About Me

Dr. David Toledo is the Associate Dean for Educational Effectiveness and Associate Professor of Music in the School of Performing Arts at California Baptist University. He also serves as the Associate Worship Director at Immanuel Baptist Church in Highland, CA.

A native of Louisiana, David Toledo received his Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. After graduation, he moved to Fort Worth, Texas, where he pursued graduate work at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He received his Master of Music in Music Ministry in May 2007. In December 2012, he graduated with his Ph.D. in Church Music with a dissertation entitled Imaging God in Private and Corporate Worship: The Imago Dei as a Divine Call to All Believers. He is also a graduate of the Management Development Program at the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University.

Before he arrived at Cal Baptist, Dr. Toledo served as Assistant Professor of Music Ministry and Assistant Dean of the Performance Division in the School of Church Music at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. At Southwestern, he taught undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral courses in worship, music ministry, philosophy, and music history. Dr. Toledo served as the Associate Pastor of Worship & Creative Arts at First Baptist Church in Keller, Texas, where he led a creative arts ministry that included over 700 children, students, and adults every week. He was the co-founder and Executive Director of the Fort Worth Children’s Choir.

Dr. Toledo is the author of Music and Leadership: The Nature and Role of Aesthetics in Orchestrating Successful Organizations, published by Routledge in 2025. David has presented papers and lectures for numerous national meetings of church music and theological organizations, including The Evangelical Theological Society, The Hymn Society in North America and Canada, and the Southern Baptist Church Music Conference. He has several articles and book reviews published in scholarly journals. He has served as a consultant, guest clinician, and speaker for churches, state conventions, and seminaries throughout the United States and internationally.

David and his wife, Lindsey, were married in 2004 and have five children: Will, Ellery, Ethan, Kate, and Aaron.

Education

Bachelor of Music, Vocal Performance
Northwestern State University
Natchitoches, Louisiana

Master of Music, Church Music
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
Fort Worth, Texas

Doctor of Philosophy, Church Music
Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
Fort Worth, Texas

Certificate, Management Development Program
Graduate School of Education, Harvard University
Cambridge, Massachusetts

Academic

Associate Dean of Educational Effectiveness, Associate Professor of Music California Baptist University
Riverside, California (2022 — present)

Director of Worship Studies, Assistant Professor of Music
California Baptist University
Riverside, California (2019–2022)

Assistant Dean of Performance Division, Assistant Professor of Music Ministry Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
Fort Worth, Texas (2015–2019)

Ministry

Associate Worship Director
Immanuel Baptist Church
Highland, California (2020 — present)

Interim Worship Pastor
First Baptist Church
Justin, Texas (2017–2018)

Associate Pastor of Worship & Creative Arts
First Baptist Church
Keller, Texas (2011–2015)

Associate Minister of Music
First Baptist Church
Keller, Texas (2001–2011)

Minister of Music
Grayson Baptist Church
Grayson, Louisiana (1998–2000)

Memberships

American Choral Directors Association

The Hymn Society in North America and Canada

The Evangelical Theological Society

Baptist Church Music Conference