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.
Aaron Howard
To encourage racial reconciliation in the church by creating a multimedia resource to equip worshiping communities to develop multiracial gospel choirs.
To create worship experiences that are Spirit-led, participatory, and deeply rooted in the gospel by equipping worship leaders and congregants to integrate storytelling as a sacred practice within weekly worship.
To produce new worship music centered on themes of justice, contemplation, and peace through a songwriting retreat embedded within a fellowship program.
To deepen the spiritual lives of staff, guests, and ministry hosts through a monthly day of prayer, staff discipleship cohorts, training in worship practices, and a “Longest Night” worship service.
To diversify the cultural representation of the music used in Mennonite churches by developing best practices for creating, sourcing, curating, and hosting resources from a greater diversity of worship expressions.
To promote intergenerational faith formation, spiritual curiosity, and a sense of belonging within the church community by engaging worshipers in a multisensory worship lab experience.
To create worship resources for Latino/a congregations that will foster resilience and trust in God's justice, informed by a theology of social holiness and conducive to expressing both faith and protest.
To learn about Black sacred music and its ecumenical history and future by facilitating lectures and the study of hymns by a number of congregations and a campus ministry.
To nurture and expand the youth praise dance ministry to promote sustained spiritual growth, leadership development, and deeper participation of children in the worship life of the church.
To implement a year-long worship discipleship program for youth that uses spoken word, liturgical dance, storytelling, and youth-led worship to equip students to explore faith, express testimony, and lead in worship, promoting spiritual growth and generational engagement within the life of the church.
To foster contemplative spirituality and to cultivate emerging leaders by equipping high school-aged Choral Scholars to lead Evensong services.
To deepen congregants’ theological understanding and practice of worship through hands-on workshops, multimedia resources, and interactive prayer stations that foster connections between gathered worship and personal devotion.
