Deacon Michael Halbrook
Husband and father.
Catholic deacon.
Founder and builder.
How do you know me?
Then you know the deacon part. You probably don't know about the thirty years in media and tech before it, or what I’m building now.
Writing
I write for Missio Dei every Tuesday, reflecting on that day’s Mass readings and Gospel. The rest of my writing - on the Mass, the diaconate, liturgy, and household prayer - lives at DeaconMichael.net.
Domus Formation
I write and publish daily Scripture and reflection for Catholic households, built for the season of life people are actually in rather than one devotional for everyone. Eight paths, two of them in Spanish, on the web, by email, and in the app.
Ad Alta Leadership
Most Catholic institutions run a serious mission on technology nobody chose on purpose. Donor records in one system, sacramental records in another, and the answer to most questions is that somebody would have to pull it together.
Ad Alta is advisory and consulting for dioceses, parishes, schools, and foundations across three things usually treated separately: the technology, the mission it serves, and whether the organization can actually execute.
Thirty years doing this work in the corporate world, eighteen of them at Adobe. The same practice, now aimed at the Church.
Speaking and teaching
I teach liturgical music and liturgy formation to deacons and deacon candidates, preach parish missions and retreats, and give talks on the Mass, the diaconate, and household prayer.
Then you know the thirty years in media, marketing, and tech, including eighteen at Adobe. You probably don’t know I was ordained a deacon in 2021, and that nearly everything I build now serves the Church.
Ad Alta Leadership
After eighteen years at Adobe, most recently leading a global consulting organization, I run an advisory practice for Catholic institutions now - dioceses, parishes, schools, foundations. Technology, mission, organizational effectiveness. Same work, different client.
The Ad Alta Weekly – one email a week on technology, mission, and running a Catholic institution well. Free.
Domus Formation
I also run a software company that happens to make prayer. Daily Scripture and reflection for Catholic households, on the web, by email, and in the app.
ILSider
I publish ILSider - news, events, and the business of the Metro East - along with Granite Citizen, its hyperlocal edition for Granite City, with more city editions coming. If you do business on this side of the river, this is where your neighbors read about it.
I’ve lived in the Metro East my whole life. Granite City, then Hamel, then Collinsville, and now back in Granite City. I was also heavily involved in scouting in the region for years. Perhaps you know me from one of those areas.
My wife is the development director at Father McGivney Catholic High School. Two of our four sons have graduated from there and two are still students. Our whole extended family is in the region.
ILSider
I publish ILSider, covering news, events, and the business of the Metro East, and Granite Citizen, its hyperlocal edition for Granite City. More city editions are coming.
Wednesday @ Lunch – a letter on Wednesdays. An idea I’m working through, what I’ve been writing, what I’m preaching this Sunday, and an honest update on what I’m building. Free.
St. Elizabeth Parish
I serve as a deacon at St. Elizabeth in Granite City, where I lead the teen youth group and marriage prep, and assist with liturgy and other areas of faith formation.
Another Voice
Essays on contested questions, including a long one on what a data center would actually mean for Granite City.
Then you’ve probably read something of mine. Here’s where all of it lives.
Missio Dei
I write for Missio Dei every Tuesday, reflecting on that day’s Mass readings and Gospel.
DeaconMichael.net
Writing on the Church, the diaconate, liturgy, and the work of building things. The main room.
Another Voice
Longer essays on contested questions, taking the other side seriously before arguing with it.
Fiction
Two Lamps is weekly Catholic literary fiction, pairing saints across centuries. Lux Perpetua is a serial novel about a man who discovers he is the latest keeper of a thread of truth that has been passed hand to hand for seven centuries.
Domus Formation
Daily Scripture and reflection for Catholic households, written for the season of life you’re actually in.