The ministry
Worship & Ministry
More Than Music. A Place of Encounter.
© New Glory International
For Terry MacAlmon, worship has never been primarily about music. Music is the vehicle, but the destination is the presence of God. For more than fifty years, this conviction has shaped the way Terry writes, records, teaches and leads worship: Jesus must remain at the center, the Holy Spirit must be given room to lead, and the people gathered should never become spectators of a performance when they have been invited to become worshippers themselves.
That is why a worship gathering with Terry often feels different from a conventional concert. There may be familiar songs, carefully crafted arrangements and moments of musical excellence, but none of those things are allowed to become the purpose of the gathering. A song may continue longer than expected. A musical phrase may become spontaneous worship. There may be moments when the piano becomes quieter instead of louder, or when there is simply space to wait. Terry’s approach has never been built around moving efficiently from one song to the next. It is built around listening, responding and allowing worship to become an encounter with God.
Music is the vehicle, but the destination is the presence of God.
The Presence of God
The defining theme of Terry MacAlmon’s worship ministry is the presence of God. From his earliest years playing piano and organ in church to the worship gatherings at the World Prayer Center and his ministry around the world today, Terry has carried a deep conviction that the church needs more than good music, strong production or inspiring Christian events. People need God Himself.
This does not mean trying to manufacture an atmosphere or create an emotional experience. True worship cannot be produced through technique. Musicianship can serve worship beautifully, but it cannot replace the work of the Holy Spirit. Terry therefore approaches worship with both preparation and dependence: bringing the musical gift with excellence while remaining willing to change direction, wait, repeat a song, move into spontaneous worship or simply allow a moment to breathe when that is where the gathering appears to be going.
This sensitivity to the Holy Spirit became especially visible during the years of Lunch with the Lord at the World Prayer Center in Colorado Springs. Those gatherings were not designed as concerts. People from different churches, ministries and denominational backgrounds came together for one reason: to worship and spend time in the presence of the Lord. Recordings from that season later traveled around the world and became some of Terry’s best-known worship projects. The same emphasis remains at the heart of his ministry today.
Worship That Leads Somewhere
Terry’s approach to worship is deeply congregational. Even when he is the person sitting behind the piano, the goal is never for the room to watch Terry worship. His role is to lead people until their attention is no longer focused on the worship leader at all.
That distinction is important. Christian music can inspire, encourage and move people emotionally, but worship has a different direction. It is offered to God. Terry therefore sees the worship leader as someone who helps a congregation turn its attention toward Jesus and then becomes increasingly less important as that happens. The strongest worship moments are often those in which the personality on the platform seems to disappear and the room becomes aware of Someone greater.
This is also why simplicity has remained such an important part of Terry’s sound. A grand piano, a voice and a congregation can be enough. At other times, Terry has recorded with full choirs, orchestras and larger musical arrangements. The scale may change, but the principle does not. Everything should serve the worship rather than worship being used to showcase everything else.
Songs Born for Worship
Terry MacAlmon is also a songwriter, and songs such as I Sing Praises, Holy Are You Lord, Even So, How We Need the River, I Came to Worship You and You’re My Glory have become part of his ministry around the world. Yet songwriting has never existed as a separate creative career alongside his worship ministry. The songs grew from the same place: personal worship, prayer and a desire to give believers language with which to express love, surrender and adoration to God.
That helps explain the simplicity found in many of Terry’s best-known songs. They do not depend on complicated concepts or elaborate lyrics. Instead, they often take one central declaration and allow the worshipper to remain there long enough for the words to move beyond singing and become prayer. I Sing Praises is perhaps the clearest example. Its language is simple enough to be sung across cultures, generations and denominations, yet decades after it was written it continues to lead people into worship.
Terry has also recorded and led many songs written by others. In his ministry, authorship has never been the deciding factor. The question is whether a song serves the moment, exalts Jesus and helps people worship. That has allowed hymns, contemporary worship songs, Terry’s own compositions, spontaneous songs and extended instrumental passages to live naturally beside one another.
The Piano and the Space Between the Notes
The piano has been at the center of Terry’s musical life since childhood, and over the decades it has become inseparable from his sound. But Terry’s piano style is not merely accompaniment. It often functions as another voice in the worship. Introductions can establish an atmosphere before a lyric is ever sung, instrumental passages can give people room to pray or respond personally, and transitions between songs can become worship moments of their own.
Equally important are the moments in which Terry does not fill every available second. One of the distinctive qualities of his worship ministry is an acceptance of space. Contemporary culture is uncomfortable with silence, and modern productions often work hard to eliminate it. Worship sometimes requires the opposite. There are moments when another lyric, another announcement or another musical idea would add less than simply waiting before God.
It is in this combination of music and space, preparation and spontaneity, leadership and surrender that Terry’s characteristic worship style has developed.
An Hour With Jesus
Since 2020, An Hour With Jesus has carried that same approach into homes around the world. What began during a period when normal travel and public ministry suddenly became impossible developed into a weekly online worship gathering connecting believers across national and denominational boundaries.
The format remains intentionally simple. The emphasis is not on creating a television show around Terry MacAlmon, but on setting aside an hour for Jesus. Through worship, prayer and music, viewers are invited to participate rather than merely watch. People join from different time zones and different church traditions, yet the purpose is shared: to stop, turn attention toward the Lord and spend time in His presence. The program continues as a weekly live online gathering and has become an important part of Terry’s present-day worship ministry.
New Glory International
Terry and Liz MacAlmon serve through New Glory International, the ministry through which Terry’s worship ministry, international travel and resources are carried forward. Its mission is expressed in a phrase that captures the heart behind everything else: bringing the tangible presence of God to the ends of the earth.
That mission is not limited to recordings or online ministry. Terry continues to travel throughout the year, leading worship in churches, conferences and gatherings in the United States and internationally. Sometimes that means a large conference. Sometimes it means an intimate night of worship in a local church. The size of the room has never determined the purpose of the ministry. Wherever people gather with a hunger for God, there is an opportunity to worship.
Teaching has also remained part of that calling. Terry’s ministry is not only about leading people in worship, but also about helping believers and worship leaders understand the spiritual realities behind it: intimacy with God, sensitivity to the Holy Spirit, the anointing, humility, surrender and the difference between simply singing songs and truly ministering to the Lord.
The Worshipper Before the Worship Leader
After more than fifty years, perhaps the simplest way to understand Terry MacAlmon’s ministry is this: before he is a worship leader, he is a worshipper.
Platforms have changed. Nations have changed. Musical styles have changed. Physical recordings gave way increasingly to streaming and online video, and a worship gathering that once required everyone to be in the same room can now connect believers across continents. But none of those changes alter the central calling.
And the prayer remains that, somewhere in the worship, people will move beyond simply hearing music and become aware of the presence of God.
That is the heart of Terry MacAlmon’s worship ministry.
The piano is still a tool.
The song is still a vehicle.
The worship leader is still a servant.
Jesus is still the focus.
© New Glory International