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.
DurhamCares (2020)
To explore the story of the shared neighborhood of seven churches in order to cultivate worship that is responsive to God's work in the churches' immediate context.
Ekklesia (United Ministries in Higher Education)
To deepen worshipers' awareness of the beauty and character of God by engaging various art forms in an intergenerational and ecumenical context on campus and in partner churches.
First Baptist Church on Fifth
To reflect the church's renewed mission to become a sanctuary for the city by broadening worshipers' imagination for worship and deepening its engagement with the community.
First Christian Church of Orange (2020)
To create an intentional process for selecting music for congregational singing that promotes vibrant worship and facilitates the full, conscious, active participation of worshipers.
First Church in Windsor
To use liturgical art and creative rituals to create inclusive worship that welcomes worshipers of all ages, abilities and cultures.
First Community AME Church
To reflect theologically on communal worship that incorporates prayer, praise, and servant leadership, in order to facilitate deeper participation and engagement with God in worship.
First Congregational Church of Webster Groves
To enliven worship through the arts, especially jazz, and environmental awareness to discover the wonder and joy of being stewards of God's creation.
First Congregational Church, New London
To deeply engage scripture in worship through prayer stations that explore the history, theology, spirituality, and justice elements of the weekly scripture text.
First CRC of Toronto
To invite people into the biblical story and exploration of the seasons of the liturgical year by collaborating on a permanent artwork for worship.
First Hamilton Christian Reformed Church
To nourish the faith of worshipers by experiencing and reflecting on different ways of celebrating the Lord's Supper and reconnecting it to the preaching of the Word.
First Missionary Baptist Church
To engage all generations in the singing and study of hymns in order to increase worshipers' awareness of God in daily Christian living.
First Presbyterian Church, Bellingham
To increase worshipers' awareness of God by engaging worship through different pathways and through the various ways members of the community connect with God.