Leonard Smith (born August 29, 1942) is a singer, songwriter, and music publisher. His style of gospel-centered songs range from pop to folk to gospel. Smith is best known in Christian music circles for writing the international worship standard "Our God Reigns" in 1973. Early life and education 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. 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 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 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. This year was wonderful and very satisfying, but he wanted to teach at a public school, so the following year he taught Latin and English at Cinnaminson High School in Cinnaminson, NJ. This was the year Lenny got involved with the Charismatic Movements and had a dramatic spiritual awakening. He became a bit of a fanatic and 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. The children loved the Bible classes but in a couple of months three sets of parents came in