1855 Knollcrest Circle SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4402 USA
On the campus of Calvin University and Calvin Theological Seminary
© 2024 Calvin Institute of Christian Worship
CICW has awarded Vital Worship, Vital Preaching Grants for over 20 years to teacher-scholars and worshiping communities in 45+ states and provinces and across 40+ denominations and traditions—including Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Pentecostal, non-denominational, and other Protestant communities.
While worship styles and practices vary greatly across these traditions, the grant projects typically explore at least one of CICW’s ten core convictions related to worship. Explore the hundreds of projects we’ve funded across both streams of the program.
To promote the inclusion of minority worship leaders in chapel services through inviting diverse guest leaders and emphasizing the theological potential of minoritized worship expressions in seminary courses and in a colloquium.
To develop contextualized liturgies for life in the climate crisis through a collaborative learning community and video creation.
Carolyn B. Helsel
To encourage appreciation among Christian worshipers for our Jewish neighbors and reduce anti-Semitism by creating videos and written resources aimed at equipping preachers to approach biblical references to Jewish people through a framework of gratitude for our shared religious heritage.
Shannan Baker
To pilot a contemporary worship training program focused on discovering the best educational methods for teaching contemporary worship, by engaging in workshops on technology, music, and theology.
Adam Perez
To assess the distribution and reception of popular worship songs and the relationship between the worship music industry and local worship practitioners, in order to equip practitioners with a deeper understanding of the forces that impact their worship song selections.
To train young worship leaders and strengthen congregational worship through developing an intergenerational mentorship program.
Emmanuel Parish
To train worship leaders in the theology and practice of intergenerational and innovative worship (including African music and liturgy, dance, and visual arts) through developing opportunities for education, prayer, and collaborative planning of major festival services.
To support pastoral enrichment for second-generation Korean American pastors through piloting a cohort program that incorporates contextual formation, spiritual direction, pastoral rejuvenation, and funding for liturgical experimentation by cohort members.
To become a more hospitable and anti-racist church through training and reflection to deconstruct white-centered worship norms and by expanding the multiplicity of non-Eurocentric ways that we engage in worship.
To equip emerging BIPOC worship artist activists to shape their local ministries to develop a prophetic imagination that celebrates the goodness and beauty of the justice God seeks for our world.
To integrate intergenerational relationships, imagination, and playfulness into worship life to promote faith formation that begins in and transcends the rituals of worship.
To intentionally engage the views of the full range of our racially and economically diverse congregation about the meaning and purpose of worship and to integrate their ideas, gifts, and perspectives into worship practices that feel authentic and hospitable to all.
