1855 Knollcrest Circle SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4402 USA
On the campus of Calvin University
© 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 strengthen an emerging group of creatives by fostering community, deepening theological understanding of creativity and faith, and encouraging vibrant artistic expressions of worship.
To learn about and practice collaborative worship planning among clergy, musicians, youth, and lay leaders to strengthen leadership and deepen intergenerational engagement.
To engage in synodal listening processes to help young adults reconnect to Christian worship and faith formation and develop leadership skills, discernment, and confidence in sharing testimonies.
To equip university students to bear witness to God’s presence through personal storytelling in worship.
To foster worship that welcomes a diverse community by developing an inclusive-language hymnal that includes multiple languages, promotes faithful anti-racism, and reflects the concerns and style preferences of young people.
Lisa D. Maugans Driver
To revitalize the practices of confession and forgiveness in worship by developing theological, instructional, and practical resources to encourage greater intentionality in individual and corporate confession.
To create a dinner church, led by student leaders who co-create the liturgy and liturgical arts, to be an alternative and collaborative worshiping community for young adults who are weary of traditional church spaces.
To equip rural pastors and worship leaders by providing training and building networks for support and creative exchange.
Brad East
To deepen Christian discernment about the impact of digital technology on Christian worship through the study of both challenges and opportunities presented to churches, pastoral ministry, and public worship by new digital mediums.
Myles Werntz
To help worshiping communities learn about the moral life by connecting categories of moral reasoning to the ongoing practice of worship and discipleship as described in Psalm 23.
Amanda Jo Pittman
To foster Christian formation through a study of how embodied and communal practices are described in the books of Luke and Acts.
Amy McLaughlin-Sheasby
To explore the efficacy of preaching through the lens of affect theory to help preachers think carefully about the extralinguistic properties of proclamation and the ethical questions of the power of preaching.
