On July 16, 2019, I presented Embracing the Challenge: Questions and Answers in Music and Worship in Christian Higher Education at the Annual Meeting of the Hymn Society of the United States and Canada in Dallas, Texas. This was an extension of a similar paper I presented in November 2018 at the Annual Meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society in Denver, Colorado.
Abstract
Worship is a central function of the church and institutions of Christian higher education have an obligation to provide training for future worship leaders that is theologically rich, artistically expressive, and culturally aware. In recent decades there has been a dramatic upheaval in the musical and worship practices in churches across denominations, but the issue is particularly acute within the evangelical churches in America. Seminaries and the constellation of Christian colleges and universities are struggling to adapt to this changing landscape of music and worship leadership in the church. This paper examines the challenges facing institutions of higher education in the field of music and worship leadership. Specifically, it will seek to answer several key questions that will enable the administrations and faculties at these schools to design and adapt curricula and programs to meet the changing expectations and needs of the local church, while holding fast to the theological and philosophical moorings that guide our biblical worldview.
Embracing the Challenge series:
- Embracing the Challenge: Introduction
- Research Methodology
- Question 1: What is the relationship between higher education and the local church?
- Question 2: Is the training of worship leadership primarily a theological discipline or a musical one?
- Question 3: What are the theological and aesthetic implications of our musical choices?
- Question 4: Is there a need for graduate music and worship leadership education in the twenty-first century?
- A Path Forward
David M. Toledo, Ph.D 
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