Interview: Ron Kenoly- Worship in Spirit and Truth

|PIC1|Dr Ron Kenoly hit the gospel music scene in the 1980s, even before there was Israel Houghton or Martha Munizzi. For decades, Dr Kenoly has toured the world as one of the top-selling praise and worship artists in gospel music history, selling over five million in sales.

In this interview, Dr Kenoly speaks to Christian Today about his Academy of Praise based in Orlando, Florida, shares his thoughts on praise & worship, and how the gift of singing is inherited in his family.

Prior to the interview, Dr Kenoly briefly reminisced of his mother, Edith Kenoly, who sadly passed away the night before, from a long-term sickness.

“All my life, I can remember her singing, I can remember her involved in Church activities— and she’s quite a singer, an incredible singer.

“She was a wonderful woman of God. Even before I was born, when she was pregnant with me, she would rub her stomach and go, ‘Lord, let this one praise you.’”


Tell me more about Ron Kenoly’s Academy of Praise.

Academy of Praise is a mentoring programme for praise and worship leaders. For pastors, musicians and anybody who is involved in the music area of the church. It’s designed to help them realise a higher level in their praise and worship experience. I get to go to a lot of different conferences and speak in a lot of seminars, and generally, the [high] number of people will eliminate the intimacy that can be experienced.

For the Academy of Praise, I take no more than a hundred people at a time. No more than I can pray for and lay my hands on. I try to answer as many questions I possibly can. I feel in my heart that in all of the ministries, and in all the great stories of Jesus, there was a great level of intimacy. Even with His disciples, a lot more comes out of an intimate setting, rather than a large group.

With the Academy of Praise, I am able to answer questions. There are times I will do one-on-one counselling, and I’ll pray for them.

What do you think the main role of a praise leader is in a church?

As praise leaders, we are the ones who have the responsibility to create an environment. In the church, [praise] is the first impression that a newcomer would have. And it’s very important—you don’t get a second chance to give a first impression. So the first thing they see on the platform, they see that as God. ‘Oh, this is a God event.’ So it needs to have quality, it needs to have impact, it needs to be inviting, it needs to be engaging.

You said your mother was quite a singer— and obviously— you’ve inherited that wonderful gift. How does it feel like to see your sons (‘The Kenoly Brothers’) carry on with this family legacy? Editor’s note: ‘The Kenoly Brothers’ are recording singing artists consisting of Dr Kenoly’s sons Ron Jr. & Sam Kenoly.

I think it’s wonderful! It’s a joy to see them blossoming into not only fine young men, but fine ministers for the Kingdom as well.

And you’ll be touring the UK with Kenneth Benson in August?

Yes. It’s a kind of a concert/promotional tour. I activated my own label a couple of years ago called Right-Hand Records, and we really don’t have much visibility in the UK or Europe. So this is our first attempt to make people aware that Right-Hand Records exists. We thank God for Kenneth and this opportunity to work with him and we look forward to seeing wonderful thing happen.

Many people find it hard to respond to intimate praise and worship sessions, such as raising their hands, kneeling, or closing their eyes, etc— and this distracts them from praising God whole-heartedly. What do you think is the most essential thing people should hold onto when praising God?

|AD|Many times, people don’t respond because they haven’t been taught. They have to understand or take seriously the fact that Jesus is the King. For example, if you were invited to have an audience with the Queen, there would be appropriate behaviour in her presence. Someone will tell you that the Queen will come, and when the Queen comes in, you must stand, or before you extend your hand out, she must extend her hand out to you first. So there are certain things you should do in the presence of royalty. But we don’t take in consideration that Jesus is King.

There is appropriate behaviour in the presence of the King of Kings. Many times the behaviour is in the lyrics of the song. Some are from King David, from the book of Psalms. When a King speaks, it’s more than just a good idea or suggestion, but it is a command. When King David says ‘clap your hands and sing in the sanctuary and shout’- he’s saying clap your hands and shout ‘Hallelujah’. This is a command and a mandate... when he says, lift your hands in the sanctuary and bless the Lord, in Psalms 24, it’s saying ‘lift your hands’. This is the appropriate behaviour in the presence of a king. If people don’t know and understand that Jesus is a king and that we serve a living king- not a dead king- then we have the responsibility to exercise the appropriate behaviour in his presence.

What advice would you give to people who are new to the gospel music scene?

I would invite them to come to the Academy of Praise to get a better understanding of what they want to accomplish as a music worship leader. There needs to be a balance between worship and the Word. If you get all worship and no Word, you have fanaticism. If you have all Word and no worship, you have legalism. And you need that balance. That’s what is going to help us to worship. As Jesus said in John 4:23-24, to worship in Spirit and in Truth.