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.
David Keep
To deepen worshipers' theology and spiritual life by creating an online Advent calendar that features visual art and music, and by holding art interpretation events and panel discussions in which participants engage theological truths—particularly the incarnation—through the arts.
To create a children’s choir to include children in the church’s worship services and enhance the congregational worship experience.
To engage the history, stories, and traditions of Gospel music to better equip the Gospel Choir for leadership and to expand the chapel experience for all students.
To train the worship team on the theology of worship and on practical musical and vocal abilities.
To investigate how the legacy of white supremacy affects worship practices, to learn to better appreciate and include worship materials from other cultures without appropriating, and to learn how anti-racist practices are implemented by other churches leading the way in these efforts.
To mentor and develop young people in worship leadership by conducting art lessons, providing creative spaces, and fostering collaborative music teams that will facilitate the full participation of young people in leadership in the community.
To promote a deep understanding of how pipe organs can be used to lead, accompany, and inspire the community to sing by hosting four worship festivals that explore musical and liturgical territory not typically associated with the organ.
J.J. Wright
To teach Christian communities how to see grace and mercy in loss and suffering by enabling young people to contemplate difficult questions as they rehearse and perform the newly composed Passion for the Innocents.
To enrich worship by engaging the arts in order to promote healing and understanding in the midst of social injustices.
To engage in hymn singing in worship that facilitates the participation of worshipers of multiple abilities, generations, and languages.
In response to the challenges of the pandemic, to use the Psalms to explore lament, grief, and resilience by engaging in liturgical arts that tell worshipers' stories, name challenges and losses, and cultivate healing and hope.
To pilgrimage together through the Christian Year as spiritual formation in order to more deeply experience Christ, the church, spiritual practices, and the community.
