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.
Center for Liturgy and Music at Virginia Theological Seminary
To train leaders in teaching techniques and motivational activities for the enlivening of singing in congregations that will help transform worshipers into effective disciples.
Christ Lutheran Church of Falmouth
To gather a community around silence, contemplative prayer and meditation on Scripture and ancient Christian texts, in order to facilitate encounters with God's living presence in worship.
Coastland Commons
To empower members of three local congregations to engage in spiritual formation through practicing and sharing artistic works of song, prayer, and Scripture.
Ebenezer United Methodist Church (2015)
To promote the full, conscious, active participation of all worshipers as a fully intergenerational community in a collaboration of pastors and laypersons from several congregations.
Emmanuel Reformed Church (2015)
To renew a Spanish worshiping community through communal practices of worship connected to art, dance, hospitality, and service.
Fellowship Reformed Church
To nurture a cohort of artists who will contribute to the faith formation of the whole congregation by creating art with and for the congregation.
First Christian Church of Orange
To strengthen corporate worship with theological reflection, innovative and embodied worship elements, creative arts, and the unique gifts of the congregation.
First Congregational United Church of Christ of Rockford
To engage worshipers in a year of walking with Jesus by multisensory worship through the seasons of the church year and connections with worshipers' daily lives.
First Presbyterian Church of Redding
To develop intergenerational, indigenous worship by including the congregation in designing worship services for Advent and Holy Week that include music, visual arts and drama.
Jeff Street Baptist Community at Liberty
To develop intergenerational worship by connecting the seasons of worshipers' lives to the seasons of the Christian year through art, story-telling, music, and education.
Lakewood Baptist Church
To build bridges in the local multicultural community through worship, education, outreach and training initiatives that develop stronger bilingual worship leaders.
Mayfield Central Presbyterian Church (2015)
To explore storytelling in worship through stories from scripture, congregational history, and the individual lives of disciples of Jesus Christ.