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 offer a series of retreats, consultations, and worship services aimed at bringing together worship leaders and musicians for collaboration and reflection in an urban, multicultural, emerging worship community.
To train youth and young adults from diverse backgrounds to lead worship and to strengthen unity in the congregation by encouraging and studying intergenerational worship.
To begin a certification program that will equip children's choir leaders with the skills necessary for creative and purposeful integration of children in worship.
To engage the congregation in a process that explores the connections between theology, liturgy and life through a conference and ongoing class which will study aesthetic liturgical reasoning to better understand decisions about music, outreach, and space.
To encourage five congregations to integrate theatre arts into worship with both artistic excellence and biblical integrity through a conference on theater in worship and a year long mentoring program for worship leaders.
To instruct and strengthen core teams of lay leaders through a year-long mentorship to create written resources, visual arts, graphics and musical arrangements for worship.
To train pastors, music leaders and church officers in Korean-American churches to design and experience intergenerational, multicultural liturgies based on sacramental theology throughout the church year.
To form an intergenerational team that study ancient and emergent worship practices and how they relate to worship today.
To develop worship experiences for women coming out of abusive backgrounds that will help them restore trustworthy relationships with God, family, and the church.
To offer theological and liturgical training for artists in the worshiping community who will bring their creative voice to collaborative, intergenerational worship planning.
To empower youth of eleven parishes to lead worship using music that is both authentically Catholic and authentically Black.
To create intergenerational worship services using music and the arts by engaging the congregation in a series of workshops and retreats with a focus on unity and music.
