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 teach people how to incorporate moments of adoration, confession, intercession, and listening into daily life through worship services that explore both Jesus’ words and examples of each habit and the words and emotions of each habit in the Psalms. Additionally, an intergenerational weekend retreat will be offered where small groups will develop scripture, a hands-on experience and a take-home card to emphasize the practice of the habit.
To create a small group curriculum that includes Friday evening services to introduce urban teens to life in Christ and give them a set of daily practices that build their relationships with Christ.
To teach a six-week series that includes dramatic readings, PowerPoint presentations, video productions, and weekly email devotions to lead worshipers through the Lenten season by showing how the development of daily vertical habits illuminate our walk to the cross and the empty tomb.
To gather a team from each of the ministry areas of the church to plan worship services and create take-home sheets to encourage worshipers to make Vertical Habits a part of their living in a practical and tangible way.
To encounter and practice Vertical Habits as a significant part of spiritual formation through an interactive art exhibit, a month-long devotional written by church leaders and a lecture series taught by pastors from the church or local community.
To develop a six-week series on understanding and applying liturgical practices in daily life that will include orders of worship focusing on each practice, a sermon series, and weekly family activity booklets.
To develop resources for the four parts of the Episcopal Eucharist service, four activity sessions for young people and a Vacation Bible School program for ages 6 through 12 around the Vertical Habits themes, focusing on how these themes are aspects of a healthy relationship with God.
To teach Vertical Habits through a series of seven worship services that will include creative elements focused on Scripture and a person in history who cultivated a specific Vertical Habit. The series will include take home materials that will help both adults and children practice the habit throughout the week.
To integrate the speech we offer to God in worship with our words and lifestyles outside of corporate worship, through teaching basic worship vocabulary of faith, building Christian community, and connecting people with each other and existing ministries within the congregation.
To plan and create a Lenten series accompanied with a devotional resource,with particular attention to the relationship of worshipers to God and to the development of this relationship outside of worship.
To develop worship services that focus on our relationship with God with emphasis on youth involvement in planning and leading as well as worship team development, and to stimulate an awareness of the continual spiritual dialogue of daily life through three community spiritual formation projects.
To recruit and train a core of ecumenical colleagues for leadership of a Lenten catechetical study in their congregations that will culminate in an Easter Vigil service planned with the participation of the catechumens.
