On June 3, 2005 Prof. Dr. Wilfried Dotzauer was appointed as honorary member on the occasion of the 255^th death-day of Rathgeber:

Prof. Dotzauer wrote a dissertation thesis on "The sacred music of Valentin Rathgeber". He analyzed all sacred works of Rathgeber regarding their form and referred to many similarities and pecularities of his style. Thus, he could emphasize especially the importance of Rathgeber for the history of liturgy, genre, form, style, music and region. Apart from his dissertation thesis, Prof. Dotzauer has edited various works of Rathgeber and has repeatedly commented on Rathgeber. 
On June 5, 2010 Prof. Dr. Charles Jurgensmeier SJ from Chicago/Illinois was appointed as honorary member on the occasion of the 2^nd International Rathgeber-Symposium "At the beginning of the classical era" and the 260^th death-day of Rathgeber.

Prof. Jurgensmeier is the most prominent authority on Rathgeber in the United States of America and performs many compositions of Rathgeber in his homeland. Prof. Jurgensmeier is also responsible for the increasing popularity of Valentin Rathgeber in the US. This year it was his tenth visit to Oberelsbach for academic studies. All the times he used the large archive of the International Valentin-Rathgeber-Society e.V.

On November 5th, 2017, the Vice President of the International Valentin-Rathgeber Society, Stefan Gaß, became an honorary member. The honor was given during the concert "Mein Stimme klinge" on the occasion of the 335th birthday of the Oberelsbacher Baroque and monastery composer P. Valentin Rathgeber OSB (1682-1750). The laudation was addressed by the chairman of the Valentin-Rathgeber-Foundation Regina Rinke.

Stefan Gaß can be described as the motor of the Association of Friends of the Baroque composer Johann Valentin Rathgeber. He works with heart and mind like no other. He is responsible for the shipping of the scores and until a few years ago he took care of the transport and the organization of the touring exhibition on Valentin Rathgeber as an "entertainer". Stefan Gaß is also a member of the Executive committee of the Valentin-Rathgeber-Foundation.