Veteran administrator, nationally recognized worship leader Randy Gill appointed CEA assistant dean
Kim Chaudoin | 615.966.6494 |
Veteran higher education administrator, nationally recognized worship leader and musician Randy Gill has been appointed assistant dean in Lipscomb University’s George Shinn College of Entertainment & the Arts to help lead one of the university’s most rapidly growing programs, Provost W. Craig Bledsoe announced today.
In this role, Gill will develop a strategic and intentional approach to integrating faith into the college’s curriculum and culture through special programs, service projects and mission opportunities among other initiatives. In addition, Gill will lead the university’s growing worship ministry program, will collaborate with church leaders representing a diversity of faiths to offer programs and resources, develop a touring musical group to represent the institution at events across the country and collaborate with CEA and university leadership to develop new programs in the future.
Gill will also serve as assistant professor of worship ministry and will begin his appointment at Lipscomb University on Dec. 1. He is currently worship and creative arts minister at Otter Creek Church in Brentwood, Tennessee.
“Randy Gill has a unique expertise and skillset that will enable the College of Entertainment and the Arts to become a nationwide leader in the integration of faith into the arts,” said Mike Fernandez, dean of the George Shinn College of Entertainment & the Arts. “I am particularly excited about how Dr. Gill will impact each and every one of our students’ spiritual journey and equip them to use their talents to serve God and others in their artistic fields.”
Gill has a career in higher education, music and worship ministry that spans more than 40 years. For 13 years, Gill was associate professor of music and associate director of church relations at Pepperdine University, where he founded the popular singing group Won by One. Gill has also been on faculty at Rochester College and Oklahoma Christian College as well as has served as an adjunct faculty member at Lipscomb University.
He also has more than 20 years’ experience in worship ministry. In addition to his work at Otter Creek, Gill served as worship minister for churches in Atlanta and Nashville. Gill is also a successful songwriter and arranger whose work is featured on several albums and is used in worship at churches across the country. A popular speaker at churches, conferences and retreats across the country, Gill was a founding member of the ZOE Worship Resource Group and continues to be active in their annual conferences, recording and publishing projects.
“One of the most powerful ways to spread the Gospel is through the arts,” said Gill. “This is an amazing opportunity to add this very important dimension to the wonderful work that has been happening in the entertainment and the arts programs at Lipscomb over the last few years. I also think there is a great need to train and inspire the next generation of young people to be worship leaders and to provide resources to those who are already in this field.”
Gill said his new role at Lipscomb is an intersection of his life’s work that makes for an ideal career opportunity.
“This role is bringing together everything I love and am passionate about into one job,” said Gill. “I’ve loved music since I was a little kid. Music is such an important part of the human experience and gives people a language to express thoughts and feelings in ways they can’t in any other way. I’m excited about having the opportunity to show students how they can use their musical gifts in worship. It’s also an opportunity to pour into the lives of young people and to give back to others just like faculty who invested in my life and shaped me into the person I am today.”
Gill holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in music education from Harding University, a Master of Music degree in music education from the University of Michigan; and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree in choral and church music from the University of Southern California.
Lipscomb’s George Shinn College of Entertainment & the Arts is the fastest-growing in the university, with undergraduate degrees in film production, fashion merchandising, fashion design, entertainment design, music composition, contemporary music, vocal performance, piano performance, instrumental performance, teaching, music, acting, directing, musical theater, theater ministry, theater teaching, studio art, graphic design, art therapy, visual arts administration, visual arts teaching and animation among other areas of study. Graduate programs include Master of Arts degrees in film and creative media, Master of Fine Arts degrees in film and creative media with writer and director tracks and a Master of Fine Arts/Master of Business Administration blended degree. For more information visit cea.lipscomb.edu.