1855 Knollcrest Circle SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4402 USA
On the campus of Calvin University and Calvin Theological Seminary
© 2024 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 explore Old Testament worship as a guide for understanding worship elements and to gain a depth of understanding of our own covenant renewal in worship.
To educate, equip, and support lay leaders in rural settings in order that the life of the church might continue to be blessed with excellent and meaningful liturgy, music, prayer, homilies, and sacramental ministry.
To create an intergenerational service to help people experience and express God living and working through all life stages by exploring new ways of leading people of all ages in worship together.
To introduce traditional hymns and spiritual songs to a new generation of believers through a year-long reflection on both the meaning and music of the passion of Christ and the practice of the Lord’s Supper.
To enhance the worship of small member congregations in a liturgical tradition through seminars connecting experts in worship and congregational life with pastors, leaders, and members of these congregations.
To develop an intergenerational study of confession and assurance of pardon through the lens of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, which will include a Lenten/Easter devotional series with participation from all ages and worship services focusing on scriptural images for the sacraments.
To equip worshipers to pray more deeply in corporate worship through workshops during Lent, with the goal of deepening and enriching both personal and corporate prayer lives.
To develop elements of worship that will foster communion with God and moments of transcendent experience for worshipers by focusing on sacred space, worship education, a midweek worship service, and creativity and arts in worship and music.
To engage members of various ethnic traditions to lead worship by identifying persons who are proficient in the arts, drama, music and writing for multicultural worship services and offering worship workshops, evening programs and retreats for both adults and children.
To provide an intensive training for liturgical leaders of the diverse minorities of the Catholic community through the Liturgical Institute of the Southwest.
To express Scripture through creative and artistic means by developing multigenerational ministry teams to engage in the telling and retelling of God’s story from one generation to another.
To equip lay people of rural and small town settings to preach, plan and lead worship services, and to develop coaches/mentors for further support.
