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 strengthen those who lead worship by deepening their unity with one another while cultivating skills in planning and leading worship that integrates cultural expressions with the narrative of God’s story.
To engage with science in worship by piloting worship "experiments" in five partner churches involving interviews with worship leaders and scientists and the creation of new worship resources.
To help small congregations cultivate the practice of identifying and witnessing to God’s work in their communities by training pastors and church leaders in the practice of narrative worship.
To create an expression of worship that increases authenticity, reduces barriers, and provides diverse forms of music and speech by engaging in interviews, focus groups, and team studies that expand theological and aesthetic understanding of worship.
To host an ecumenical workshop series for rural churches in southwestern Ontario to acknowledge the unique challenges of rural communities, embrace a theology of abundance in naming the benefits of rural churches, and encourage one another.
To equip and encourage Asian American women in ministry by hosting a worship conference specifically geared toward equipping Asian American women and by leading two online cohorts to sustain them in ministry.
To help young adults and converts more deeply engage the Orthodox tradition of worship by establishing a training program in chant, iconography, and other liturgical arts.
To develop a worship community resource and learning platform with theologically sound, justice-rooted resources for congregational singing, bolstered by in-person learning events and educational video projects connecting congregational song to strong discipleship.
To support Black Christian women’s holistic worship by deepening the connection between doxology, orthodoxy, and orthopraxy through a conference for worship and an accompanying mentorship cohort.
To promote multigenerational collaboration and address a development gap for young worship leaders by developing a worship leadership training program.
To create a network of reflective practitioners of multicultural worship in the North American context who will learn from and support each other and discern a set of best practices that will result in a set of published resources.
To revitalize the worship experience in three congregations who share the same worship space by expanding the use of worship arts and musical forms so that all may engage in worship that is healthy, vital, and spiritually engaging.
