Lenny Smith

Leonard Smith (born August 29, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter, and music publisher.

His style of gospel-centered songs range from pop to folk to gospel.

Leonard Earl Smith Jr.. was born in 1942 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at the Naval Hospital.

He is the only son and second child of a career military father (U.S. Marine Corps) and a Catholic mother.

Their family moved frequently, living in Philadelphia, Virginia, California, North Carolina, Guam, and finally settled in South Jersey.

Smith was raised Protestant even though his mother was a devout Catholic.

His mother Marie would attend mass each Sunday but drop her three children off at the local Protestant church at the insistence of her non-religious husband.

When he was 12, his father left the family, and he started to attend the Catholic church with his mother.

He became fascinated by Catholicism and entered the seminary after high school to study for the priesthood in 1960.

In 1960, Smith left New Jersey and entered Jordan Evangelical Theological Seminary in Menominee, Michigan.

He then attended Mount St. Paul Seminary in Waukesha, Wisconsin.

His last four years of study were spent at Mount Saint Mary's Seminary in Emmitsburg, MD., where he studied for the Catholic priesthood.

He received his B.A. in Classical Philosophy in 1965.

He pursued a master's in English Literature at Villanova, but never completed it.

In 1965, at Mount Saint Mary's Seminary, Smith started writing songs for the guitar masses that were being introduced at the seminary.

The first song he wrote was called, "The New Jerusalem".

He introduced several songs in the chapel.

In 1968, Smith left the seminary and taught high school at Paul VI High School in Haddon Township, NJ.

He was a guidance counselor for the freshman class.

At the end of the year, he was asked to leave; the reason given by the principal was a strained working relationship.

Earlier in the year, a freshman girl's grades dropped from straight A's to D's and Lenny called her into his office to see what was going on.

After finding out that the girl was being sexually abused by the science teacher, Smith addressed the issue with the principal, forcing him to dismiss the science teacher.

At the end of the year, Smith was also dismissed.

In 1969, Smith taught religion at Gloucester Catholic High School in Gloucester, NJ.

He enjoyed this, but wanted to teach at a public school, so the following year he taught Latin and English at Cinnaminson High School in Cinnaminson, NJ.

During this time he became involved with the Charismatic Movements and had a dramatic spiritual awakening.

He then decided to teach his regular course material Monday through Thursday, but taught the Bible every Friday, even though many of the children attending this public school were Jewish.

After a few weeks, several parents complained; he continued the Bible teaching and at the end of the year, he was let go.

In 1970, he returned to Gloucester Catholic High School, teaching religion.

As well as teaching the standard curriculum, he brought his guitar to class, sang, prayed, and read the Bible.

Once a month, he held a prayer gathering in town for his students.

The priests were worried he was starting a cult and at the end of the year, Smith was let go.

Smith started painting houses and taking on carpentry jobs.

In 1972, he started teaching religion at Bishop Eustace Preparatory School in Cherry Hill, NJ.

He continued to bring his guitar to class and led mass in the chapel.

The head of the religion department refused to let him teach that Jesus was the only Messiah and wanted Smith to teach that there were many messiahs, like Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi.

When Smith refused, he was forced to resign.

He went back to painting houses and eventually expanded to remodeling and building houses.

For the next 35 years, he worked on houses by day, writing songs at night and leading worship on Sundays at various churches.

Smith is best known in Christian music circles for writing the international worship standard "Our God Reigns" in 1973.