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.
Jonathan Calvillo
To examine how hip-hop can be a resource for building spiritual community among Latinx diaspora by modeling how to integrate experiences of race, social engagement, and spiritual support in ministry with youth.
Nelson Cowan
To equip churches to better understand youths’ motivations for participation in worship by conducting a qualitative study of their attitudes toward diverse liturgical forms, their responses to liturgical change, and their participation in public Christian worship.
To equip youth and young adults in theology and skills for leading worship so as to form their identity as God’s image bearers and help them see their place in the body of Christ.
To train young worship leaders and strengthen congregational worship through developing an intergenerational mentorship program.
Daria Spezzano
To draw on the teachings of Thomas Aquinas to provide tools for disaffiliated Catholic college students to engage the goodness, truth, and beauty of God in worship as a response to their search for meaning.
To create a children’s choir to include children in the church’s worship services and enhance the congregational worship experience.
To develop a program to involve children and adolescents in public worship services and other ministry activities of the church aimed at reaching families with children in the neighborhood.
To cultivate a youth worship culture that deepens their experiences of God, promotes a greater sense of belonging, and strengthens relationships among our youth.
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 explore how sacred play in a worship setting engages children in making meaning of their faith, while also discovering creative ways of enhancing worship for both children and congregations.
To involve the children’s ministry and the youth ministry in public worship.
Tyler Greenway
To investigate the perceptions of public worship practices among young people who do not regularly attend worship services, in order to provide insight to Christian worshiping communities as they seek to better understand the life narratives of this population.
