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  • Resources
  • Grants

    Apply for Grants

    Apply for the Vital Worship, Vital Preaching Grants Program to support and enhance Christian worship practices. We encourage proposals on universal design, cultural engagement, preaching, baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and more. Two grant streams are available.

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    All Grants Awarded

    Explore all grants awarded since the program launched in 2000, with funds provided by Lilly Endowment Inc.

    Info for Current Recipients

    Explore detailed guidelines and support resources to help you manage your grant effectively.

    Teacher-Scholar Grants

    Apply for the Teacher Scholar Grant to support innovative research and teaching in Christian worship. Proposals from educators and scholars are welcome.

    Worshiping Communities Grants

    Apply for the Worshiping Communities Grant to support and enhance worship practices within your community. Proposals for diverse and innovative worship initiatives are welcome.

    Teacher-Scholar Grants

    Apply for the Teacher Scholar Grant to support innovative research and teaching in Christian worship. Proposals from educators and scholars are welcome.

    Worshiping Communities Grants

    Apply for the Worshiping Communities Grant to support and enhance worship practices within your community. Proposals for diverse and innovative worship initiatives are welcome.

  • Events

    Events

    Join us for our Symposium on Worship and Summer Seminars. Engage in inspiring sessions, workshops, and intensive seminars to deepen your understanding and practice of Christian worship.

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    Calendar of Events

    Consider joining an upcoming event we sponsor or support. An archive is also available for reference.

    Dwelling in the Psalms

    You are invited to join the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship in a year of dwelling in the Psalms—the prayerbook and songbook of the Bible.

    Upcoming Event

    VWVP Webinar
    Vital Worship, Vital Preaching Informational Webinar | September 2025
    Are you interested in applying for a Vital Worship, Vital Preaching grant? Join us for this free webinar catered toward new or prospective applicants to learn more about the program and participate in a live Q&A. 
    September 30, 2025, 7:00 PM
    View Event
  • About

    About

    The Calvin Institute of Christian Worship at Calvin University and Calvin Theological Seminary advances Christian worship through resources, events, and grants. Since 1997, we have partnered with congregations and organizations to fulfill our mission.

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    Mission

    We promote the study and renewal of Christian worship through partnerships at Calvin University and Calvin Theological Seminary.

    What We Do

    We partner with congregations and organizations, focusing on resources, events, and grants.

    Diversity and Inclusion

    We promote worship practices that celebrate diversity and foster inclusion in all communities.

    Partners

    Discover our generous funding partners who make our programs possible through their support and grants.

    Staff Directory

    Find contact information and profiles for CICW staff across all programs.

    Learn at Calvin

    Learn about MLC

    A program for first- and second-year Calvin University students exploring how their interests intersect with the church.

    MLC Leadership Staff

    Meet the Ministry Leadership Cohort staff.

    MLC Peer Leaders

    Meet the Ministry Leadership Cohort peer leaders.

    Calvin University and Calvin Theological Seminary offer many options for learners and students of all ages and contexts.

    Contact Us

    Get in touch with us for inquiries, support, or more information about our programs and services.

    Staff Directory

    Find contact information and profiles for CICW staff across all programs.

    Learn at Calvin

    Learn about MLC

    A program for first- and second-year Calvin University students exploring how their interests intersect with the church.

    MLC Leadership Staff

    Meet the Ministry Leadership Cohort staff.

    MLC Peer Leaders

    Meet the Ministry Leadership Cohort peer leaders.

    Calvin University and Calvin Theological Seminary offer many options for learners and students of all ages and contexts.

    Contact Us

    Get in touch with us for inquiries, support, or more information about our programs and services.


  • Resources

  • Grants
    • All Grants Awarded
    • Info for Current Recipients
    • Teacher-Scholar Grants
    • Worshiping Communities Grants

  • Events
    • Calendar of Events
    • Dwelling in the Psalms

  • About
    • Mission
    • What We Do
    • Diversity and Inclusion
    • Partners
    • Staff Directory
    • Learn at Calvin
      • Learn about MLC
      • MLC Leadership Staff
      • MLC Peer Leaders
    • Contact Us

  • 1855 Knollcrest Circle SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4402 USA

    On the campus of Calvin University and Calvin Theological Seminary

    © 2025 Calvin Institute of Christian Worship


Search Results

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Article Devotion/Homily Psalms/Scripture

Collaboration in Worship Planning (Bible Study)

Ministry goes forward when faith-filled people work together collaboratively! Collaborators are co-laborers. They contribute from the field of their own gifts and passions. But they do not labor in isolation. Their labors are so interwoven that the final product is a composite. A group effort is genuinely the product of the entire group, not merely a modified solo plan"
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Article

My Care Runs Over - Psalm 23, Matthew 9 (Palm/Passion Sunday) - sermon notes

This sermon explores how God's care for us is so generous that it runs over us like the abundance of anointing oil runs over the head and down on the shoulders of the one being anointed.
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Article Planning Worship Christian Year

The Gift of Hope - 1 Peter 1

A service plan in an Advent series in preparation for Christmas focused on the hope and assurance we have in Christ.
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Teacher-Scholar Architecture/Space Public Witness

Eden Theological Seminary

To foster imagination about worship spaces that can help to draw people into a deeper relationship with their natural environment, experience that environment as sacred and sacramental, form them spiritually as agents of ecological justice and recovery, and help them to process and respond faithfully to increasing ecological disasters.
Article Preaching Teaching Leadership

My Preaching Journey and the Power of Peer Learning

A certified lay minister, hesitant to preach, finds her voice with the support of a preaching peer group.
Article Planning Worship Leadership History

How to Discuss Church Worship Calmly and Productively

These case studies of worship in other times and places will give your congregation the freedom and framework to deepen your discussion of worship.
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Worshiping Communities Liturgy

The Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd

To design a worship gathering contextual to the cultural context, focusing on contemplative, creation-grounded worship that emphasizes the connectedness of all of life and engages in quiet reflection, art, and music to encounter God.
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Article Psalms/Scripture Devotion/Homily

Issues in Worship Renewal (I) (Bible Study)

The theme of worship is very prominent in the Scriptures. Many of the references are calls to worship in which God's children are told that worship is their joy and their privilege. But many other passages indicate that the worship life of the church requires constant assessment. It can get off course and need to be redirected; it can face new opportunities and need new forms; and it can benefit from new insights and experiences.
Article Pastoral Care Theology Planning Worship

J. Todd Billings on Embracing Our Mortality

Unless we are very ill or old, many of us avoid thinking about our deaths. J. Todd Billings’s new book, The End of the Christian Life, explains that remembering our mortality and learning to die well will give us a more profound view of true Christian resurrection hope.
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Article Theology Planning Worship Interdisciplinary

Realism and Worship: An interview with John G. Stackhouse Jr.

Worship that shapes us and helps us articulate our actual relationship with God needs to be as real as possible: true to the impossible ideals of the Gospel that both judge our present and promise us a glorious future, and true to the actual needs, opportunities, failures and successes of our life between worship services.
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Grants

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About

  • Our Mission
  • Diversity and Inclusion
  • Funding and Partners
  • Staff Directory
  • Contact Us

1855 Knollcrest Circle SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4402 USA

On the campus of Calvin University and Calvin Theological Seminary

© 2025 Calvin Institute of Christian Worship

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