By Joseph Back

A Hastings area priest will soon celebrate 30 years of serving the people.

Father Mike Tix, currently serving St. Matthias in Hampton, St. Mary’s in New Trier and St. John the Baptist at Vermillion, was ordained a priest May 30, 1992 at the St. Paul Cathedral by then archbishop John Roach.

With scheduling details making the anniversary celebration to June 26, 2022 with a 10 a.m. Mass at St. Matthias in Hampton followed with an open house picnic from 11 a.m. 2 p.m., we talked a bit with Father Tix on how he came to be where he is, and chose the priesthood.

This is what he had to say: “I grew up in Hampton, grew up in town,” the Hasting High School graduate class of 1982 said. “Somewhere along the way, and it’s hard to pinpoint them, there was the idea of being a priest. Not knowing what to do senior year I was torn,” he said.

With the idea persistent but unsure what to do, it was off to Dakota Technical College for a 昀rst degree in agribusiness.

“What tipped the scale for me, was that if I wasn’t a priest I would probably work in agribusiness,” Tix said of attending Dakota County Technical College after high school. Later encouraged by his mom to check out the priesthood idea that he had been considering for some time, Tix entered seminary, graduating eight years later after earning two degrees, one from the University of Saint Thomas and the other from St. Paul Seminary, then being ordained on May 30, 1992.

From there, it was straight into ministry. Tix started out as associate pastor at St. John’s in Savage from 1992 to 1994, then spent a year at the Cathedral in St. Paul from 1994 to 1995.

Following this, he served in Rich昀eld, developing a Hispanic ministry as the neighborhoods changed. Serving at Rich昀eld from 1995 to 2004, Tix next returned to Savage for 13 years, at which time the bishop asked Tix to serve on his staff as vicar general, which Tix did. The last three years, Tix has been parish administrator at the three independent parishes of St. Matthias in Hampton, St. John the Baptist in Vermillion, and St. Mary’s in New Trier. The return home has been one he wasn’t expecting, but nonetheless grateful for. “And to see the parishes thrive,” Tix added. So what if others have similar ideas to Tix when he graduated back in 1982? We asked him.

“God uses people in lots of different ways,” the area pastor said. “The important thing is to be open to it and check it out. Don’t be afraid to pursue your dreams.”