Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena is set to take over the academic mission, assets and programs of the Robert E. Webber Institute for Worship Studies. This Jacksonville-based graduate school will shut down as an independent institution at the end of this academic year. The deal is designed to keep IWS’s signature "ancient-future" worship focus alive while giving current students a clear route to finish their degrees. Founded in 1999, the Webber institute has spent nearly three decades granting master’s and doctoral degrees in worship studies. Still, trustees cited long-term enrollment declines and tightening resources in deciding to call time on the stand-alone school.
Fuller said the two schools have signed a program transfer agreement that hands Fuller responsibility for IWS’s alumni and donor communities and preserves scholarship funds intended for worship leaders, according to Fuller Seminary. "Worship is central in the life of disciples of Jesus and Christian churches," Fuller President David Emmanuel Goatley said, as the seminary cast the move as a chance to fold IWS’s curriculum and global programming into Fuller’s broader offerings.
The Institute for Worship Studies described the agreement on its website as a way to continue Robert Webber’s legacy while winding down IWS’s independent operations. The board has approved a Transfer of Programs Agreement that takes effect July 1, and the institute will cease to exist as an independent school on June 30, 2026, according to the Institute for Worship Studies. IWS President Rev. Dr. Constance Cherry called the arrangement a way to secure IWS’s "active legacy" and urged alumni and friends to show up for the school’s final commencement.
Student Transition and Teach-Out Plan
A teach-out plan built into the transfer agreement will let current IWS students complete their degrees at Fuller, and it details how alumni networks and scholarship funds will be carried forward, as reported by Pasadena Now. The outlet also noted that IWS alerted the Association of Theological Schools in March that it intends to voluntarily withdraw from accredited membership effective June 30, 2026, with the board pointing to years of declining enrollment and resources in making that call.
Why Fuller
Fuller has quietly been beefing up its footprint in worship studies and the arts. The seminary recently moved the Brehm Center for Worship, Theology, and the Arts under the Office of the President, a shift Fuller says increases its ability to serve both church leaders and artists. That administrative relocation broadens Fuller’s curricular and formation platform and, in the seminary’s telling, positions it as a natural home for the Webber legacy and selected IWS programs, according to Fuller Seminary.
Final Rites and Next Steps
IWS plans to hold its 25th and final commencement on Sunday, June 21, 2026, at Hendricks Avenue Baptist Church in Jacksonville, followed by a reception, according to the Institute for Worship Studies. Pasadena Now reported that Fuller President David Emmanuel Goatley is slated to give the commencement address, and the two institutions say they will roll out detailed student-transition timelines and information on future program availability in summer 2026.
What This Signals for Theological Education
The IWS–Fuller handoff lands in the middle of a broader reshuffling across theological schools as they wrestle with shifting enrollment patterns and financial pressures. The Association of Theological Schools’ Pathways initiative is offering grants and peer support to help member institutions navigate that terrain, according to the ATS. Leaders involved in the transfer have framed it as a strategy of preservation through partnership, aiming to keep Webber’s ancient-future vision available to worship leaders and pastors long after IWS closes its independent chapter.
