About
A Pioneer of Worship
Kent began singing in rock bands at the age of 13. At the age of 19, Kent Was filled with Holy Spirit during the “Jesus Movement”. A few months later, he was asked to bring his guitar and help lead worship at a youth group that was exploding at a large church in St. Louis.
“I don’t know what you want me to do,” he said. “I came from a rough place in the world, but I can play my music and just follow the Holy Spirit, if that’s okay with you.
In an interview, Kent was asked: “Who taught you how to do this kind of presence-based, contemporary worship?”
Kent gave his signature joyful laugh and then answered: “There wasn’t anybody. I just followed the Holy Spirit!”
That was the beginning of a form of “Presence-based” worship that circled the globe.
Long before it became a “movement”
Today, millions of people around the world engage in what many now call “presence-based” worship every week. But before Hillsong, Bethel, or Maverick City Music became household names in modern worship, there was Kent Henry.
In 1974, Kent began leading worship in St. Louis, long before the phrase “presence-based worship” existed. He understood that congregational worship could not be confined to the rigid structures he had learned in music theory classes. It needed structure, but it also needed room for freedom, spontaneity, and the movement of the Holy Spirit, much like the free flow worship seen throughout the Old Testament.
Kent Henry and Hosanna Music
The First “all worship” record company
In 1984, Kent was invited to help launch the very first contemporary worship record company: Hosanna Music. Kent was their first “live” worship leader. With now-classic songs such as: “All hail king Jesus” and “Awesome in this place,” These nationally released albums became staples in churches across the country and around the world, played in Sunday services, prayer meetings, and conventions during the 80’s and 90’s.
