Rev. Dr. Constance Cherry is Professor Emeritus of Worship and Pastoral Ministry, and Affiliate Professor at Wesley Seminary, Indiana Wesleyan University. She is also a founding faculty member of The Robert E. Webber Institute for Worship Studies, teaching DWS 702 every term since 2000.
In addition to her work in the academy, Constance has served in local church ministry for many years as a worship leader, church musician, and pastor. She is the author of six books and a published composer of various compositions for the church. Her first book, The Worship Architect: A Blueprint for Designing Culturally Relevant and Biblically Faithful Services, has been or is currently being used by more than 160 institutions of higher education, representing more than thirty denominations, as a required worship text. It is now in its second edition (2021) and published in five languages.
In honor of her achievements in the academy, Constance was awarded the university-wide Outstanding Scholarship Award by Indiana Wesleyan University in 2015. An active hymn writer, her hymns appear in six major hymnals. Constance earned a Bachelor’s in music from Huntington College (University), a Master of Music from Bowling Green State University and the Doctor of Ministry in Christian Worship from Northern Seminary where she was mentored by Robert Webber.
She is passionate about the local church and focuses her teaching/speaking on equipping leaders to achieve authentic worship renewal by helping them to identify and contextualize transcultural biblical principles that define Christian worship as truly Christian.
Learn more about Dr. Cherry at www.theworshiparchitect.com or at her IWS faculty profile.
Dinelle Frankland has a Bachelor of Sacred Music degree from Lincoln Christian University and a Master of Music in Church Music degree from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, both with a piano performance emphasis. She holds a Doctor of Worship Studies degree from the Robert E. Webber Institute for Worship Studies, where she currently serves as professor and Academic Dean. She previously taught music and worship at Dallas Christian College and Ozark Christian College and has taught as an adjunct for TCMI Institute, a seminary near Heiligenkreuz, Austria. She is the author of His Story, Our Response: What the Bible Says About Worship and travels throughout the U.S. as a speaker and worship leader.
At IWS she enjoys interacting with a variety of students who are eager to further their education for the benefit of God’s Kingdom. Dinelle has taught music and worship in Christian Higher Education for over forty-four years, teaching at Dallas Christian College, in Dallas TX; Ozark Christian College, in Joplin, MO; and Lincoln Christian Seminary, in Lincoln, IL. Her teaching duties have ranged from musical – including music theory, piano lessons, music history, and choirs – to her current area of worship theology, history, and culture. Dinelle has also served as part-time worship minister in several churches. She has spoken all over the United States for conferences, retreats and college chapels, and continues to provide workshops and seminars on worship.
From 2003-2021, Dinelle served as Professor of Worship Studies at Lincoln Christian Seminary in Lincoln, Illinois, where she developed a Master of Arts in Formative Worship degree. She also served as academic dean at LCS from 2011-2015. Officially “retired” as of January 2023, along with her part-time position at IWS Dinelle directs the Community Choir, serves as an accompanist for various community events, and serves on the worship team at First Christian Church, Clinton, IL.
Learn more about Dr Frankland at her IWS faculty profile.