Worship Musician March 2018 | Page 16

On a Mission in the City of Angels AN INTERVIEW WITH MARIAH McMANUS by Mitch Bohannon Mosaic church is the Los Angeles-based For our church, we’ve never owned a building, [Mariah] Every once in a while, I do. At the church founded by Erwin McManus. Erwin’s at least we haven’t in 15 years. So we went beginning, I was pretty “green.” A lot of how I daughter Mariah is now following in her father’s from nightclub to nightclub and that’s what I learned was just kind of having to do it on stage footsteps as worship pastor. grew up doing. We’re now in Hollywood. It’s and having to scramble at the last minute. I definitely been a journey, but that’s where I don’t lead with the guitar as much as I used started…a teenager singing in a nightclub. to anymore. [WM] Do you play an instrument? [WM] Do you use guitar or piano in your [WM] The worship ministry there is called Mosaic MSC. Is the MSC an abbreviation of the Mosaic name? songwriting – one over the other? [Mariah McManus] Yeah and also for “Music” [Mariah] Yeah, so my dad (Erwin McManus), he bought my brother and I every instrument [Mariah] Um, probably the piano more in [WM] You’ve been leading Mosaic Worship for one Christmas just to see if we could learn, songwriting. a while. What was it like at the beginning? and he made it a little competition because my [Mariah] I’ve been volunteering for eleven brother and I are really competitive. So I grew [WM] You mentioned that you started up playing the drums and the piano and guitar. volunteering in worship eleven years ago and years and I’ve been on staff for five years. went on staff five years ago (2013). How had At the beginning, we met every Sunday at a [WM] What instrument would be the one that nightclub called “The Mayan” in downtown stuck with you the most? Los Angeles. It’s the #1 salsa nightclub in the country. So, when I started singing at Mosaic, I [Mariah] Well, when we were at The Mayan, [Mariah] Probably guitar. we didn’t focus as much on worship because was 15-years-old in a nightclub! It’s really a fun story, but kinda crazy at the same time! 16 the church changed by 2013? our church, even still to this day… one thing [WM] Do you lead worship with the guitar? March 2018 that hasn’t changed is the majority of our WorshipMusician.com MOSAIC MSC