Pasadena’s Fuller Seminary to Absorb Worship Studies Institute as Florida School Closes After 27 Years

Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena will take over the academic mission, assets and programs of the Robert E. Webber Institute for Worship Studies, a Jacksonville, Florida-based graduate school that will close as an independent institution at the end of the current academic year, the two schools announced.

According to a joint press release, the institutions have signed a program transfer agreement that includes a teach-out plan allowing current Institute for Worship Studies students to complete their studies at Fuller. The agreement also establishes a pathway to preserve the institute’s “ancient-future” approach to worship education, a methodology developed by the late theologian Robert E. Webber that connects the practices of the early church with contemporary congregations.

The Institute for Worship Studies, founded in 1999, has operated for 27 years as a multi-denominational graduate school devoted exclusively to worship studies, offering Master of Worship Studies and Doctor of Worship Studies degrees. The school notified its accreditor, the Association of Theological Schools, in March 2026 of its intent to voluntarily withdraw from accredited membership effective June 30, 2026. The institute’s Board of Trustees has cited declining student enrollment and resources — challenges facing many Christian seminaries and universities — as factors in the decision.

“For the past 27 years, the Robert E. Webber Institute for Worship Studies has faithfully developed the inheritance we received from our founder by teaching and modeling his unique understanding of what it means to renew corporate worship in local churches today,” said Rev. Dr. Constance Cherry, president of the institute, in the press release. “Fuller will not only sustain the Webber legacy but will creatively advance its impact to coming generations, reaching ever wider for the sake of Christ and his church.”

Under the agreement, Fuller will also steward the institute’s alumni and donor communities, along with scholarship funds, in continued support of equipping worship leaders as pastors and theologians, according to the release.

The transfer builds on Fuller’s existing work in worship studies through its Brehm Center for Worship, Theology, and the Arts, which the seminary recently repositioned under the Office of the President. The Pasadena seminary said the agreement will support a renewed institutional focus on worship studies in both its academic curriculum and its work with ministers and practitioners worldwide.

Fuller President David Emmanuel Goatley will serve as commencement speaker at the institute’s final graduation ceremony, scheduled for late June.

“While it is a moment of transition for IWS as an independent institution, it is equally an item of happier news for the broader kingdom,” Goatley said in the release. “We look forward to memorializing the 27-year legacy of IWS at commencement this June and to faithfully carrying their commitment to deep, biblical worship studies into Fuller’s future.”

Details on the student transition timeline, teach-out logistics and future program availability will be announced in summer 2026, according to the release.