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 develop liturgical and sacramental practices that foster an inclusive and just experience of worship for all people.
To equip and encourage leaders to implement new practices in their congregations that express the connection between worship, mission, and discipleship, through exposure to leaders from different continents and ethnicities.
To immerse children from varied religious backgrounds in reflection on worship practices by engaging them in music composition, singing, liturgy writing, and Scripture reading, and to expose adults to the worship styles and traditions of those children.
To raise up the value of sacred space by exploring how the practice and visually marking of sacred space in the chapel can extend into the rest of the campus.
To deepen members’ experience of the holiness of God by exploring how various art forms can strengthen liturgical participation.
To cultivate young Christian leaders to mature in a life-long faith by empowering them with the skills and knowledge to lead intergenerational worship.
To frame communal hymn singing as a spiritual discipline in order to increase worshipers’ awareness of God.
To unite persons of different generations in multilingual Chinese-Canadian churches by fostering collaboration between pastors and worship leaders and by strengthening intergenerational engagement with the Psalms.
To equip youth to reflect on contextual needs as they plan, lead, and evaluate worship.
To strengthen participation in the sacraments through study and reflection on the connections between baptism, communion, faith formation and Christian community.
To connect the public worship of churches with worshipers’ personal grief by studying historical and biblical liturgies of lament.
To integrate regular campus worship with the academic undergraduate liberal arts curriculum as a source of Christian formation.
