College Offers Worship Leadership Major

Westmont has launched a new major in worship leadership designed for students pursuing careers as pastoral musicians with an emphasis on the contemporary worship styles more prevalent today.

The National Association of Schools of Music Commission on Accreditation, an organization of more than 600 colleges and universities that establishes national standards for degrees and credentials, approved Westmont’s bachelor of arts degree in worship music late last year.

New required courses for the major, which are open to all students, include Contemporary Writing and Arranging, Sound Recording and Production, History of Popular Music and Music in the Worshipping Church.

“This new and revised curriculum takes the first step toward making Westmont the West Coast hub for worship studies,” says Zig Reichwald, Adams professor of music and worship.

“Worship is part of our DNA and an essential element of the Westmont experience. It shapes our students’ spiritual lives, allows them to grow in their faith, and equips them for service to the church.”

While the college features excellent religious studies professors, a great music department and outstanding student worship teams, they’ve functioned independently from one another. The revised worship leadership track offers an interdisciplinary curriculum that prepares pastoral musicians who’ve become skilled performers, theologically grounded scholars and trained leaders.

Already, four first-year students plan to major in the revised worship leadership track. “Once our new and revised curriculum appears in the next academic catalog and on our website, I expect a high number of prospective students to express an interest in this major,” Reichwald says.

The Sound Recording and Production course uses the renovated first-floor recording studio and state-of-the-art music lab in Westmont’s music building funded by a generous gift from longtime Santa Barbara resident and alumnus Rolland Jacks ’55.