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 enhance capacity of students and faculty for reflective liturgical leadership and to promote worship planning and participation as an integral part of theological education at the school.
To teach children’s choir leaders the history and use of congregational song and how to integrate children into worship leadership by partnering nationally-recognized church music clinicians with children’s choir directors.
To provide student leaders the skills and experience needed to plan and lead worship services through a leadership retreat, peer mentoring program and workshops.
To reflect corporately on the meaning and purpose of worship, including worship designed for the emergent sub-culture, through a parish retreat and a diocesan-wide leadership workshop.
To learn about worship and develop practical and innovative resources for worship which use the unique and varied gifts of four diverse congregations.
To offer weekly recovery services which encourage the use of artistic talents and personal testimonies that express God’s grace and forgiveness so that worship becomes the foundation of the healing process.
To provide liturgical formation for those involved in parish liturgical ministry with a concerted effort to identify and mentor young adults who will participate as liturgical leaders in the church.
To create new resources for worship which reflect the diversity of the congregation, including the chronically mentally ill and immigrants from numerous countries, in order to unite the worshiping community.
To prepare and implement resources for worship that include music, media and visual arts, liturgical movement, creative writing and drama through the creation of an interdenominational, intergenerational worship arts team.
To equip lay leaders to present scripture and multicultural music in worship and to kindle imagination about the design of the new worship space as part of the redevelopment of downtown Washington, DC.
To celebrate the rich heritage of the congregation and embrace its diversity and multicultural growth, which includes more than 100 people from 11 nations, through theologically-driven visual arts workshops and interactive educational classes that will create resources for worship.
To develop fresh, participatory ways to experience preaching, music, scripture and the sacraments through a series of seminars for their congregation and six nearby collaborating congregations.
