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 reduce the hearing and visual barriers that limit some members from full participation in the worship service by practicing liturgical dance and scripture enactment that include assistive listening and captioning.
Lindsay Hanson
To reimagine how sacred spaces are experienced and to deepen Christian practices through movement, presence, and community participation by bringing contemporary choreography into sanctuaries through an immersive live performance that will transform how congregations and communities experience dance, music, and sacred architecture, creating meaningful embodied encounters that connect faith and art.
To engage worship arts such as music, dance, mime, and drama to form worshipers who embody the characteristics of the Beatitudes.
To reclaim joy and play as expressions of faith in worship by inviting special guest preachers to lead services and by creating a lab for translating scripture into embodied practice.
To nurture and expand the youth praise dance ministry to promote sustained spiritual growth, leadership development, and deeper participation of children in the worship life of the church.
To deepen congregants’ spiritual engagement in worship and to build bridges between the congregation and community though engagement with visual arts and dance, especially with artists who use the church building.
To deepen community ties and invite other churches into collaboration by hosting art and worship events featuring music, performing arts, and visual arts with activities accessible for all ages.
To engage congregants and the community in worship experiences outside of traditional Sunday services through workshops and small-group worship experiences that incorporate music and the visual and performing arts.
To cultivate practices of embodied worship that reflect the diversity of the congregation and the surrounding community to deepen capacity for communal embodied worship.
To encourage dance as a form of prayer and sacred art in worship through the development of collaborative cross-cultural workshops, meditative performances, and education materials.
To facilitate the active participation in worship of children with hearing impairment by engaging them in expressive dance.
To strengthen the hermeneutical skills, Biblical literacy, and spiritual agency of worshipers through the development of Bibliodrama in a local congregation that will help traumatized people to find themselves within the story of God.
