1855 Knollcrest Circle SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4402 USA
On the campus of Calvin University
© 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.
Michelle Stinson
To explore a biblical theology of divine hospitality that examines themes related to God as Creator, Sustainer, and Gracious Host at the Table in worship and in the tables of life, and to consider ways of practicing hospitality as an expression of the missio dei.
Angela Yarber
To create a worship planning resource for the Revised Common Lectionary that includes justice-centered exegesis, musical suggestions, prayers and rituals contributed by ministers from marginalized groups.
Lindsay Hanson
To reimagine how sacred spaces are experienced and to deepen Christian practices through movement, presence, and community participation by bringing contemporary choreography into sanctuaries through an immersive live performance that will transform how congregations and communities experience dance, music, and sacred architecture, creating meaningful embodied encounters that connect faith and art.
Catherine E. Williams
To promote effective homiletical practices that are integral to the flourishing of Caribbean congregational life by producing instructional materials related to the homiletical wisdom and liturgical practices of Caribbean congregations in the United States and the Caribbean islands.
Aaron Howard
To encourage racial reconciliation in the church by creating a multimedia resource to equip worshiping communities to develop multiracial gospel choirs.
Erin Raffety
To equip worshiping communities to recognize and lift up leaders with disabilities in church contexts by working with Christian leaders to model inclusive leadership practices.
Laura Benjamins
To evaluate the musical curriculum of local churches and offer practical insights for engaging congregants in musical theological formation.
J. J. Wright
To learn how a musical dramatic proclamation of Christ’s Passion and resurrection awakens friendship, hope, and missionary imagination, and to translate lessons learned into pastoral habits that strengthen Christian worshiping communities.
Lisa D. Maugans Driver
To revitalize the practices of confession and forgiveness in worship by developing theological, instructional, and practical resources to encourage greater intentionality in individual and corporate confession.
Jennifer Powell McNutt
To study the history of the French Huguenot Bible as an avenue for equipping the church with a fresh appreciation for the nature of scripture, its role in worship, and how scripture points to the living God and transforms the Christian life today.
Myles Werntz
To help worshiping communities learn about the moral life by connecting categories of moral reasoning to the ongoing practice of worship and discipleship as described in Psalm 23.
Brad East
To deepen Christian discernment about the impact of digital technology on Christian worship through the study of both challenges and opportunities presented to churches, pastoral ministry, and public worship by new digital mediums.
