"In the Still" | Terry Clark

"In the Still" by Terry Clark
Catalyst Ministries | 2022

You can probably count on one hand the number of classic Jesus Music artists who are still recording today. I'm talking about artists who were there on the ground floor, in the 1970s, and who are still writing, recording and releasing full albums of new material today.

Count Terry Clark among them.

After stints as a keyboardist and vocalist for Liberation Suite and the Chuck Girard Band, Terry released two solo albums of Christian rock music in 1978 and 1980. Ugadano Thawanu Maija? Yeah, that was him. But after successfully engineering his own exit from the CCM machine, Terry Clark became a respected and much-loved worship leader...before we even used that term. 

Living Worship and Let's Worship (as well as several albums that followed) took the listener on a musical journey of intimacy with the Lord. Terry would reveal that his songwriting technique had become quite different. He wasn't work-shopping lyric ideas, hammering out new songs for some record label, hoping that one or two would become "hits." Instead, he was putting personal conversations with Jesus to music. This approach inspired authentic, genuine worship on the part of the listener. People who bought Terry's albums or heard his songs on the radio considered him more of a personal worship leader than a CCM star. Terry, with wife Nancy always at his side, has criss-crossed the nation and the world, teaching audiences how to worship Jesus.

After a dozen or more albums, I thought it might be time for Terry to take it easy. Maybe he's said all he intends to say.

As Coach Lee Corso would say, "Not so fast, my friend!"

Along came In the Still in September of 2022. It's a full-length album of new songs, available in physical CD form, as a digital download on streaming services, and even as a long-play vinyl. Yes, Terry Clark has come full circle. The old school has become new again.

This release benefits from the considerable musical talents of such pros as Bill Batstone (veteran artist on too many projects to name); John Andrew Schreiner (Compassion All-Star Band & Colours); Jeff Lams & Bob Somma (Colours & the Tommy Coomes Band), bassist David Coy (Hit the Switch by Pantano/Salsbury & Soldier of the Light by Andrus Blackwood & Co.); and Mark Walker (drummer on such timeless classics as Randy Stonehill's Welcome to Paradise and Larry Norman's In Another Land). Production duties were capably handled by Somma, Schreiner, and Joe Bellamy (producer of Terry Clark's Melodies album in 1980).    

The title track is an instant classic. Other personal favorites for me would include I Will Follow, You're the One, Only One Hiding Place and Arrow. There are about 5 tracks on the recording with which I was already familiar, either because I had heard them more than once in a live setting, or because I had downloaded them in demo form from Terry's website a while back. In that group is a song called Flow Over Me, which almost always brings me to tears. The album actually opens with two songs that are outliers - Weakest Vessel effectively presents the plan of salvation and The Call is a blatantly evangelistic song that musically reminds me of something that would've felt right at home on Welcome or Melodies. But most of these songs fit very well in the "intimate, authentic worship" category that Terry Clark helped pioneer. 

I don't know exactly how old Terry is, but his voice is finally sounding a little weathered, displaying a vulnerability, even a frailty from time to time, that actually enhances the intimate message of many of these songs. This is not the brand of worship music that should be accompanied by mechanized light shows, pounding drums and haze machines; if I may be so bold, I would suggest that these songs are best experienced by candlelight...perhaps sitting in your favorite, comfortable chair...with a Bible nearby. 

I don't know if this was intentional, but in several songs the lyrics acknowledge mortality and seem to catch Terry longing for Heaven...

You're the One who opened my heart / You're the One who knows the last beat right from the start
You're the One who opened my eyes / You're the One who'll finally close them when I die...
When my life is done / with all the victories won / You're still the only One

I long to see You face to face / and hold You eye to eye

My eye is on the Mark / I will not be denied the joy of reaching Home

I long for Your coming, oh Lord of my days, when all of Your family will stand...
I long for Your coming, oh Lord of my heart, when we'll see You face to face

Alright, Terry...we get it. But just calm down. We're not ready to give you up just yet!

In the Still is a treasure. An album of wisdom and worship from a seasoned veteran who has spent a lifetime showing others how to peel away the clutter, turn down the noise, and tune into an intimate conversation with Jesus, worshiping Him in spirit and in truth.

In the still I can see You
When I'm at rest, in You I'm strong
In the sweet, still of Your Spirit
I can hear You gently leading me along

This culture needs that message. Perhaps now more than ever.

In the Still is available in CD and vinyl at www.catalystpeople.com