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Kai Ton Chau is a program manager at 91���� (CICW), where he helps create learning programs that teach people how to understand different cultures. He teaches worship and accounting courses at Calvin University. He also mentors student chapel planners at Calvin Theological Seminary. His many degrees—in business, choral music, education, and worship—show his love of learning. He loves to research how to help worship leaders care for people the way pastors do. In this edited conversation, Kai Ton Chau discusses his research on whether worship leaders who love learning feel better about their lives when they are supported to pursue learning opportunities.

Can you describe love of learning personally and academically?

I’m personally passionate about learning. It has shaped my whole career—from college degrees and job training to everyday life skills. Whether it’s planned or spontaneous, learning makes me feel incredibly joyful and motivated. Since I joined CICW in 2014 as a visiting scholar and in my current work as a program manager, I’ve noticed that learning is a big part of the culture here. It makes me wonder: Does my love of learning correlate with my subjective well-being and a good life?

Academic researchers say that loving to learn is a strength. The , which studies character traits across different cultures and beliefs, lists that connect to how happy people feel. is part of the Wisdom group. It’s all about gaining and using information to help live a good life. It’s similar to curiosity but goes a step further—because it builds on what you already know in a more organized way.

How do you hope worship leaders or churches might apply your recent research?

91���� scholars and theologians have proposed that worship leaders need a variety of skills and knowledge to lead their churches well. Meanwhile, worship leaders need a high subjective well-being to lead successfully. When worship leaders enjoy learning new things, it might help them feel happier at work, deal with stress better, and avoid feeling burned out.

When worship leaders enjoy learning new things, it might help them feel happier at work, deal with stress better, and avoid feeling burned out.

So I see two implications of my findings. First, churches should support worship leaders by giving them chances to learn and grow in their jobs. Second, CICW’s Vital 91����, Vital Preaching Grants Program seems to either attract worship leaders who already love learning or help leaders grow that love through special learning projects. My research showed that these learning opportunities can help worship leaders feel more positive. This also helps the church community stay strong and healthy.

Let’s break it down. What is subjective well-being?

Subjective well-being (SWB) is what people report feeling about their lives—how happy or satisfied they are and how they rate their mental health. SWB is part of . Scientists Martin Seligman

and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi helped popularize it around the year 2000. Instead of focusing on problems, positive psychology studies strengths like kindness, courage, and hope. It looks at what helps people and communities grow and do well.

Why did you want to study worship leaders’ subjective well-being?

My research interest has focused on worship leaders. In my earlier doctoral research, I looked at how worship leaders learn to pastorally care for others. In recent decades, there have been so many more music resources and tools to learn from. I wondered whether such abundance might frustrate worship leaders who try to choose well and create a balanced theological and song diet for their congregations. I also questioned how pressures of work and interpersonal relationships affect worship leaders’ SWB.

What was your research process?

CICW’s Vital 91����, Vital Preaching Grants Program began in 2000. By the time I began my research, CICW had funded close to 1,200 completed projects. Some were repeat grants led by the same worship leaders. I sent 1,045 email invitations to complete a survey. Of the 764 emails successfully delivered, 76 recipients clicked through and completed the survey. That 11% response rate was far better than the average 2.55% click rate for emails sent by faith-based organizations, as reported by one of the major email marketing firms. Survey participants self-identified as worship planners/directors, pastors/preachers, educators, musicians/artists, liturgists/presiders, and other. All had college or graduate school education.

So were your survey participants a self-selected group of worship leaders who love learning and had a higher level of SWB?

Did I know that participants had a higher level of love of learning before the study? No, I did not. But I raised the question in my dissertation’s discussion section: Did our grant recipients naturally have a higher love of learning? Is that why they were willing to apply for and complete their grant projects? Maybe they naturally had a higher level of love of learning than worship leaders who didn’t even consider applying for a learning grant. This is something this study was not designed to find out.

I did predictive—not causal—research. In other words, I did not study whether love of learning causes changes in subjective well-being. I only looked at whether a love of learning can help predict—or forecast—worship leaders' SWB.

Anything else you want to say about your research?

By itself, SWB is hard to quantify. That’s why positive psychology uses different ways to measure mood and emotion, such as positive affect and negative affect. Note that “affect” is used here as a noun, not a verb. Positive affect includes good feelings that help people to be creative and connect with others. Negative affect, which includes sadness and fear, warns us about problems and danger.

Survey participants who reported a higher were significantly more likely to say they loved learning. The higher the the worship leaders experienced, the lower their SWB. However, that link was weak, not statistically significant. These results were similar to what other studies have found with college students and clinical patients.

Do you have recommendations for future research on worship leaders’ love of learning and SWB?

I can think of at least five options:

• Compare two groups: one sample group of grant recipients and a control group of the general population of worship leaders.
• Measure grant recipients’ love of learning and SWB before and after they complete their grants.
• Use a combination of SWB-measurement instruments, such as the , , , , , and so on. Each instrument measures a different aspect of well-being. I used a tool called
• Examine all twenty-four VIA character strengths in worship leaders. We don’t fully understand how these strengths show up in worship leaders from varied backgrounds.
• Do a longitudinal study on how worship leaders’ SWB changes over time. So far, there’s not much research on how things like changes in worship practices, worship technologies, the contemporary worship music industry, and online church services affect how worship leaders feel and grow in their faith.