New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary hosted a worship night Oct. 6 in partnership with The Worship Initiative and SBC Worship. The event was held in celebration of the ribbon cutting for the seminary's new Center for Worship Studies, which took place earlier in the day.  

During the worship night, NOBTS President Jamie Dew gave a devotion about the importance of singing as an act of worship.  

"The Lord has greatly used music and worship to uplift me over the years, and specifically the worship of the body of Christ," Dew said.  

"I went through seasons of doubt and struggle with my faith, which is how I ended up studying apologetics. I used to think I could reason my way out of the struggle, but as I look back, the philosophical arguments, although important, are not what kept me grounded in Christ. It was not anything intellectual or philosophical, but it was corporate worship. Worship has been an anchor to my life over my years as a Christian.  

"I would encourage you to sing as worship because our God compels us to do so. Many people will say 'worship is more than singing,' or 'worship is a lifestyle.' Those things are not incorrect, but it's also important to know that singing itself as worship is vital for us as believers." 

Andrew McKinney, who works for The Worship Initiative and helps oversee SBC Worship, thanked Dew for the way NOBTS has prioritized training worship leaders. 

"The idea of SBC Worship is to amplify the trusted voices within our convention, and so tonight is really a special time for us to amplify the trusted voices here at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary," McKinney said.  

"I think Crescent City Worship and the Center for Worship Studies are positioned to be a beacon of light to this city and to the world. I want to honor the leadership here who stepped into the meaningful equipping and encouraging of the future worship leaders of our churches. Jamie and Tara, thank you for your vision of seeing worship leaders biblically." 

The seminary's desire to prepare worship leaders was highlighted in the morning with the ribbon cutting ceremony for the new Center for Worship Studies.  

The Center for Worship Studies is located in the remodeled Sanders building on NOBTS' campus. The remodeled building primarily contains a state-of-the-art recording studio and fellowship space to be used by Crescent City Worship.  

The studio contains a variety of high-quality instruments, equipment and more. All of which was generously financed by donors.  

Nate Jernigan, assistant professor of music and worship for Leavell College, said the new Center for Worship Studies represents an opportunity to glorify God.  

"I want to take a moment to recognize that things like this tend to build identity and visibility around the work of our hands, but this is very much something for which we want to give total praise and honor to the Lord," Jernigan said during the ribbon cutting ceremony.  

"This is for Him and for the Church. He doesn't need us, but we get the privilege to be a part of something special here. That's our posture and the ethos behind what we do here." 

Jernigan, who also serves on the advisory council for SBC Worship, explained that Crescent City Worship (CCW) was formed in 2024 for the purposes of serving the students of NOBTS and the churches of the SBC.  

Since 2024, CCW has released 41 songs and amassed almost a million streams on various music service platforms. More than 100 countries around the world have streamed CCW music.  

The group travels year-round throughout the country to lead worship at a variety of camps, conferences and events.  

Jernigan pointed to recent research from SBC Worship that concluded more than 20,000 worship leaders will be needed in the SBC by the year 2040.  

He thanked the Leavell College and NOBTS students for their hard work with CCW and said this new Center will continue to help the school prepare future worship leaders.  

"This Center for Worship Studies is going to help equip students for generations to come," Jernigan said.  

"We've got a great work that lies ahead of us, and I'm grateful to President Dew for his trust and biblical leadership. He has enabled us to push forward this missional effort to train and equip students for this great need in the local church. That's our hope and desire for this new Center." 

Dew recounted bringing Jernigan onto faculty and watching the Center grow from an idea into reality.  

"Back in 2022 when Nate came to NOBTS, we saw this tremendous need in our churches for people that can lead worship," he said. "And yet, academic institutions like us don't really exist to address that traditionally. So, trying to do something about this was a big undertaking for us.  

"But Nate bought in to who we are and what we're trying to do here. The next thing you know, students started coming, partners started joining with us, donors began giving and here we are. I can only sit here in awe of God's faithfulness." 

Dew closed with a challenge to the audience to join the seminary in this endeavor to train worship leaders.  

"Here's what I need you to do now, send students to this," Dew told the gathered crowd.  

"This is significant. This is in fact going to make a difference. It is time for us to get after it in terms of raising up worship leaders. If you know someone who wants to be a worship leader, send them to NOBTS and Leavell College and we will train them up."