1855 Knollcrest Circle SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4402 USA
On the campus of Calvin University and Calvin Theological Seminary
© 2025 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 a chapel worship ministry that reflects the ethnic and ecclesial diversity of the campus and community by welcoming diverse theologians and practitioners and cultivating relationships with local churches.
To deepen worshipers’ understanding of the triune God by engaging in and reflecting on the dynamism of jazz music in Christian liturgy.
To embody God’s story and the healing power of Christ in the public square through liturgical dance choreographies developed by worshiping community members who are engaged with Scripture and storytelling.
To facilitate intergenerational faith formation in worship by creating spaces for learning and collaboration between pastors and lay leaders in ethnically and denominationally diverse congregations.
To promote the role of visual art in the liturgy as a means of meeting God in worship, led by a community of worship artists.
To cultivate in children an awareness of the beauty of God in worship while teaching them skills for leading worship through music, dance, and visual arts.
To equip laypersons to lead and participate in worship by helping them integrate their own experiences of God’s presence with the history, creeds, and practices of African-American churches.
To draw adults into a life of Christian discipleship by studying four congregations with robust catechumenate programs in order to facilitate formational practices and patterns in the worship of other congregations.
To unify churches who share a common neighborhood by implementing ecumenical and contextual worship that meets the needs of the community.
To learn about inclusive worship in order to craft creative liturgies that allow for the full, conscious, active participation of all members of the community.
To facilitate relationships between Anglo- and African-American churches by fully engaging in one another’s worship experiences and by creating liturgical art together.
To reflect on Scripture and culture in order to compose songs and worship expressions that are fitting to a multicultural urban congregational context.
