.
After his ordination, Father Lappe served as an associate pastor in Grays Harbor for one year, at St. Charles in Tacoma for one year, as pastor of St. Thomas Aquinas in Camas for six years, and is now at Our Lady Star of the Sea.
He loves his life as a priest and works hard to build a parish family centered on the Person of Jesus in the Eucharist and the teachings of the Gospels. In his free time Fr. Lappe likes to go backpacking and hunting.