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 invite local congregations into a year long process that will engage worship leaders in worship design that emphasizes broad participation, artistic collaboration and multi-cultural Christian practices, that encourages habits of reflection and evaluation and that provides opportunities to come together for reflection and sharing what is being learned and experienced within each congregation.
To facilitate a study of the history and usage of the chapel program that will lead to the creation of an architectural programming guide for the construction of a new chapel building that is historically rooted, contextually useful and communicates theological truths of the Christ-centeredness of the school.
To explore how different populations of students can come together in a shared experience of worship, spiritual formation and growth that will lead to deeper understanding of Christian traditions globally and historically.
To initiate a collaboration of at least 14 pastors in the South Florida region to discuss and identiy issues impacting worship in African-American churches in the 21st century and to develop new worship practices within the congregations by offering workshops on worship and the POWR (planning, ordering, worshipping and reflecting) worship planning model.
To immerse the congregation and local partnering churches in a process of intergenerational, collaborative thinking and reflective negotiation that will engage the full participation of all worshipers in learning what it means to be an African-centered worshiping community connecting ancestral memory to prophetic vision.
To engage children of all ages in creating drama, storytelling, dance, music and visual arts centered on the Psalms that can deepen understanding of Scripture and be used in worship.
To develop celebrations of the milestones of the Christian faith that can be used in worship by engaging the congregation in an intergenerational yearlong study that will identify important events of faith formation, consider how we are formed by the Spirit during these events and how the congregation can celebrate these milestones.
To immerse the congregation in baptismal practices, “affirmation of baptism” practices and public and private psalm-saturated liturgical practices that help believers identify themselves as part of the baptized community as seen and practiced by generations of those saturated in the psalms by offering sermons, monthly baptismal services based on psalms and informed by rituals from the global and historic Christian church, and curriculum for family devotions, small group life and children’s ministry.
To equip those who lead worship in correctional facilities with youth and adults by bringing together chaplains for a two-day conference to learn together, train volunteers and share their experiences and learning through a blog and conference calls to gather examples of how worship impacts individuals in correctional facilities.
To engage the congregation in learning about the intersection of faith and community in partnership with their pastor who will be studying these communities and their worship as part of a Lilly Endowment Clergy Renewal Grant and together implement this new learning in worship when the pastor returns from her sabbatical.
To provide opportunities for the congregation to publically lament the destruction of their building following a lightning strike and to remember God’s blessings while they are worshiping in a public school building by creating visual art for worship from salvaged objects that will have a home in their new building and that can be shared with other churches in similar situations to help them sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land.
To immerse the congregation and community in intergenerational study, dialogue and reflection on the communal nature of the Lord’s Supper through worship services, art, music and workshops that will unite believers throughout time and in many places.
