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.
Elizabeth Anderson
To survey the process of revising the calendar of commemorations in the Episcopal Church since 2003 and to offer a proposal for how calendar reform might proceed amidst a diversity of theological understandings and liturgical practices.
To deepen worshipers' awareness of the beauty and character of God by engaging various art forms in an intergenerational and ecumenical context on campus and in partner churches.
To enliven worship through the arts, especially jazz, and environmental awareness to discover the wonder and joy of being stewards of God's creation.
To deeply engage scripture in worship through prayer stations that explore the history, theology, spirituality, and justice elements of the weekly scripture text.
To collaboratively create original liturgy, hymnody, and art for worship that facilitates connection with God in all of life.
To explore contextual methods of proclamation in a dinner and spirituality service that facilitates deeper participation of the community in worship.
To nurture community within the congregation and the neighborhood by promoting active participation in worship through the arts and the preached Word.
To create and pilot participatory intergenerational worship resources that facilitate collaborative worship in a variety of contexts.
To create a consortium of young adults who will be trained and mentored to design and execute a monthly ecumenical, multicultural, and multigenerational worship gathering.
To initiate a contemplative worship service that uses participatory and sensually rich gestures, silence, and Celtic music in order to cultivate worshipers’ imagination of God.
To explore ways the worshiping community’s values can be embodied in communal worship practices that shape worshipers' engagement with God, one another, and God’s world.
To explore and experiment with different formats of intergenerational worship in order to foster cross-generational community and deeper connection with God.
