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 develop music, art, public ritual, and worshiping vocabulary by and for “exvangelicals” to deepen worshipers’ understanding of God as friend, companion, and liberator.
To deepen a sense of belonging for all members of an increasingly diverse worshiping community by creating trauma-informed, accessible, and contextual music and worship practices and by developing diverse and often marginalized leaders.
To facilitate the active participation in worship of children with hearing impairment by engaging them in expressive dance.
To create bilingual (Spanish/English) liturgies and music from and for Latino people, especially in the Lutheran tradition, that respect and honor the Latino cultures present in the congregation.
To lean into the practices of confession and witness to heal from denominational hurt and division and to equip churches in the conference for renewed mission.
To host an ecumenical workshop series for rural churches in southwestern Ontario to acknowledge the unique challenges of rural communities, embrace a theology of abundance in naming the benefits of rural churches, and encourage one another.
To enhance and build upon the nontraditional Jazz Vespers service to offer innovative and radical welcome for in-person and virtual attendees to experience healing and hope.
To equip youth and young adults in theology and skills for leading worship so as to form their identity as God’s image bearers and help them see their place in the body of Christ.
To equip and encourage Asian American women in ministry by hosting a worship conference specifically geared toward equipping Asian American women and by leading two online cohorts to sustain them in ministry.
To help young adults and converts more deeply engage the Orthodox tradition of worship by establishing a training program in chant, iconography, and other liturgical arts.
Roland De Vries
To develop a seminary course and book chapter on interculturality in homiletics to equip preachers and emerging preachers to address the increasingly intercultural nature of their communities.
Joel Kiekintveld
To conduct a case study of how a church reimagined its worship model from attraction-based to member-led, in order to address the crisis of decline of church members and clergy by proposing a model of church rooted in the priesthood of believers.
