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.
Lee University
Christopher A. Stephenson
Christopher A. Stephenson
To develop a pneumatological perspective on baptism and the Lord's Supper that nurtures vibrant experiences of the Holy Spirit within traditional liturgical forms and practices, and to encourage substantial Pentecostal contributions to ecumenical dialogue on the sacraments.
Northwestern College
John Vonder Bruegge
John Vonder Bruegge
To produce new, collaborative translations of Jesus’ parables that both remain true to the Greek text and strive for a listenability in their oral presentation, and to gather those translations into a publication that equips worshiping communities to deliver the texts orally in worship.
St. John’s Church
To deepen worshipers' experience of the Eucharist by learning together, sharing testimonies, varying practices, and living into the connection of the Eucharist to mission.
Celebration Fellowship
To nourish Christian unity and interpersonal connection within a prison by initiating and reflecting on a weekly practice of the eucharist.
First Hamilton Christian Reformed Church
To nourish the faith of worshipers by experiencing and reflecting on different ways of celebrating the Lord's Supper and reconnecting it to the preaching of the Word.
Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary
Andrew Wymer and Kristen Daley Mosier
Andrew Wymer and Kristen Daley Mosier
To engage the baptismal practices of diverse Christian communities in regions impacted by toxic water, and to construct a theoretical and practical vision of baptismal solidarity for the broader Church.
Indiana Wesleyan University and Anglican Church of the Ascension
To invite people into the solemnity and joy of the eucharist by focusing on collaboratively created art.
Faith United Methodist Church
To pursue unity and reconciliation through deepening worshipers’ understanding and practices of Holy Communion.
Howard Memorial Presbyterian Church
To promote a vibrant experience of the Lord’s Supper in which worshipers experience God’s nourishing presence by engaging in new forms of communion liturgies.
Lee University
Lisa Milligan Long
Lisa Milligan Long
To survey worshipers' understanding of the effect of participation in the Lord's Supper, and to offer methods to leaders in a variety of denominational settings for deepening Eucharistic participation.
Raleigh Mennonite Church
To renew a robust Communion practice by exploring the ways global, local, and congregational table practices deepen worshipers’ engagement with God and the world.
Root and Branch Church
To build relationships around the table by exploring a dinner church format and by reflecting on Scripture to create new songs that represent this expression of worship.