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.

Ecumenical
Select Year
Select State/Province

Sheptytsky Institute of Eastern Christian Studies

Andrew Summerson

To bring together an ecumenical group of scholars to critically analyze early Christian liturgical poetry as prayer and pedagogy in order to give exposure to a significant and underdeveloped voice in contemporary Christianity.

Teacher-Scholar
Toronto, ontario
2022

Goshen College

John D. Roth

To foster ecumenical conversations about baptism by hosting seminars for pastors and lay leaders using a newly created accessible study guide on the recent groundbreaking report of the international Lutheran-Mennonite-Roman Catholic Trilateral Dialogue on Baptism. 

Teacher-Scholar
Goshen, indiana
2021

Lee University

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.

Teacher-Scholar
Cleveland, tennessee
2021

Northwestern College

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.

Teacher-Scholar
Orange City, iowa
2021

University of West Georgia

Marjorie Snipes

To examine a diverse range of Christian churches in the rural South and identify newly-emerging ecumenical practices, including shifts in ritual practice, educational activities, and cooperation in joint mission.

Teacher-Scholar
Carrollton, georgia
2020