The nominees for this year’s Dove Award for Songwriter of the Year were announced earlier this week by the Gospel Music Association (GMA), with the list including Casting Crowns’ Mark Hall, Third Day’s Mac Powell, sixsteprecords’ Chris Tomlin, and songwriters Laura Story and Christa Wells.

“The Songwriter of the Year is an important honor in gospel music,” said John W. Styll, president of the GMA. “We congratulate these nominees for their songwriting success in the past year, and more significantly, for the many lives they touched with their songwriting gifts.”

Hall grabs his third consecutive nomination for the award this year, having won both times previously, with his songs “Lifesong” and “Voice of Truth” both up for this year’s Dove Award for Song of the Year. Powell is nominated for his work on the impassioned “Cry Out to Jesus,” which became an anthem for those who experienced the devastation caused by last year’s hurricanes.

Christa Wells is the writer of “Held,” which was the first single from Natalie Grant’s hit release Awaken. Story wrote “Indescribable” with Jesse Reeves, a song recorded by Tomlin who himself wrote “Holy is the Lord” and “How Great is Our God.” Tomlin, who won his first Dove Award last year for Praise & Worship Album of the Year, leads this year’s nominations with 10 total.

The 37th Annual GMA Music Awards will be presented on April 5 at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, Tenn.

For a complete list of nominations and other information, go to www.gospelmusic.org.