Edwin M. (Ed) Willmington is the Director of the Fred Bock Institute of Music of the Brehm Center for Worship, Theology and the Arts at Fuller Theological Seminary. Previously his professional career has included serving as Worship and Arts Pastor at Scottsdale Bible Church in Scottsdale, AZ for 22 years, Professor of Music at Point Loma University in San Diego, Worship Pastor at College Avenue Baptist Church in San Diego, and Editor/Writer for Good Life Publications. In 1995, while on sabbatical, he created Shepherd's Staff Worship Music®. Ed is the composer/arranger of more than 100 published works, served on the Advisory Board for The Hymnal for Worship and Celebration, and has been the recipient of several ASCAP awards for his contribution to church music.

Ed’s recent compositional projects include Jubilate! An Ancient-Future Concert Mass, and the music for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies for the Lausanne Congress held in Cape Town, South Africa. He also has a special interest in encouraging the creativity of others, and has developed Jubal House Publications as a means to share those new works with others as a tool for worship planning.

Ed's desire is to encourage creative corporate worship gatherings that connect people with God on a regular basis, and to create opportunities for other music ministry staff and congregants to live out their giftedness as well. He is often asked to be a guest speaker at churches and conferences on topics related to worship and music.

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 three grandchildren.

Fred Bock (1939-1998)

Fred Bock was the consummate musician. This became evident as early as age five when he came home from school and played the songs he had learned that day in kindergarten. By age eleven, he was accompanying the hymns at his local church. He wrote his first choral anthem while in high school and created his first publishing company while an undergraduate student at Ithaca College. In graduate school at USC, he studied church music with renowned choral conductor, Dr. Charles Hirt, who remained a mentor, a confidant and an inspiration for the next four decades.

At age 24, while still in graduate school at USC, Fred Bock became Founder and Director of Publications for the music publishing division of Word, Inc. Using his business instincts and his musical talents, he formed several publishing companies, the two largest being Gentry Publications and the Fred Bock Music Company. Through the years, he also acquired the Raymond A. Hoffman Company, a 65-year-old publisher of operettas for elementary schools; the H. T. FitzSimons Company, publishers of the time-honored Hamelle edition of REQUIEM by Gabriel Faure; and Fox Music Publishing.

Apart from his business ventures, Fred used his musical abilities and leadership skills to serve the church. He spent 14 years at Bel Air Presbyterian Church, first as organist and then as Minister of Music, and another 18 years at Hollywood Presbyterian Church in partnership with the Reverend Dr. Lloyd John Ogilvie.

Fred communicated through music. This was how he shared his heart with God and with other people. His wife Lois recalls a time when she observed him playing the organ with tears streaming down his face. He was pouring out his prayers to God through the music he played. Fred would always tell his choir members to choose an individual to sing to and then pray for that person. He felt that the ministry of music was integrally tied with the ministry of the Word, because music had the power to touch people in ways that words could not.

During his time at Hollywood Presbyterian, Fred worked closely with the Rev. Dr. Lloyd Ogilvie to prepare worship services a year in advance. In early summer, Dr. Ogilvie would prepare for the upcoming year by considering prayerfully what topics he should use for his sermons each Sunday. Then, he would outline those sermons, detailing what texts he would use and the main points he would make. Once finished, Dr. Ogilvie would give these to Fred, who would then choose the music that would complement the sermon topics chosen by Dr. Ogilvie throughout the year. If he could not find any music that was appropriate, he would write his own and often not take credit for it. By September, when he began rehearsing the choir, he would have all of the music chosen for the entire year.