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 build Christ-centered unity amid a fractured and polarized society by teaching about and promoting shared foundational Christian practices, including the sacraments, the Lord’s Prayer, and the engagement of scripture.
To expand multicultural worship practices that better reflect the diverse worshiping community through retreats and educational opportunities.
To revitalize the worship experience in three congregations who share the same worship space by expanding the use of worship arts and musical forms so that all may engage in worship that is healthy, vital, and spiritually engaging.
To engage ten congregations in developing a tool that encourages each to move beyond speaking primarily about personal preferences in worship and to embrace deeper ways of speaking about each congregation’s unique strengths and callings.
To implement a mentoring program for worship pastors that focuses on developing liturgical and everyday worship practices to encourage creation care as a way of loving our neighbors and God our creator.
To promote the inclusion of minority worship leaders in chapel services through inviting diverse guest leaders and emphasizing the theological potential of minoritized worship expressions in seminary courses and in a colloquium.
To develop contextualized liturgies for life in the climate crisis through a collaborative learning community and video creation.
To train young worship leaders and strengthen congregational worship through developing an intergenerational mentorship program.
To strengthen intergenerational worship through the implementation of distinct learning opportunities designed for different groups gathered around age, gender, and church ministry.
Emmanuel Parish
To train worship leaders in the theology and practice of intergenerational and innovative worship (including African music and liturgy, dance, and visual arts) through developing opportunities for education, prayer, and collaborative planning of major festival services.
To support pastoral enrichment for second-generation Korean American pastors through piloting a cohort program that incorporates contextual formation, spiritual direction, pastoral rejuvenation, and funding for liturgical experimentation by cohort members.
To become a more hospitable and anti-racist church through training and reflection to deconstruct white-centered worship norms and by expanding the multiplicity of non-Eurocentric ways that we engage in worship.
