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 offer symposiums in worship planning, music, art, liturgy and drama for high school students and faculty who seek to plan and lead worship that is richly African-American and authentically Christian.
To enhance the accessibility of the preaching of the word to worshipers of all ages through the use of drama, visual arts, music, and puppets and to design a children’s bulletin that encourages active listening.
To establish new Summer Worship, Arts, and Music Camps which will give children the opportunity to gain an understanding of the structure of worship, skills in leading various aspects of worship, experience with various worship-related arts, and occasions for preparing brief worship services.
To assist churches in incorporating liturgical arts by offering seminars and workshops, and by producing resources that disseminate these concepts to a broader audience.
To commission art and music suitable for services conducted within the home, to assist home-based churches in worship planning, and to write a series of articles to encourage home-based churches to reflect on their worship practices with respect to intentional liturgy.
To organize a training, discipleship, and spiritual development program for local worship leaders which will gather worship leaders, pastors, artists, and presenters for monthly retreats to engage in prayer, song, theological/ministry reflection, learning, and artistic creation.
To awaken global consciousness and involvement of the congregation in their community through the liturgical movements of gathering and sending.
To deepen the understanding and experience of the Lord’s Supper and Baptism by developing musical and liturgical leadership, enriching the worship environment with visual art relating to the sacraments, teaching children about the sacraments, and reaching out to the community through Passion Week worship services.
To encourage worship leaders to become more deeply rooted in historical expressions of biblical worship while engaging today’s culture through a conference designed to equip worship leaders.
To provide liturgical formation to musicians and others responsible for liturgy through a Summer Camp experience.
To collaborate with three other congregations to prepare children for full participation in the Lord’s Supper through a Sunday school class and the development of a picture book project.
To offer a study week that focuses on both liturgical theology of elements of worship and multi-cultural liturgy for liturgical leaders in the Roman Catholic dioceses of the
