1855 Knollcrest Circle SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4402 USA
On the campus of Calvin University and Calvin Theological Seminary
© 2024 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 engage the congregation and worship leaders in the theology and practice of Christian worship through teaching and training that will seek to renew worship from a spectator-performance experience to complete, active participation of each worshiper of every ethnicity and age.
To immerse the congregation in a year-long study of the Holy Spirit that is based on preaching, sacraments, creeds and traditions and express this learning through creative writing, dance, drama, visual art and music that produce fruit within the congregation and in service to the community.
To offer regional training institutes that will offer the catechumenal journey as a means of connecting worship and faith formation.
To create a learning community within the congregation that will engage with guest teachers in dialogue and collaboration to learn about worship and create new ideas for worship that will connect with the congregation.
To train student chapel leaders to plan and lead worship that draws more intentionally on the theological and spiritual dimensions of the diverse worship practices represented within the school and local faith communities.
To engage members of the congregation in Worship Renewal Circles that will deepen their understanding of worship, encourage the creation of worship journals and share their learnings with two neighboring congregations.
To encourage personal and public prayer practices in worshipers of all ages by creating a language for prayer through Lectio divina, praying the Psalms, and media that includes Twitter and Facebook.
To express the broad range of worship expressions that appear in the Bible through workshops to create liturgies, prayers, responsive readings, music, poems and art with a focus on the Psalms and Revelation.
To engage in a process of learning and reflection on the use of music drama and art that will create intergenerational worship services for the congregation and other churches in the community who have been invited to learn with them.
To develop cell groups that include members of the prison congregation, partner churches and ex-offenders which will develop communion services to be used in the prison and community congregations.
to more deeply live into their mission statement Centered in Christ, Called to the Core City, and committed to being a multicultural community reconciled to each other through Christ
To provide training for worship leaders and congregations for the liturgical seasons of the Christian year through a series of events that will include traditional, contemporary, ecumenical, and global worship resources.
