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 deepen liturgical formation and engagement among young adult Latinos by involving them in forming, training, and accompanying a dedicated choir to lead sacred music at Iskali retreats and beyond.
To cultivate vibrant, Christ-centered worship that connects generations and enriches the community by strengthening choral ministry through new music resources, training opportunities, and creative community engagement.
To equip worshipers to identify, develop, and use their spiritual gifts in worship through training, reflection, and active participation.
To sustain the rich legacy of Africana worship in diverse US contexts and to revitalize these prophetic communities through a leadership training program.
To engage worship arts such as music, dance, mime, and drama to form worshipers who embody the characteristics of the Beatitudes.
To equip congregations to engage ministries of justice in their worship by hosting training workshops in which leaders engage songs, rituals, prayers, and sermons focused on justice.
To form worshipers whose daily life flows into worship and whose worship flows back into daily life by training participants in liturgy, lay preaching, and table hospitality.
To create multisensory intergenerational worship experiences through retreats, worship services, community events, and worship labs that promote deeper spiritual connection and extend worship beyond the church walls.
Catherine E. Williams
To promote effective homiletical practices that are integral to the flourishing of Caribbean congregational life by producing instructional materials related to the homiletical wisdom and liturgical practices of Caribbean congregations in the United States and the Caribbean islands.
To implement worship-centered Black History Month celebrations, inspired by Revelation 7:9, that integrate chapel services, student learning, soul food, and community storytelling to represent hope in God's redemptive story and to celebrate diversity.
To promote vibrant, multilingual worship through a multicultural preaching and worship lab that will form, equip, and unite two diverse congregations.
To reclaim joy and play as expressions of faith in worship by inviting special guest preachers to lead services and by creating a lab for translating scripture into embodied practice.
