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 expand an understanding of corporate worship as a means of God’s grace and spiritual formation by practicing worship habits using the arts.
To work with congregations to celebrate and teach the richness of diverse singing practices that deepen community life and connection with God.
To increase worshipers' experience of the beauty of God by training leaders in Byzantine Orthodox Chant and Iconography.
To encourage members to experience the glory and beauty of God as expressed in creation and in creative playful activities that help them experience joy in worship and in the world around them.
To provide training, internships, and experiences of liturgical music from various traditions and cultures to high school students with potential to be future liturgical pastoral ministers.
To collaborate with another church to explore worship for diverse ages, cultures and lifestyles, and foster a rich heritage of intergenerational worship practices.
To connect two different churches that use the same site by bringing them into worship together on feast and fast days, using music as a bridge to promote wholeness and healing.
To deepen the understanding of multicultural worship in a unified church by integrating songs and prayers that reflect the language and culture of the various groups in worship.
To reflect on the intersection of worship and culture and compose multiculturally accessible songs for worship to promote unity among diverse congregants and overcome racial and ethnic barriers.
To listen to scripture and compose stories and songs that will promote a more collaborative, trusting, vulnerable and Spirit-filled worshiping environment.
To unite congregations of free and incarcerated worshippers through music, by composing worship songs that emerge from the experience of incarcerated men and women.
To promote worship that engages the congregation and surrounding community through cultural stories that show how God forms the identity of God’s people.
