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.
Sugar Hill United Methodist Church
To enhance appreciation for, knowledge of, and participation in the Lord’s Supper through commissioned art work, increased cross-cultural participation with the Hispanic community, and specific teaching on the history and theology of the Lord’s Supper.
Sussex Christian Reformed Church
To encourage active participation of worshipers of all ages particularly during the Gathering, through practical workshops and deliberate effort for varied leadership during worship.
The River Community Church
To develop a worship service series that focuses on exploring and encouraging “worship habits” (Vertical Habits) through multi-sensory, intergenerational experiences which help to cultivate a dynamic relationship with God.
Tribe of Los Angeles
To integrate offering of time, materials goods, services and money into liturgical practices so that worshipers better understand the processes by which we offer and receive gifts from God and from one another.
Trinity Episcopal Church
To equip children and youth for Christian worship within the liturgical framework of the Eucharist, and to foster intergenerational church community by fully engaging young people in a corporate worship experience through a newly commissioned Eucharistic liturgy for young voices and Orff instruments.
Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church of Manhattan (2004)
To connect a multicultural, multi-class group of children and youth with artists/mentors to learn about and practice various art forms including painting, puppetry/drama, photography, dance and music that will be used in worship.
Tualatin Presbyterian Church
To energize and enrich worship through the congregation-wide shared experience of planning, creating and evaluating relevant, service-specific visual art.
United Theological Seminary
To study the Eucharist and its practice in the United Methodist church through a collaboration with six congregations, and to enrich existing Easter Vigil liturgies through the use of liturgical dance, storytelling, and the electronic media while encouraging other congregations to institute Vigils for the first time.
United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities (2004)
To offer a one-week Summer Institute on worship and the arts for clergy, laity and seminarians with the intent of exploring the intersections of arts and religion and how these intersections can renew worship.
Western Episcopal District, African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church
To conduct two three-day leadership institutes focusing on the foundation, formula, form, fervency, and festivity of Christian worship.
Winnetka Presbyterian Church (2004)
To increase involvement and understanding of sermons by engaging youth, leaders and pastors in a process of preparation which will include discussion of the text, life applications and the creation of visual materials.
Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church
To encourage a wide variety of youth and adults who have gifts in music, technology, public speaking and hospitality to create ecumenical worship services which will be offered on Wednesday evenings for people in rural settings who often are unable to gather on Sundays for traditional worship.