Randall Sensmeier was honored as a Fellow of The Hymn Society in the United States and Canada for outstanding leadership and significant contributions in encouraging, promoting, and enlivening congregational song. New Fellows were recognized on July 19 during the organization’s recent Annual Conference in Washington, D.C. This year’s conference, “Sing the World God Imagines,” celebrated The Hymn Society’s one hundredth anniversary and included participants from twelve nations on six continents.

In his remarks, outgoing Hymn Society President Benjamin Brody noted, that “the contributions these colleagues have made to our field and our organization are too numerous to count.”

In three decades working for sacred music publisher GIA Publications, Randall Sensmeier brought his keen eye and congregationally oriented sensibility to his role in developing more than 30 author and composer collections. He has helped to nurture numerous hymnwriters whose work has appeared in virtually every new denominational hymnal in recent decades. A composer himself, Sensmeier’s hymn settings have appeared in hymnals and in his own collection, Teach Our Hearts to Sing Your Praise.

Congratulations, Randy!