1855 Knollcrest Circle SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4402 USA
On the campus of Calvin University and Calvin Theological Seminary
© 2024 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.
Marcell Silva Steuernagel
To engage in ethnographic research in collaboration with congregations in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex in order to promote integrative ecclesial environments that bridge the racial divide between White, Black, and Latinx constituencies.
To promote active involvement and engagement in worship of people with dementia and people with varied abilities through use of drama in worship.
To revitalize the congregation’s worship ministry and strengthen the spiritual life in our families by promoting the reading and understanding of the Bible through the celebration of family devotions based on Psalms.
To mentor and develop young people in worship leadership by conducting art lessons, providing creative spaces, and fostering collaborative music teams that will facilitate the full participation of young people in leadership in the community.
Brandon Crowley
To support and engage the public worship of African American congregations by creating a workbook that teaches pastors and local church leaders how to be more inclusive of Black women and LGBTQIA+ folx in their worship designs.
To design a worship gathering contextual to the cultural context, focusing on contemplative, creation-grounded worship that emphasizes the connectedness of all of life and engages in quiet reflection, art, and music to encounter God.
To grow habits of common liturgical worship in school that extend to the home, engaging and expanding the spiritual imaginations of staff, parents, and students, by focusing on spiritual disciplines and diverse ecumenical worship resources.
To explore how sacred play in a worship setting engages children in making meaning of their faith, while also discovering creative ways of enhancing worship for both children and congregations.
To promote a deep understanding of how pipe organs can be used to lead, accompany, and inspire the community to sing by hosting four worship festivals that explore musical and liturgical territory not typically associated with the organ.
To foster ecumenical connections among twelve churches by participating in the creation of pottery to form the faith of worshipers as the theological imagery of God as the potter whose hands continue to mold and reform is carried into the worship of each church and into ecumenical worship gatherings.
To deeply integrate worship and other congregational activities so that the church’s engagement of cross-cultural relationships, education, justice, and collaboration weaves seamlessly with worship.
J.J. Wright
To teach Christian communities how to see grace and mercy in loss and suffering by enabling young people to contemplate difficult questions as they rehearse and perform the newly composed Passion for the Innocents.
