Southwestern Seminary announces Graduate Certificate in Worship Leadership
A new graduate certificate in worship leadership (GCWL) in the School of Church Music and Worship at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary will serve churches and ministry leaders anywhere in the world who desire more training in corporate worship, according to dean Joseph R. Crider.
“Hundreds–if not thousands–of evangelical churches employ worship leaders who might be strong musicians and sincerely love Jesus and their people, but they have little or no theological background or study in biblical worship,” said Crider. “We’ve been overwhelmed by the number of pastors and worship leaders who have asked for this kind of training.”
The GCWL, which will be introduced at the Sing! Conference in Nashville, can be completed in ten months and is completely online allowing students to study from anywhere in the world. The GCWL will officially launch with the first cohort beginning in January 2023. The cohort-based model is designed to be a life-on-life journey and will be 12 credit hours with all five courses being delivered in an eight-week online model.
The only prerequisite for entrance into the GCWL is an undergraduate degree in any discipline from an accredited institution, Crider said.
“The target audience for the GCWL is worship leaders and ministers of music who have accredited undergraduate degrees and are motivated to tackle a rigorous yet rewarding series of classes all designed to equip them for effective ministry. Our certificate program allows students to take a deeper dive into the theology of worship and liturgy and our classes in the certificate are also wonderfully practical,” explained Crider. “Another important aspect of the GCWL is that all 12 credits earned in the certificate are transferrable to our fully-online Master of Arts in Worship Leadership, which is a 36-hour degree.”
More information about the School of Church Music and Worship can be found here.
More information about applying to Southwestern Seminary can be found here.
