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 explore the role of the arts, liturgical gifts and an understanding of space in worship through a series of learning events that will integrate chapel more deeply in the life of the seminary.
To engage the congregation's urban youth through workshops on hip hop, dance, and art that culminate with youth involvement in planning and leading worship.
To empower youth to study and plan liturgies with a particular emphasis on music, art and sacramental celebration in African American congregations.
To empower youth to plan and lead worship through study of and exposure to various forms of worship.
To strengthen campus worship leadership through leadership retreats, a regional conference that joins theoretical study with practice, training events, a worship-song composition workshop and the creation of worship visuals.
To enhance participation in the celebration of the sacraments and prayer services both in school and local parishes through providing music and liturgical training for children and youth, their teachers, music directors, principals and pastors.
To engage children in worship by teaching them about their worship tradition, about scripture embodied in the three year cycle of readings and about the sacraments of Baptism and Eucharist.
To help children explore and experience worship through enhancing resources for children in worship and creating a framework to help congregations implement the resources.
To design worship and curriculum that emphasizes the unity of the body of Christ and the richness of differing worship styles across racial and cultural lines through building relationships with families and the worship team of Angel Community Church.
To train youth to create and lead worship in music, proclamation, and liturgy and to help congregation members to more deeply appreciate the needs, concerns, and life of youth both in the church and the community.
To introduce multisensory worship, to study the meaning of the seasons of Advent and Lent, to invite Asian American congregants, especially children and youth, to learn about Asian puppetry and create puppets and dramas with seasonal themes, and to integrate this learning in worship services during Advent and Lent.
To empower young people to add rhythm, melody, and harmony to familiar and favorite Scripture passages with the goal of incorporating the resulting music in weekly worship services.
