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.

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Princeton Theological Seminary

Hyun Woo Kim

To empower Asian American churches to embrace their cultural heritage, reconcile intergenerational differences, and re-envision worship in ways that reflect their congregants’ diverse identities and experiences by integrating Asian cultural elements into Western hymnody and worship frameworks.

Worshiping Communities
Princeton, new jersey
2024

Proskuneo Ministries

To promote unity within diversity in Christian worship by providing safe and hospitable spaces for multilingual songwriting processes among diverse groups, leading to the incorporation of multilingual songs into existing liturgies.

Worshiping Communities
Stone Mountain, georgia
2024

Providence Theological Seminary

Robert Dean

To resituate homiletics within a Christological and robustly trinitarian framework by examining prominent assumptions governing preaching today, in order to revitalize North American preaching for the sake of the formation of worshiping communities.

Teacher-Scholar
Niverville, manitoba
2024

Ravensworth Baptist Church

To decolonize worship life by auditing the liturgy, music, preaching, and sacred spaces of the church in order to fully live into the church’s commitment to antiracism and its mission of “Sharing Love, Doing Justice, and Building Community.”

Worshiping Communities
Annadale, virginia
2024

Reconciliation Anglican Church

To integrate ancient liturgy and prayer with expressions of worship such as art, meal sharing, and communal serviceso as to strengthen connections between gathered worship and daily life.

Worshiping Communities
Bellingham, washington
2024

River East Church

To facilitate a deep engagement with scripture through a culture of God-centered storytelling that develops the habit of naming God as the main actor in stories from both scripture and worshipers’ lived experience.

Worshiping Communities
Winnipeg, manitoba
2024

Rollins College

Harold Dorrell Briscoe

To research the historical and sociopolitical significance of Negro spirituals in movements of liberation, and to demonstrate through workshops, concerts, and an immersive learning trip how these spirituals can enrich modern Christian worship practices.

Teacher-Scholar
Winter Park, florida
2024

Roman Catholic Diocese of Dallas Office for Worship

To create a formation program on liturgy, theology, and musicianship that equips and encourages Spanish-speaking parish musicians and music ministers.

Worshiping Communities
Dallas, texas
2024

Ruakh Arts

To help churches and artists learn to collaborate with each other more effectively through an artist-in-residence program that will help worshipers connect more deeply with God, scripture, and one another through the arts.

Worshiping Communities
Ashland, virginia
2024

Samford University

Nelson Cowan

To equip churches to better understand youths’ motivations for participation in worship by conducting a qualitative study of their attitudes toward diverse liturgical forms, their responses to liturgical change, and their participation in public Christian worship.

Teacher-Scholar
Birmingham, alabama
2024

Samford University

Jonathan Rodgers

To examine post-COVID worship in the Southern Baptist Church through interviews and surveys to gain an understanding of how worship has been and is being reconfigured.

Teacher-Scholar
Birmingham, alabama
2024