The Calvin Institute of Christian Worship (CICW), located at Calvin University and Calvin Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan, is an interdisciplinary study and ministry center that promotes the scholarly study of the theology, history, and practice of Christian worship and the renewal of worship in worshiping communities across North America and beyond.
Founded in 1997, CICW is dedicated to using the unique resources of a Christian liberal arts university and theological seminary—with its collegial environment, international faculty and student body, wide interdisciplinary expertise, and culture of ongoing learning—to partner with congregations, denominations, parachurch organizations, professional organizations, and publishers to further our mission.
The implementation of this mission is guided by the following core values:
- FAITH AND LEARNING. Worship can be immeasurably enriched by learning about the theology, history, and practices of Christian worship, and the ways these practices form believers for engaging every aspect of life. CICW seeks to embody the integration of faith and learning which lies at the heart of Calvin’s mission.
- GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE. We have much to learn from Christian worship worldwide—in ancient North Africa and modern-day Korea, in medieval Europe and modern-day South America. CICW encourages learning about Christian worship practices in many time periods, cultures, and places, embracing opportunities to grow in cross-cultural understanding with neighbors close to home and far away.
- MULTIPLE DISCIPLINES AND AREAS OF EXPERTISE. Artists, pastors, theologians, educators, disability experts, cultural anthropologists, community development leaders, philosophers, missionaries, musicians, historians, chaplains, psychologists, and leaders in many other fields have unique insights into ways Christian communities can worship God more profoundly and faithfully. CICW promotes learning from guides and teachers in many fields of study and areas of expertise.
- WIDE ECUMENICAL AUDIENCE. CICW respects and cultivates the strengths of the Reformed tradition in which Calvin University and Calvin Theological Seminary stand, and we readily engage and learn from and with Christians in other traditions and denominations.
- EDIFYING PURPOSE. CICW encourages public worship that is spiritually vital and theologically rooted, that resists unnecessary divisions over worship styles, that promotes unity in the body of Christ, and that builds up the body of Christ for faithful witness in the world God loves.
