Fr. Tim Hedrick was born and raised in Metairie, Louisiana. He attended St. Clement of Rome, Christians Brothers School (1995), and Archbishop Rummel High School (2000). Fr. Tim attended LSU and earned a Bachelors of Sciene degree in Information Systems and Decision Sciences in 2004.
After graduating from LSU, Fr. Tim worked as a parish youth minister at St. Thomas More in Baton Rouge for two years. After STM, Fr. Tim taught sophomores Sacred Scripture and served as the Campus Ministry and Theology Department Chair at Redemptorist High School in Baton Rouge. In 2008, Fr. Tim entered the seminary and studied at St. Joseph Seminary College. He graduated in 2010 earning a Bachelors of Arts degree in Philophy and Theological Studies. Fr. Tim completed his theological studies at Notre Dame Seminary and graduated in 2014 after earning a Masters of Divinity degree.
Fr. Tim was ordained a transitional deacon on May 18, 2013 and a priest of Jesus Christ on June 7, 2014 by Archbishop Gregory Aymond at St. Louis Cathedral. He is currently assigned to St. Catherine of Siena Parish in Metairie while also working on a licentiate in Canon Law at Catholic University of America.
"I did not always know that I was called to the priesthood. When I was growing up, I was an altar boy, but never really considered being a priest. The thought would pop into my mind every now and then, but I really wanted to be a doctor, lawyer, or firefighter. The idea of being a priest became more of a possibility when I was a student at Archbishop Rummel High School. At Rummel, through the example of young religion teachers such as then Beau Charbonnet, now Fr. Beau Charbonnet, I came to know more about my faith and choose to live it not because my parents raised me Catholic, but because I wanted to. I came to know Jesus in a personal way. It was also at Rummel that I really got to know a priest for the first time. Fr. Wayne Roca, S.J.’s joy and love of priesthood and the Catholic Church were inspiring. Even though the idea crossed my mind, I thought, “Not me…at least not now.”
When I went to LSU, I got involved at the Catholic Center on campus. When I graduated from LSU in 2004, I decided not to work in my field of study but rather as a youth minister. I wanted to be a beacon of hope for teenagers in the same ways that my teachers and youth ministers were beacons of hope for me. When I started working, I was dating a girl during my senior year of college. As I transitioned to the working world, I didn’t do a good job of balancing work and a girlfriend. After a few months, we broke up and I found myself working as a single man in a church parish. Working at St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Baton Rouge was two of the best years of my life. All of the passing thoughts of priesthood began to resurface. I thought to myself, “If I live this life, I can be happy…I can be fulfilled.” Even though I felt the call and knew I would probably enter seminary eventually, I was not ready. I decided to teach high school while I continued to discern. After two more years of discerning, I finally decided I would give it a chance. I entered seminary at St. Joseph Seminary College in August of 2008. After two years of studying philosophy at St. Joseph Seminary College, I graduated and move to Notre Dame Seminary. While ever moment of seminary has not been easy, I have no regrets for entering seminary. Seminary was very formative personally, intellectually, spiritually, and pastorally. I did not enter knowing that I would be a priest. I entered knowing that I felt God was calling me to consider a vocation. I was open to a call to the priesthood and that I was willing to take time to seriously consider whether God and the Church were calling me to priestly ministry."