1855 Knollcrest Circle SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4402 USA
On the campus of Calvin University
© 2026 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 create and implement worship services designed to restore the self-worth of worshipers who have suffered moral injury and to provide spiritual renewal and hope to them and their families.
Karen Johnson
To study Christians who have historically worshipped together across racial lines, using case studies to explore how thinking Christianly and historically about race’s effect on American worship might help churches foster reconciliation in the present.
To strengthen practices of congregational song by introducing a globally diverse diet of hymns and other congregational songs and by strengthening understanding of the contexts in which songs were created.
To foster integration between worship and science by connecting worship practices with the mission to serve, protect and restore God's earth.
Alexander Jun
To study the experience of students of color in chapel programs at Christian colleges and universities, and to assess the influence of chapel worship practices on the stated goals of these institutions with regard to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
To facilitate intergenerational worship by gathering mothers to collaboratively create worship practices for use in both corporate worship and in the home.
Shively Smith
To identify the metaphors and images that shape the interpretation of Scripture within worshiping communities, and to assess the impact of these interpretive images on a community’s relationship to various “others” and socio-political realities.
To nourish Christian unity and interpersonal connection within a prison by initiating and reflecting on a weekly practice of the eucharist.
To reimagine worship as an act of justice by decolonizing the congregation's worship practices to ensure that each is engaged in a culturally appropriate way.
To provide space and practices for congregants and visual artists to deepen their understanding and engagement of lament.
Elizabeth Anderson
To survey the process of revising the calendar of commemorations in the Episcopal Church since 2003 and to offer a proposal for how calendar reform might proceed amidst a diversity of theological understandings and liturgical practices.
Rebecca Spurrier
To create a liturgical resource that responds to ableist images, narratives, and symbols that are common in Christian worship, drawing from insights in liturgical studies and disability studies.
