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 cultivate congregational commitments to justice and diversity by training worship leaders to incorporate music from various cultural traditions, commissioning new works, and collaborating with neighboring arts organizations.
To unite existing Korean-, English-, and Chinese-speaking Christian communities in worship by training leaders for new multilingual chapel services featuring rotating language leadership and real-time translation.
To strengthen ecumenical relationships and spiritual formation opportunities in a culturally and linguistically diverse student body through the development of a regular Taizé service on campus.
To bring together a longstanding Presbyterian worshiping community and its Latino neighbors through the development of culturally blended worship services.
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 promote a healthy, unified, and Christ-centered community that reflects God’s diverse kingdom by developing multicultural worship and discipleship practices.
To form worshipers whose daily life flows into worship and whose worship flows back into daily life by training participants in liturgy, lay preaching, and table hospitality.
To implement worship-centered Black History Month celebrations, inspired by Revelation 7:9, that integrate chapel services, student learning, soul food, and community storytelling to represent hope in God's redemptive story and to celebrate diversity.
Aaron Howard
To encourage racial reconciliation in the church by creating a multimedia resource to equip worshiping communities to develop multiracial gospel choirs.
To diversify the cultural representation of the music used in Mennonite churches by developing best practices for creating, sourcing, curating, and hosting resources from a greater diversity of worship expressions.
To implement embodied and intercultural worship led by pastors, artists, and community members, to renew faith through narrative, liturgy, and artistic expression, and to strengthen both resilience and hope.
