1855 Knollcrest Circle SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4402 USA
On the campus of Calvin University and Calvin Theological Seminary
© 2024 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 develop a 12-week integrative training course to study the history and purposes of congregational song and to provide participants the opportunity to write, critique and perform original songs and hymns. To teach individuals, both young and old, how to effectively memorize and communicate Scripture for presentation in worship.
To plan a conference which will educate and inspire young musicians to discover old hymns whose texts express their faith and to use their musical gifts to set those texts to music that resonates with their children.
To develop teaching materials on contemporary musical settings of the Psalms, with an emphasis on music from Africa and Latin America, and to make these available to the wider church community.
To develop a program which will meet the needs of small congregations for competent musicians to lead worship and congregational song, and to identify resources for effective music ministry.
To establish an Academy for Pastoral Musicians in Virginia and the mid-Atlantic region which will nurture and form a deeper awareness of "pastoral" ministry through music that nurtures and deepens the Christian faith and life of those who participate in public worship in the Church.
To renew interest in the use of the pipe organ in worship by conducting workshops for children and youth to introduce them to the organ, workshops for organists, offering a hymn festival and initiating a scholarship program for youth who wish to take organ lessons.
To develop The Jazz in Worship Project for creating new settings of congregational music that are fitting for Christian worship services and true to the jazz idiom.
To institute a series of three cantatas to reaffirm the music and worship values of the congregation, provide a rallying point for evangelism and serve as a stimulus for the development of musical skills of adults and youth.
To initiate the Leadership Program for Musicians Serving Small Congregations to prepare persons to be capable and confident musical leaders.
To begin a two-year educational program for church musicians providing theological reflection on the history, theology, and practice of Christian worship, in addition to developing practical musical skills.
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 develop comprehensive training in music and liturgical planning for musicians, worship teams and congregations in Hispanic churches.
