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 equip five congregations to incorporate Vertical Habits into their worship life by offering workshops that combine theater, scripture, personal/theological reflection and worship traditions and by providing follow-up meetings and a newsletter that will create community, support and an exchange of ideas among the participating churches.
To partner with a nearby congregation to equip youth and adults to plan, lead and participate in worship through a study of Reformed worship, the varied global and historical expressions of Christian worship, and how these address the unique needs of a primarily Hispanic immigrant community.
To introduce liturgical dance and movement into worship in their racially, economically and educationally diverse urban congregation.
To engage children in worship by teaching them about their worship tradition, about scripture embodied in the three year cycle of readings and about the sacraments of Baptism and Eucharist.
To call people to a more complete understanding of worship and to a life of prayer using traditional forms of evening and morning prayer, introducing the principles and patterns of worship and implementing new resources of worship and prayer in the congregation and surrounding congregations.
To saturate their new congregation with a rhythm of Bible memorization that supports spiritual formation and an integration of scripture into every aspect of the worship service with attention to multigenerational participation.
To develop the connection between worship and discipleship through engaging people of varying degrees of spiritual experience in fundamental worship activities and concepts.
To explore the use of new music, liturgical art and drama in worship that will engage the entire human experience of body, soul, mind, and spirit.
To encourage full, active, conscious participation in worship by exploring a broad range of music that includes traditional and newer hymnody, fostering understanding and dialogue between those whose musical tastes are vastly different, deepening the understanding of the Trinity in worship, and matching the rhythm of worship with the liturgical calendar.
To train and equip worship leaders in African American contexts through studying biblical, theological, and socio-cultural paradigms for worship and music, facilitating dialogue between music and worship faculty and students at ITC and local worship leaders, exploring Black sacred music genres and encouraging cultural diversity in worship.
To incorporate lay leaders of all ages in planning and leading worship around themes of justice and mercy to meet the needs of the surrounding urban community.
To help children explore and experience worship through enhancing resources for children in worship and creating a framework to help congregations implement the resources.
