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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Monroe Community Church

To teach people how to incorporate moments of adoration, confession, intercession, and listening into daily life through worship services that explore both Jesus’ words and examples of each habit and the words and emotions of each habit in the Psalms.  Additionally, an intergenerational weekend retreat will be offered where small groups will develop scripture, a hands-on experience and a take-home card to emphasize the practice of the habit.

Worshiping Communities
Grand Rapids, michigan
2005

Montreat Presbyterian Church

To offer workshops in North Carolina and Texas to address processes and principles of developing and leading multisensory worship.

Worshiping Communities
Montreat, north carolina
2005

Music in World Cultures, Inc.

To explore how God is drawing peoples from all nations to become biblical, wholehearted worshipers through the study and development of indigenous expressions of music and the arts.

Worshiping Communities
St. Paul, minnesota
2005

New City Church

To create a small group curriculum that includes Friday evening services to introduce urban teens to life in Christ and give them a set of daily practices that build their relationships with Christ.

Worshiping Communities
Jersey City, new jersey
2005

New Life at Providence Church

To equip and disciple worship leaders in dance ministry through biblical teaching, to establish a network of dance leaders and to develop strategies for training dancers to use their gifts in worship.

Worshiping Communities
Virginia Beach, virginia
2005

New Life CRC

To teach a six-week series that includes dramatic readings, PowerPoint presentations, video productions, and weekly email devotions to lead worshipers through the Lenten season by showing how the development of daily vertical habits illuminate our walk to the cross and the empty tomb.

Worshiping Communities
New Lenox, illinois
2005

North Park United Methodist Church

To cultivate active youth leadership and participation in worship in the local church through the development and implementation of a Worship Leadership Training Program for Youth and Young Adults.

Worshiping Communities
St. Louis, missouri
2005

Office of Theology and Worship, PC(USA)

To reflect on shared practices of prayer and service among pastors and church leaders and to provide for a series of on-site consultations to identify and strengthen pilot churches who are intentionally seeking to connect sacramental practices with mission and service commitments.

Worshiping Communities
Louisville, kentucky
2005

Office of Worship and Christian Initiation, Archdiocese of Santa Fe

To train and form local liturgical leaders through a process of learning, and applying that learning by designing, implementing and evaluating a parish liturgy project and writing a theological reflection paper integrating what they learned with their story, the story of their parish communities and the story of God’s love for us.

Worshiping Communities
Albuquerque, new mexico
2005

Office of Worship, Diocese of Honolulu

To develop a two-week formation program for clergy and laity to probe the connection between Jesus' death and resurrection and the practice of worship and prayer, and the connection between worship and daily living.

Worshiping Communities
Kaneohe, hawaii
2005

Oklahoma Alliance for Liturgy and the Arts

To establish partnerships between visual artists and church congregations by engaging in the study and development of a theology of worship that includes the visual arts, offering workshops to link artists with the needs of congregations and creating residencies for artists to work with church members to develop art for worship.

Worshiping Communities
Shawnee, oklahoma
2005

Philadelphia Liturgical Institute

To create an ecumenical team of liturgists who will mentor local parishes/congregations to reflect upon and develop their ritual focus, proclamation of the Word of God, preaching, clarity of the sacraments, music, architecture, art, and hospitality.

Worshiping Communities
Philadelphia, pennsylvania
2005