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 collaborate with neighboring churches by sponsoring numerous sessions reflecting on global worship and the normativity of the multicultural church, implementing music, prayers and rituals of African, Central and South American and Asian Christians in worship, and extending hospitality to people from a variety of cultures.
To sponsor "A Community in Worship Project," a two-day community worship event, bringing together churches across denominational, racial and socioeconomic lines for teaching and learning regarding Christian worship.
To establish an independent, interdenominational Pacific Islanders Worship Arts Institute which will help Hawaiian churches embrace worship that celebrates Pacific island culture and honors the integrity of the Christian faith.
To develop workshops at the Cottonwood Pass Bible Conference, an 80-year-old annual gathering for Native American Christians in New Mexico, that will lead to the development of music and visual arts for worship that are Biblical and contextualized with Native American Culture
To launch a Summer Institute for Liturgical Studies to enable leaders for worship in the ecumenical and multicultural context of today's American culture, particularly in the Pacific region.
To enhance and promote an integrative worship experience in a worshiping community that is bilingual and bicultural, worshiping in both Spanish and English and many diverse styles. Training will be provided for writing and arranging music; liturgies, songs, hymns, and other worship materials will be translated; children's worship will be enhanced and a two-day conference on "integrative worship" will be offered.
To encourage the use and appreciation of multicultural music and liturgy in the worship services of four Lutheran and Reformed congregations located in a multicultural neighborhood through the development of a congregational/ecumenical model for worship renewal.
To sponsor a national worship conference on Korean Worship and Music in order to create worship resources for Korean American congregations
To partner with International Christian Fellowship Ministry in introducing the musical and worship traditions of East Asians and Africans into their congregations as a means of outreach to other immigrants
To begin a certification training program for musicians, pastors, and music leaders in Latino churches
To enrich worship through learning, singing and sharing worship music from around the world, helping celebrate the diversity of the neighborhood, city and church
To sponsor a week-long Liturgical Institute for clergy, religious and lay leaders of South Florida with a focus on the sacraments and popular devotions in developing multi-cultural congregations
