IWS Alumni Association

The IWS Alumni Association exists to celebrate the unique community established among the students and faculty while on campus in Jacksonville. Our aim is to encourage, edify, and inspire through Anamnesis: the IWS Newsletter, this site, and special events. Listen to Bob Webber and Kent Walters introduce the Alumni Association during the January 2005 Opening Convocation in this audio clip.

IWS Quote of the Week

When worship does God’s story, our contemplation is simply a delight in the story that worship does. The delight of worship is not expressed in words like “That was a great program,” or “I loved the music today,” or “What an entertaining sermon,” or “I really felt like I was worshiping today” . . . . These are descriptions of delight in self as if “I did it; I broke through; I really worshiped.” Worship that generates that kind of response is not worship that glorifies God and his story. Rather, that kind of worship glorifies the self as if the self has generated worship. True worship generates the sense of “What a great story,” or “I can’t believe that God would do that for the world and for me,” or “What a God to become human and to restore all things through Christ.” — Robert Webber, The Divine Embrace: Recovering the Passionate Spiritual Life (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 2006), 238.

What Alumni are saying...

  • IWS has confirmed that worshipping the eternal God demands intention, contemplation, passion, and a spirit of adventure. The trajectory of my life’s work was changed the moment I began drinking from the fire hydrant that is IWS.

    Dr. Erik Buxton
    DWS, 2015
  • Learning under the direction of such learned faculty among a wonderful, diverse group of colleagues has
    provided an enriching worship education that could not be replicated anywhere.

    Dr. Beth Argot
    DWS, 2016
  • I cannot say enough about the wealth of information I have collected and the formative impact the experience of IWS has had on me. It is something I will be forever grateful for.

    Dr. Vinnie Zarletti
    MWS 2013, DWS 2017
  • Studying at IWS has been like a breath of fresh air to me. Every time I make the annual trip halfway around the globe for the on-campus intensive, I come away feeling refreshed and renewed in my faith and worship life.

    Christabel Wong
    AGCWS 2017
  • I graduated in spring of 2019 and two months later a new lead pastor was hired at my church. The two years in my career when I needed help the most, the Lord led me to IWS. I am so thankful for my time spent there.

    Jenee O’Connor
    MWS 2019