Ron Kenoly, a pioneering Christian worship leader whose anthems helped shape modern praise music and whose ministry emphasized worship as service rather than performance, has died. He was 81.
Kenoly’s death was announced Tuesday in a collaborative post on his official Instagram account by longtime music director and close associate Bruno Miranda. The post said Kenoly died the morning of Feb. 3. No cause of death was disclosed.
“For over 20 years, I had the honor of walking alongside him in ministry around the world, not just as his music director, but as a son, a student, and a witness to a life marked by faithfulness,” Miranda wrote. “He was never an artist, never an entertainer. He was a worship leader.”
“And he took all the time necessary to explain what that truly meant. A worship leader’s calling is not to perform songs, but to lead people into true worship in the presence of a King; the King of Kings, Jesus Christ. … Today we grieve deeply but not without hope. The worship he lived is now the worship he beholds.”
Kenoly, best known for “Ancient of Days,” “Anointing Fall On Me” and “Jesus Is Alive,” rose to international prominence in the early 1990s as a central figure in the contemporary praise and worship movement. His 1992 live album Lift Him Up became the fastest-selling worship album of its time, introducing a generation of churches to large-scale, congregational worship marked by Scripture-driven lyrics.
Another album, Welcome Home, produced by Tom Brooks, was later named Billboard’s top contemporary worship music album and won the Gospel Music Association’s Dove Award for praise and worship album in 1997. READ MORE
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