We live in a day and age where creatives in the church volley to have platforms as a means to express themselves and build their kingdoms. In efforts to put our imprint on things we usurp the Almighty and worship the created, instead of the creator. Our hearts our idol-making factories that consistently need to be condemned if Christ is to have His rightful place in our lives and in His church.
Over thirty years ago there was a significant shift in praise and worship music. In 1991, Integrity Music was a fledgling five year old company in the early stages of revolutionizing the praise and worship genre by capturing live worship experiences and marketing them through their innovate direct-to-customer tape subscription service. They had remarkable success early on with worship leaders Kent Henry, Marty Nystrom and Don Moen but no one could have predicted the monumental impact a new West Coast worship leader named Ron Kenoly was going to have on their label and on the genre as a whole.
After decades of choosing, leading and writing worship songs, I was interested to hear Dr. Ron's take on where great worship songs come from. His response was insightful and is a brilliant blueprint for those who desire to write fresh songs of timeless truth for the local church.
I thought it would be fun to highlight one album from each of these worship leaders that was influential, memorable or even trend-setting.
It would not be an overstatement to suggest that Integrity Music, specifically their Hosanna! Music series of live worship recordings, influenced and changed the way North America worships.
Travis Doucette • Worship Blog 