Dr. Will Whittaker currently serves as Director of Music Ministries at Cannon United Methodist Church in Snellville, GA, in the greater Atlanta area, leading worship across choir, orchestra, praise band, and handbells.
His ministry career spans more than two decades of worship leadership in large congregations, including over twelve years as Minister of Music at Ivy Creek Baptist Church in Buford, GA, where he tripled the music ministry’s participation from roughly 120 to 360 members across a 126-voice adult choir, 36-piece orchestra, and multiple children’s and student choirs. He has also served as Pastor of Worship & Administration at Oak Grove Baptist Church, Director of Worship at Hope Community Church (formerly Gardendale Mt. Vernon UMC), and taught in higher education as Adjunct Professor of Church Music at Truett McConnell University and as a Doctor of Musical Arts Research Coordinator at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Earlier in his career, he taught choral music in public schools as Choral Director at JF Drake Middle School and Opelika High School in Alabama. An ordained and licensed minister for decades, Will brings both pastoral and musical leadership to every ministry he serves.
A central focus of his calling is intergenerational worship. This began with his doctoral research on choral ministries in intergenerational church contexts at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and has continued through his work as an author — his book, Cultivating Intergenerational Worship (GC2 Press, 2022), offers a practical framework for building corporate worship that engages every generation — as well as his ongoing writing and blog at drwillwhittaker.org.
Will is a sought-after choral clinician, collaborative pianist, and guest lecturer, having taught and performed all over the world — including seminars for the Baptist Church Music Conference and Baptist state conventions, guest lectures at Mercer University, the University of the Cumberlands, Ouachita Baptist University, and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, and international teaching with the Baptist Convention of Cuba. He is a choral recording artist with Celebrating Grace and One Voice Music Publishers, and a member of Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, the American Choral Directors Association, and the Baptist Church Music Conference.
Dr. Whittaker holds a Bachelor of Music Education and a Master of Music Education, both in Vocal/Choral Music, from Auburn University, and the Doctor of Musical Arts in Church Music from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.