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 engage youth and young adults by remembering and retelling stories of the Black church through development of a lectionary, worship guide, and Sunday School curriculum emphasizing the seven principles of Kwanzaa.
To create a worship team and provide the group with initial formative training on musical skills and biblical-theological foundations.
To create a youth choir and train choir members and worship leaders on vocal techniques.
To create and implement a model of bilingual worship that will foster church unity among worshipers from different generations.
To develop a new generation of church musicians and worship leaders who, in addition to typical roles, could acquire skills required to compose new congregational songs and to produce new worship music.
To center the sacraments in worship by collaboratively creating artwork for worship that contextualizes images of bread, wine, and water for each season of the church year.
To promote a community that moves from inclusion to belonging for congregants with intellectual disabilities and their families by reducing barriers to full participation and forming the congregation to actively welcome everyone made in God’s image.
To spiritually form worshipers of all ages by compiling stories told by children into books about worship, prayer, and scripture.
To encourage worshipful reflection on Easter hope by creating a theologically informed outdoor art installation and hosting events related to the piece.
To encourage multisensory worship and a deeper appreciation for the incarnational nature of the Christian faith by creating a sacred music program that includes instruction on the theology of worship, special music in festival liturgies, and a retreat.
To equip lay leaders with practical skills in the areas of music, public speech, visual arts and crafts, and technology to enhance the congregation’s liturgy and preaching and enrich the communal celebrations.
To promote ecumenical worship and hymn singing by hosting multi-choir hymn festivals and offering organ lessons focused on creative hymn accompaniment.
