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 break down barriers of age, ethnicity, and worship tradition by engaging and theologically reflecting on the arts, theater, and music in worship.
To explore the history of liturgical practices in the church's worship in order to be formed by those practices and to authentically integrate them into the church's worship life.
To discover the vastness of God by engaging worship practices that connect mind, body, and spirit.
To facilitate meaningful, active participation of the whole community in worship by exploring the role of worship in theological education and methods of digital accessibility.
To form a hospitable communal worship space that welcomes worshipers’ whole selves and celebrates all of the Body of Christ in its diversity by engaging in music, arts, and storytelling.
To increase Biblical literacy and an awareness of the beauty of God by expressing scripture through art.
To enable deeper participation in scripture through drama, dance, and music as modes of proclamation.
AnneMarie Mingo
To involve women of color in the development of models and resources for connecting worship and public social witness.
To deepen worshipers’ practice of joy in a community marked by suffering by creating Psalm-influenced liturgical art together.
To renew a robust Communion practice by exploring the ways global, local, and congregational table practices deepen worshipers’ engagement with God and the world.
To facilitate the full participation in worship of persons with dementia by engaging with experts in inclusive worship in order to provide all worshipers with increased spiritual transformation and social connectedness.
To build relationships around the table by exploring a dinner church format and by reflecting on Scripture to create new songs that represent this expression of worship.
