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.
New Life Church
To reflect the divine hospitality of the triune God in worship by equipping leaders to facilitate the active participation of all worshipers and by creating a space that aesthetically leads people into worship.
New Mount Zion Baptist Church (2018)
To educate and inspire church leaders to teach, preach, and lead liturgies that welcome the participation of people of all abilities.
Phoenix-Albuquerque District of the AME
To train leaders to reflect on and engage in the theology and practice of cross cultural worship.
Pillar Church
To enrich worship by collaboratively creating artistic liturgical resources inspired by the book of Revelation in order to promote a rich engagement with Scripture.
Rebirth Healing and Deliverance Ministries
To strengthen the community’s connection with God and with one another by deepening worshipers' practices of communal intercessory prayer.
Saint Mary's College
To explore the ways the liturgy facilitates hospitality as a Christian liturgical practice in order to be open and welcoming to all people.
Seabury Resources for Aging
To implement a participatory intergenerational worship service in which worshipers engage Scripture through art, music, storytelling, and guided discussion.
Southeastern Iowa Synod-Free Indeed
To equip the members of a worshiping community within a prison for pastoral and musical leadership.
St. Andrew's Episcopal Church (2018)
To expand participation in worship for disparate communities by developing a common musical repertoire, writing new music, and theologically reflecting on music's role in worship.
St. Monica Catholic Community (2018)
To shape the language, prayer, and song of a worshiping community by composing new songs based on a deepened engagement with the Psalms, informed by their use in various faith traditions.
St. Paul United Methodist Church
To explore the transcultural, contextual, and cross-cultural nature of music and art in the liturgy in order to promote a welcoming and inclusive worship experience.
St. Paul's Episcopal Church
To facilitate formation through worship by implementing new practices from Celtic spirituality that engage the head, heart, and hands of all worshipers.