Grant Director

Edwin M. (Ed) Willmington is part of the Brehm Center for Worship, Theology and the Arts, and Composer-in-Residence, at Fuller Theological Seminary. Ed’s responsibilities include teaching graduate level classes related to music and worship and serving as a worship leadership mentor to students who lead the Fuller Seminary Chapel ministry. Ed is also serving as a director of a Lilly Endowment grant project: Nurturing Children Through Worship and Prayer.

Ed has served local churches as a worship leader/pastor, including more than 22 years as the Pastor of Worship and Arts at Scottsdale Bible Church in Scottsdale, AZ. In the church, Ed has advocated for creative forms of worship that includes a leadership philosophy that includes multiple generations and a variety of styles. He has advocated for elevating the role of children’s involvement in worship ministry leadership, which included co-writing a chapter in Children’s Ministry and the Spiritual Child: Practical, Formation-Focused Ministry.

Ed’s recent compositional projects include “Reconciled in Christ,” the music for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of The Third Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization, held in Cape Town, South Africa in October 2010, and “Consolation for the Suffering,” a musical work written to highlight the issue of Christian persecution. “Hymns: A Legacy of Faith” is a 20-track album of hymns, both historical and modern. He also has a special interest in encouraging the creativity of musical artists, and has developed Jubal House Publications (www.JubalHouse.com) as a means of sharing new musical works. 

Ed has a BA in Church Music and Conducting (Bethel University [MN]), MM in Composition and DMA in Composition—both from the University of Arizona. Ed and his wife Mary Lou have two married daughters, Nicolette Kay and Cami Ferreira, two sons-in-law, Timothy Kay and Gus Ferreira, and four wonderful grandchildren.