The Certificate In Worship Leadership Studies

University Credentials For Worship Leaders.

The Certificate In Worship Leadership Studies is a unique and completely online university Certificate Program – enabling you to grow, and receive credentialing, from the comfort of your home or office. Learning Director Dan Wilt, M.Min. partners with St. Stephen’s University (SSU) to bring you this innovative online program. Study Worship Leading, Values, Theology, History, Songwriting and Spiritual Development through our online Essentials Courses. Register today for this innovative program with 12 monthly payments of only $99 USD.

What You Get

  • University-level worship training via online media from experts in the field.
  • Flexibility and ease – work at your own pace from home.
  • Live University Calls with Dan Wilt, M.Min. and peers.
  • Feedback from us on each course that you complete.
  • A Certificate from WorshipTraining and St. Stephen’s University upon completion.

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Or pay $995 up front

Program Instructor – Dan Wilt, M.Min.

“Twenty-first century churches are looking for worship leaders with more than just musical skill – they want them to have some pastoral wisdom, leadership ability, theological grid and historical awareness. The want them to have creative ability and a real devotional life – they’re looking for a complete package. We train that kind of passionate, forward-looking worship leader in a postmodern world.” Dan Wilt

Dan Wilt, M.Min. is your Certificate Instructor, and is one of today’s most respected voices in higher education for worship leaders and artists. With over 20 years as a worship leader, recording artist (Vineyard Music), songwriter, author, university worship trainer and communicator, Dan’s background uniquely qualifies him to lead your program.

The Curriculum

The Certificate is comprised of 6 Essentials Courses done for university credit -

  • Worship Leading – the skills and calling,
  • Worship Theology – big ideas about God and worship,
  • Worship History – the ways we’ve worshipped over millenia,
  • Worship Values – the priorities that guide our worship,
  • Worship Songwriting – how to write worship songs,
  • Spiritual Development – your spiritual growth and discipleship.

Certificate students complete the full university assignments listed for each course. Assignments include: reading books, watching videos, posting assignments online, discussions with classmates, and crafting creative projects.

Courses are delivered online in flexible formats so that you can work your studies around your schedule. Your course options include:

  • Scheduled – take a course with others in 4 week blocks (10 hours/week). Each course is scheduled 3x per year.
  • Self-Directed – take a course anytime you’d like. Do it in 1 week or stretch it out over a few months.

Course media can be viewed online or downloaded to take with you so that you can easily study on your commute or on a lunch break.

2012 Upcoming Scheduled Course Dates


Buy Certificate
Or pay $995 up front

Frequently Asked Questions

Many questions you may have are answered below. Make sure you read through these FAQ’s, and then, if you have any other questions not answered here, you can contact us.

Will I be glad I did this?

We believe you will. Your time and energy is valuable, and we’ve designed a program to leverage it for your calling. Increasingly, pastors and leaders want their worship leaders to have some study in the world of worship leadership. We provide it – online, accessible and in the most inexpensive, yet valuable way possible. Your future matters – we want to get behind you.

How much time will this take me?

You can accomplish the work necessary for each Essentials course in approximately 8-10 hours/week for 4 weeks, or stretch it out on the self-directed plan. Most participants choose to spread the courses out over a year to leave room for “regular life.”

Why is the cost so different from the cost of a Membership to WorshipTraining?

University credit and the Certificate is what makes the difference. Our Essentials Courses included with membership are a “seminar” version of the university course. In other words, they are introductory, and meant to be a lot less work for the average church musician/worship leader. The Certificate price also includes feedback on assignments (no feedback is included with the seminar version). Most online universities charge anywhere from $200-$500 for 1 credit hour of study. This Certificate is 6 credit hours of work, and we charge the very low end of the scale to serve our WorshipTraining friends. Compare this online Certificate to the costs of other university 6 credit hour programs, and you’ll see the difference.

What can I do with my certificate? Why get it?

While the Certificate is not a full university diploma or degree, it is a marker that you have invested significant time and energy in studying the thought, heart, skills and values behind effective worship leadership in a community. In some churches, this is a very significant advantage to have in a worship leader.

Why St. Stephen’s University?

St. Stephen’s University (SSU) is one of our partner schools, and has been a long time friend and partner with Dan Wilt in the offering of excellent, thoughtful education for postmodern creative leaders. Dan is an adjunct professor of SSU, and has worked closely with them to develop creative spiritual leaders over the past years. Nestled in the beauty of Eastern Canada, it is a vibrant, intimate university and community (modeled on many community values derived from a variety of models) that has provided an excellent haven for the development of artistic leaders. In the world of universities, the language of size and visibility has unfortunately dominated the landscape of people intuitively “rating” a university. For us, SSU embodies many ideals in Christian community and quality of conversational, postmodern learning necessary for the 21st century Church to move forward. For that reason, we currently partner with SSU in offering this online Certificate. Other university and college conversations are also in process, and our students have received credit at other schools for their work with us.

Is SSU accredited?

SSU is chartered by the province of New Brunswick, Canada to grant Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees, and is a respected, community-based, innovative academic institution located on the east coast of Canada. Accreditation varies from university to university, but upon request, a letter (and final transcript) will be given to Certificate students to use with other universities. We understand that a participant may wish to complete their degree somewhere else, or apply credits earned with us to another program. If requested, we can give a letter explaining the Certificate program and your other university can tell you if its credits will apply.

What if I’ve already done some Essentials Courses (seminar level)?

If you’ve already done the Essentials Courses, or many of them, on a seminar (non-university level) then you are one step ahead! The cost for the Certificate remains the same, but we only require that you “add on” the requirements necessary for university credit that you did not complete in the seminar version.

Do I have to do the courses in order?

No. You can take them in any order, and at any time. We recommend Essentials In Worship Theology as a great starting point – it gives a frame and a context for the rest of the Essentials Courses.

How long do I have to complete the Certificate?

We ask you to complete your Certificate work in 1 Year. If you are unable to do this for any reason, you may ask for an extension.

I’m not a worship leader, can I still do this?

Absolutely. All of the Essentials Courses are designed to serve more than worship leaders. When taking the Essentials In Worship Leading Course, and Songwriting, the participant would need to apply the principles learned in those settings to other areas of leadership. These 2 courses are quite specific to the worship leader skillset.

How many credit hours is this worth?

The Certificate is worth 6 credit hours (1 per Essentials Course module), a total of about 240 hours of coursework (40 hours per 4 week module).

Can I do further study with you?

Further study is possible, applying the Certificate to a Bachelors Program at St. Stephen University, or even requesting credit at the school of your choice. More information on this can be given upon request. Acceptance into any of SSU’s programs, is not to be assumed when the online Certificate is completed. Each program has its own requirements, and should be applied for separately after completing the online Certificate. If you definitely plan to go beyond this online Certificate, and want to see how it would qualify toward further SSU or university study, contact us and we’ll send you more information.

How do I submit assignments?

Assignments vary throughout the Certificate study. Assignments that are responses are posted in the Campus among all the other participants in the courses. Papers are posted on your blog, that you will begin on the Campus upon registration for the Certificate. Creative Projects are posted to our Creative Exchange.

Will I receive feedback & grading on my assignments?

Yes. You will receive audio or written feedback on all of your work at the end of each Essentials Course Module, after you submit a Module Completion Form letting us know you finished your work (more on this after registration.

Grading is based on a 100 point system, each of the six Essentials Course Modules are worth 15 points. This totals 90 points of the overall Certificate Grade (6 x 15), and is based on the consistency/quality of weekly blog posts (10 pts.) and the Creative Project due for each module (5 pts.). The final 10 points of the Certificate are based on the students consistency/quality of posts and responses in the online classroom group.

This final grade will be given to the student upon completion of the Certificate.

Are books and extra media costs over and above the tuition price?

Yes and No. First, WorshipTraining houses many DVDs, articles and videos that are part of the Certificate Program, and are available to you free through your Certificate Membership. However, like any university or college program, there are books needed for each class that must be purchased (or borrowed) separately. Our current list is below.

How can I contact you?

Don’t see an answer to your question here? Contact Us for more information.

Can I pay by check?

Some people prefer to pay for a whole year at a time. You can pay by check here if you want to pay for an entire year up front.

What If I Need To Step Out Of The Program?

First, know that “extensions are the key” to finishing your Certificate should you get in a bind. We’ll be very gracious, so if your life changes radically, you can stretch out your program quarter by quarter. Just ask.

But, if you need to step away from the program completely, we’ll only charge you up to your last monthly payment before you notify us by letter that you must drop out. Your tuition payments will end after we receive that letter. It can be sent to the address below.

For those that pay the full amount up front, the entire course tuition is non-refundable after 30 days from your first payment. You must notify us by that date for your full refund.

Pastor’s Information Letter

A personal PDF letter from Dan Wilt to your Pastor/Board with detailed information on the Certificate, and a request for support, is provided here for your convenience.

Required Books & Resources for Certificate Level

Essentials In Worship Theology

Essentials In Worship History

Essentials In Worship Values

  • Essentials In Worship Values relies heavily on Dan’s digital book and article/media content, so there are no outside books required for the course module.

Essentials In Worship Songwriting

Essentials In Worship Leading

Essentials In Spiritual Formation

In addition to the texts above we will provide you with several digital books written by Dan Wilt, M.Min.

Buy Certificate

or pay $995 up front

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