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 promote intergenerational faith formation by teaching about baptism, communion, and the Christian year.
To foster healing-centered worship among Punjabi immigrants by incorporating music, meditation, and psalms into trauma-informed liturgical practices.
To foster unity, inclusivity, and spiritual growth across generations and cultures by developing dialogue-focused worship practices and liturgical resources for multilingual and inclusive worship.
To promote unity, shared discipleship, and renewed vitality in congregational life through intergenerational creation and leading of worship using labs, story circles, mentoring, and shared worship services.
To deepen congregational fellowship and theological understanding of the Lord’s Supper through intergenerational study, shared meals, artistic expression, and service.
To equip worshipers to identify, develop, and use their spiritual gifts in worship through training, reflection, and active participation.
To create multisensory intergenerational worship experiences through retreats, worship services, community events, and worship labs that promote deeper spiritual connection and extend worship beyond the church walls.
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 promote intergenerational faith formation, spiritual curiosity, and a sense of belonging within the church community by engaging worshipers in a multisensory worship lab experience.
To foster contemplative spirituality and to cultivate emerging leaders by equipping high school-aged Choral Scholars to lead Evensong services.
To more fully engage children in corporate worship and to uncover ways to make singing, worship rituals, and community life more inclusive of all ages.
To strengthen congregational participation, formation, and belonging by spending a year studying, designing, and practicing intergenerational worship.
