Nick Scanlan wrote his first praise and worship song as a teenager, soon after his confirmation. “It was something that seemed to kind of spill out of me,” he said. “I’d never experienced that before. So, I started to ask the Lord: ’Do you want me to do something with this?’”

  • He grew up in the greater Milwaukee area.
  • He graduated from Trinity Academy High School in 2010 and Franciscan University of Steubenville in 2015.
  • He has worked in youth ministry at St. Gabriel Parish, Hubertus, and St. Charles Parish, Hartland, and now pursues music ministry full time.
  • He and his wife, Maryellen, are the parents of two daughters, Tessa and Fiona.

— To learn more about his ministry, visit nickscanlanmusic.com

You’ve been focusing on music ministry full time for the past two years. What has that been like for you?

It’s turned into quite a busy thing. Throughout the school year, I’ve been doing a lot of retreats and speaking engagements and praise and worship for adoration at a number of different parishes. In the summer, I travel more. I’ve done a number of camps around the country for Life Teen, and I got to play on a side stage for the National Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis two years ago. Right now, I’m working on my first album and I’m starting a new ministry called Ardor where I go to people’s homes for an evening of praise and worship music.

Were you always really passionate about music?

It’s always been a part of me and a part of my life. I’ve always had a song on my lips. I picked up guitar junior year of high school, and when I served with NET Ministries (a national Catholic missionary youth ministry organization) I did music with my team. When I was at Franciscan, I led music for Mass and for the praise and worship nights. Then when I was a youth minister, it was very useful to have that be a part of our different events. It’s always lived alongside of the other things that I’ve been doing.

You have a pretty cool family connection to Franciscan University of Steubenville. Tell me about that.

My dad is the nephew of (former Steubenville chancellor) Fr. Michael Scanlan, who was the guy who made the campus what it is today. He passed away in 2017, and what struck me when we went out to Franciscan for his funeral was that I wouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for that man.

How’s that?

My mom got really into her faith in high school and wanted to find an authentically Catholic university, and that’s what led her to Franciscan. My parents met there and got married in the chapel on campus. I was baptized there, and when I went to Franciscan to study catechetics, I met my wife, Maryellen, and we were married in that same chapel. There’s a lot of heritage there for us. When I was at Fr. Michael’s funeral, I was really struck by what God can do with the faithfulness of just one individual, and how that can have ripple effects on the Church as a whole.

Tell me about a spiritual experience you’ve had that changed the direction of your life.

There was one moment in high school where I was praying in front of the tabernacle, and for the first time in my life I heard the Lord really clearly say something to me. It was: “Love these, your brothers and sisters.” I just got the sense that he meant the young people around me. That next year, I served with NET Ministries and spent a year working with teens at a parish in Lakeville, Minnesota. By the end of that, I knew youth ministry was what I wanted to do. It’s such a unique privilege to be able to walk with people at this point in their life, when they’re making so many decisions, when they’re open to new ideas, but also really, truly considering things for the first time.

What are you hoping to do with your new project, Ardor Ministries?

With Ardor, I want to help people encounter the Lord in a more intimate setting. People are hosting me in their homes, along with whoever they want to invite, and we just do a night of praise and worship. We’re just praying together — it’s not complicated.

Where does the name come from?

After encountering Christ but not recognizing him, the men on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35) say, “Were not our hearts burning within us?” The Latin word for “burn,” is ardere, which is where we get the word “ardor.” When I’ve gone to prayer and asked the Lord what I can offer his Church on the local level, what I’ve landed on is that he wants me to share the passion I have for him. The love, the intensity, the enthusiasm, the zeal for his name, for the Church, for the Holy Spirit.

Nick Scanlan (Submitted Photo).

Nick Scanlan shares a lighthearted moment with his wife, Maryellen, and daughters, Tessa and Fiona. Scanlan, a former parish youth minister, now serves in full-time Catholic music ministry and is launching a new outreach called Ardor Ministries. (Submitted photo)