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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 | October 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. 
    October 1, 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 Psalms/Scripture Faith Formation Cultural Diversity

Designed for Work

A service plan based on Genesis 1-3 and Matthew 25 recognizing our need to work--that is, we were created for productive creation-caring efforts that provide for our needs and the needs of others. Part of a series focused on vocation and how faith and work are integrated.
Article Christian Year History Planning Worship

Ordinary Time Resource Guide

This resource guide for Ordinary Time includes sermon ideas, worship songs and hymns, visual arts, and readings to help you plan “ordinary” worship—times in the church year outside the seasons of Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, and Pentecost. The season’s liturgical color is green, symbolizing a time of growth in the Christian life. This guide also includes ideas for worship on Christ the King Sunday, Thanksgiving, and All Saints’ Day/Reformation Sunday.
Article Interdisciplinary Faith Formation Preaching

Worship in the Season of Creation and Earth-Themed Sundays

Green congregations around the world celebrate the Season of Creation, emphasize earth keeping throughout the Christian Year and plan other earth-themed Sundays.
Article Christian Year Interdisciplinary Music/Song

Worship Resources for Creation Care

We confess that God created heaven and earth and everything in it. We sing that this is our Father’s world. Yet, billions of people suffer in places where so much is no longer bright and beautiful. This worship resource guide will help your community plan services that honor our Creator, who invites us to join in caring for the whole creation.
Article Preaching Teaching Cultural Diversity

Anne Emile Zaki on Preaching and Teaching in Today’s Egypt

After becoming a seminary professor in Egypt in 2013, Anne Zaki discovered two things about preaching that she hadn’t learned in the North American context.
Video Intergenerational Faith Formation

Discipleship, Faith Formation, and Belonging in Worship: A Conversation with Chris Schoon and Elizabeth Tamez Méndez

In this conversation, Chris Schoon, director of Faith Formation Ministries of the Christian Reformed Church of North America, explores with Elizabeth Tamez Méndez the importance of equipping congregations and parents to embrace children and youth as full image bearers and active participants in worship, for the well-being of the intergenerational community.
Article Teaching Preaching Christian Year

Bruce Theron on Word and Worship, a South African lectionary resource

Across cultures and denominations, South African churches are growing in unity—thanks to the nation’s first ecumenical sermon and worship resource written in English.
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Article Music/Song Planning Worship Theology

Choral Anthems: Fitting great texts to wonderful tunes

It feels off to hear a song about suffering-with upbeat rhythms and in a major key. Other new songs use mixed metaphors or trite emotionalisms. That's why choral directors search for anthems that make a meaningful match between words and music. A feature story exploring fitting texts to tunes in choral anthems.
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Article Faith Formation Cultural Diversity Theology

Desiring the Kingdom: Which do you want?

In "Desiring the Kingdom: Worship, Worldview, and Cultural Formation", James K. A. Smith explains how what we love, imagine, and desire shapes who we become. He urges congregations to reclaim worship practices that train our hearts through our bodies.
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Article Theology Faith Formation

The Impossible Birth - Luke 1

A service plan from the Apostles' Creed focused on the virgin-birth of Christ, affirming that he was "conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary" in a series on the Apostles' Creed as explained in the Heidelberg Catechism.
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About

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  • 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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