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.
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
To implement a year-long series of congregation-wide learning events about worship and to anchor the congregation's identity and ministries in its worship life.
Encompass World Partners
To address the shame and trauma of refugee Christians by collaborating with leaders from various refugee congregations to create indigenous expressions of worship that praise God for deliverance from shame.
Light of Hope Presbyterian Church
To explore alternative means of worship using drums from around the world, to promote diversity, multiculturalism, inclusion, and outreach in worship.
Luther Place Memorial Church
To train leaders through study of the theology of baptism and to promote life together in a diverse community through designing and implementing vesper worship services.
South Congregational Church
To develop innovative and informal worship services involving global music to connect with spiritual but not religious persons in the community.
Trinity Presbyterian Church
To connect a theology of worship and the arts with the mission of the church through a monthly series of ecumenical worship services partnering with local homeless shelters, hospitals, and nursing homes.
University Congregational United Church of Christ
To enter a church-wide intergenerational exploration of the gospel through the arts of drama, song, dance, storytelling, and sculpture and to integrate these artistic forms in worship experiences through the seasons of the church year.
Eastern University
To explore how different populations of students can come together in a shared experience of worship, spiritual formation and growth that will lead to deeper understanding of Christian traditions globally and historically.
Institute for Prison Ministries, Wheaton College
To equip those who lead worship in correctional facilities with youth and adults by bringing together chaplains for a two-day conference to learn together, train volunteers and share their experiences and learning through a blog and conference calls to gather examples of how worship impacts individuals in correctional facilities.
New Church Development by Flint River Presbytery
To partner with local congregations in developing weekly evening worship at The Light at Bare Bulb Coffee, an innovative new church development, that utilizes liturgical, musical and artistic resources from a variety of Christian traditions and to offer three day-long workshops for local church leaders to learn about the resources being used.
St Andrews Episcopal Church
To initiate a study of worship and new expressions of worship that include Scripture, preaching, and response to Scripture and sacraments that will develop vibrant, multi-generational worship that connects with the needs of the community and trains new leaders for worship.
Old Mission San Louis Rey
To study the history of worship in the Old Mission and prayer in order to plan and offer a series of ecumenical prayer services that use music and art of various styles and from different religious traditions and cultures that will transform this historic California mission church into a vibrant place of worship.