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.
Campus Chapel of Ann Arbor
To incorporate visual arts and video into campus worship in a theologically thoughtful and culturally sensitive way through community conversations and learning events.
First Presbyterian Church
To create worship experiences that draw multiethnic congregations closer together and develop deeper spiritual connections to the city surroundings and global community through global music, arts and media.
Sherman Street Christian Reformed Church
To offer five workshops designed to explore how multimedia can strengthen the theme of the service, encourage contemplation in worship, connect Sunday worship with daily life and deepen participation of the congregation in worship.
Lancaster Theological Seminary
To engage the pastor, choir director, organist, a member of the worship committee and a young adult from 10 small rural churches in Pennsylvania and Maryland in a year long process of learning about worship planning and congregational music that will include seminars and on-site consultations.
Albany Presbytery
To create ongoing inter-church planning teams that reflect on the lectionary and develop metaphors to use in visual media for worship.
First Congregational Church UCC
To examine the use of multimedia technology and how it can be introduced into an existing congregation, and to offer a workshop to share their learning.
Third Christian Reformed Church
To research appropriate uses of technology in worship and to offer area churches a conference on using presentational technology wisely in worship.