As a student at Franciscan University, Connor Flanagan ’11 was probably best known as a basketball player, but behind closed doors with his guitar, he was a budding singer and songwriter.
“I always loved music and always have been enamored with live music,” he says. “I was captivated by the joy created in a room when someone was using his or her gifts and talents. I have a joy the Lord has given me that I can’t contain. I want to share it and bring it about with other people.”
Although Connor started sharing his songs while he was at Franciscan and even played one at a talent show in Gaming, Austria, he went on to be a youth minister after graduation and later became director of Marketing and Creative at St. Paul’s Outreach (SPO) in Minnesota.
Two years ago, as his wife, Katie, was expecting their fourth child, he decided to pursue music full-time, recording albums, performing at Christian music festivals and other venues, and being a voice for Catholics in the broader Christian music industry.
“This was always the call on my life,” he says. “We had been praying about it, and it was not a matter of if, but when.” After five years at SPO, he moved on. “My plan was trusting God’s faithfulness,” he says, “and I felt called to stay where I had been planted in SPO until I felt called away.”
Connor says he and Katie were able to take this step because they believed they could pursue the dreams God had placed on their hearts while still fully embracing family life. Since then, their family has grown to five children—four daughters ages 2 through 8 and a boy who was born last August.
Meanwhile, Connor’s music is thriving (connorflanaganmusic.com). He recently released Seasons, his fourth album, and has completed a 20-show tour, sharing his new songs with audiences across the country.
“I’m like any entrepreneur,” Connor says, acknowledging the riskiness of building a music business, but adding, “We fully trust the Lord, and he has provided very specifically in ways that show us he’s got this.”
In 2026, Connor will be putting out a new project inspired by the Psalms and will be making his way around the Christian music festival circuit. According to his website, he has been described as a hip-hop artist with a worship leader’s heart, a combination that makes him unique in the Catholic space.
Still, he says, he wants nothing more than to be a witness to trusting God completely with his dreams and desires.
“We need more people trusting God with their creative gifts. Our world needs Catholics taking bigger risks with their lives for the sake of the Kingdom of God.”
