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Program Outcomes

M.W.S. and D.W.S. Outcomes

The Master of Worship Studies and Doctor of Worship Studies programs ask students to reflect on worship through biblical, historical, theological, missiological, and cultural disciplines. Students are expected to demonstrate methodological skills for studying worship and ministerial skills of Christian worship in their context. The M.W.S. and D.W.S. also have outcomes unique to each program. Details:

Degree Program Learning Outcomes

Doctor of Worship Studies

  1. Biblical foundation of Christian worship
    The student will understand, as well as demonstrate the ability to articulate and evaluate, worship rooted in and declaring the story of the Triune God as expressed in the Scriptures.
  2. Historical development of Christian worship
    The student will understand, as well as demonstrate the ability to articulate and evaluate, major trajectories in the practice of Christian worship through culture and time for use in assessing current expressions of Christian worship.
  3. Theological reflection on Christian worship
    The student will understand, as well as demonstrate the ability to articulate, a scripturally rooted, historically informed Christian theology of worship to guide the planning and evaluation of Christian worship.
  4. Cultural reflection on Christian worship
    The student will understand, as well as demonstrate the ability to articulate and evaluate, ways in which culture informs and shapes expressions of Christian worship, past and present.
  5. Missiological reflection on Christian worship
    The student will understand, as well as demonstrate the ability to articulate and evaluate, the centrality of God’s mission, with respect to the Church’s worship, founded on the scriptural revelation of the Triune God.
  6. Methodological skills for studies in Christian worship
    The student will demonstrate the ability to research, evaluate and articulate concepts related to Christian worship, using scholarly materials (primary and secondary) and the theological action-research methodology.
  7. Ministerial skills in Christian worship
    The student will understand, as well as demonstrate the ability to articulate, implement and evaluate, key concepts related to Christian worship in a particular setting.


Master of Worship Studies

  1. Biblical foundation of Christian worship
    The student will understand, as well as demonstrate the ability to articulate and evaluate, Biblical evidence for worship as participation in the story of the Triune God.
  2. Historical development of Christian worship
    The student will understand, as well as demonstrate the ability to articulate and evaluate, the historical development of Christian worship practices and theology.
  3. Theological reflection on Christian worship
    The student will understand, as well as demonstrate the ability to articulate and evaluate, the role of theology, philosophy and epistemology in Christian formation.
  4. Cultural reflection on Christian worship
    The student will understand, as well as demonstrate the ability to articulate and evaluate, the role of contextualization in engaging God’s people in the dialogue of worship.
  5. Missiological reflection on Christian worship
    The student will understand, as well as demonstrate the ability to articulate and evaluate, the centrality of God’s mission with respect to the Church’s worship, including its global dimensions.
  6. Methodological skills for studies in Christian worship
    The student will demonstrate the ability to research, evaluate and articulate concepts related to Christian worship, using scholarly materials, as well as apply them to the spiritual life of the believer, with an emphasis upon the planning of corporate worship.
  7. Ministerial skills in Christian worship
    The student will demonstrate the ability to integrate and evaluate MWS course objectives within a local ministry context through specific, intentional and strategically supervised efforts.

Spiritual Formation Objectives

The faculty, administration and staff have worked hard to create a special community at the Institute for Worship Studies, with an end toward Spiritual Formation in mind. As a part of the accreditation process, we developed and clarified Spiritual Formation Objectives to explain what we hope to accomplish in the spiritual lives of our students.