Meet Our Priests

Frs. Byron Hagan and Bryce Evans began ministry at St. Mary’s as co-pastors on 1 July 2021. They are diocesan priests aspiring to establish an Oratory of St. Philip Neri in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. The Oratory is a form of communal life in the Church, wherein priests and brothers commit themselves to the pursuit of common life in fraternal charity with the aim of building up a lay community in prayer and apostolic work. We are in prayer for our new pastors and the apostolate of St. Mary’s Lowertown during this exciting time of transition.

Fr. Byron Hagan

Born and raised in upstate New York. Trained in classical and jazz piano, during high school attended Eastman School of Music Preparatory Division. Studio musician and composer in Nashville and Los Angeles 1990-2007. Received into full communion with the Catholic Church in 2006. Began studies for the priesthood in 2007. B.A. in Philosophy, Latin, Catholic Studies (Univ. of St. Thomas); Master of Divinity and Master of Arts in Theology (UST St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity). Ordained to the priesthood 2015. Parochial Vicar of Epiphany Coon Rapids (2015-16), Divine Mercy Faribault (2016-17), Holy Cross NE Minneapolis (2017-2021). Co-Pastor of St. Mary’s Lowertown St. Paul July 2021 to present. Tutor in the Anselm House Fellows Program at the Univ. of Minnesota since September 2021. Adjunct Instructor of Theology at the St. Paul Seminary, Spring 2022. Half-time Catholic Chaplain at Regions Hospital since July 2021.

Fr. Byron Hagan

Born and raised in upstate New York. Trained in classical and jazz piano, during high school attended Eastman School of Music Preparatory Division. Studio musician and composer in Nashville and Los Angeles 1990-2007. Received into full communion with the Catholic Church in 2006. Began studies for the priesthood in 2007. B.A. in Philosophy, Latin, Catholic Studies (Univ. of St. Thomas); Master of Divinity and Master of Arts in Theology (UST St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity) where he published a thesis on the metaphysical theology of St. Thomas Aquinas. Ordained to the priesthood 2015. Parochial Vicar of Epiphany Coon Rapids (2015-16), Divine Mercy Faribault (2016-17), Holy Cross NE Minneapolis (2017-21). Co-Pastor of St. Mary’s Lowertown St. Paul July 2021 to present. Tutor in the Anselm House Fellows Program at the Univ. of Minnesota since Fall 2021. Adjunct Instructor of Theology at the Univ. St. Thomas St. Paul Seminary/School of Divinity, Spring 2022. Half-time Catholic Chaplain at Regions Hospital since July 2021.

Fr. Bryce Evans

Born and raised in Corcoran, Minnesota, Fr. Evans attended Marquette University in Milwaukee, earning a degree in Theology in 2006. After graduating, he spent three years discerning religious life with the Society of Jesus, including spans at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, the Jesuit Novitiate in Saint Paul, and the Jesuit house of studies at Fordham University in the Bronx. In 2010, he departed the Jesuits, and, after some months of formation at the Casa Balthasar in Rome, spent a year volunteering with Catholic Youth Expeditions in the diocese of Green Bay, WI. In 2011, he resumed his seminary formation at Mundelein Seminary in the archdiocese of Chicago. In 2013, he returned home to complete his formation at the St. Paul Seminary, where he earned a Masters of Divinity and a Master of Arts in Theology. He was ordained to the priesthood at the St. Paul Cathedral in May of 2017. Prior to his service at Saint Mary’s, he served as parochial vicar at Holy Name of Jesus parish in Medina, MN, from 2017 to 2019, and at Our Lady of Lourdes in Minneapolis from 2019 to 2021. Between Fall 2019 and Spring 2023 Fr. Evans served as part-time chaplain and co-director of the Habiger Institute for Leadership at the Center for Catholic Studies at the University of St. Thomas and between Fall 2021 and Spring 2023 as Adjunct Instructor of Theology and Catholic Studies. In July of 2021, he was appointed by Archbishop Bernard Hebda as co-pastor of St. Mary’s. Fr. Evans is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Sacred Theology at the University of St. Mary-by-the-Lake in Mundelein, Illinois. 

Fr. Bryce Evans

Born and raised in Corcoran, Minnesota, Fr. Evans attended Marquette University in Milwaukee, earning a degree in Theology in 2006. After graduating, he spent three years discerning religious life with the Society of Jesus, including spans at the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, the Jesuit Novitiate in Saint Paul, and the Jesuit house of studies at Fordham University in the Bronx. In 2010, he departed the Jesuits, and, after some months of formation at the Casa Balthasar in Rome, spent a year volunteering with Catholic Youth Expeditions in the diocese of Green Bay, WI. In 2011, he resumed his seminary formation at Mundelein Seminary in the archdiocese of Chicago. In 2013, he returned home to complete his formation at the St. Paul Seminary, where he earned a Masters of Divinity and a Master of Arts in Theology, publishing a thesis on the fundamental theology of John Henry Newman and Joseph Ratzinger. He was ordained to the priesthood at the St. Paul Cathedral in May of 2017. Prior to his service at Saint Mary’s, he served as parochial vicar at Holy Name of Jesus parish in Medina, MN, from 2017 to 2019, and at Our Lady of Lourdes in Minneapolis from 2019 to 2021. Between Fall 2019 and Spring 2023 Fr. Evans served as part-time chaplain and co-director of the Habiger Institute for Leadership at the Center for Catholic Studies at the University of St. Thomas and between Fall 2021 and Spring 2023 as Adjunct Instructor of Theology and Catholic Studies. In July of 2021, he was appointed by Archbishop Bernard Hebda as co-pastor of St. Mary’s. Fr. Evans is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Sacred Theology at the University of St. Mary-by-the-Lake in Mundelein, Illinois. 

Monthly newsletters sent right to your inbox