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 focus on the seasons of the Christian year through worship, study, and art, in order to promote a greater sense of God’s presence in worship and daily life.
To provide training for clergy and lay parish leaders to enhance the planning of liturgy, especially in rural and missionary community parishes.
To explore ways to leverage the congregation's worship and missional priorities and promote a greater commitment to discipleship and service through studies and events related to worship and justice.
To gather a community around silence, contemplative prayer and meditation on Scripture and ancient Christian texts, in order to facilitate encounters with God's living presence in worship.
To empower members of three local congregations to engage in spiritual formation through practicing and sharing artistic works of song, prayer, and Scripture.
To strengthen corporate worship with theological reflection, innovative and embodied worship elements, creative arts, and the unique gifts of the congregation.
To develop intergenerational, indigenous worship by including the congregation in designing worship services for Advent and Holy Week that include music, visual arts and drama.
To develop intergenerational worship by connecting the seasons of worshipers' lives to the seasons of the Christian year through art, story-telling, music, and education.
To equip congregations to welcome persons into a community of faith and prepare them for a lifelong journey of discipleship beginning with baptism through an immersion event and a mentoring program.
To implement a study of the theology of worship that includes Scripture, Psalms, prayer and communion, and to apply this learning to planning worship events.
To enrich a contemplative worship service and to explore issues of faith, worship, contemplative prayer and the arts.
To enrich home-based small group worship gatherings by developing resources of Christian music, symbolic objects and rituals, and creative worship practices.
