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 develop multi-sensory experiences to help worshipers more deeply understand and experience the sacrament of Communion.
To awaken global consciousness and involvement of the congregation in their community through the liturgical movements of gathering and sending.
To prepare ten congregations from a wide range of Christian traditions to include persons with physical and mental disabilities through seminars, training and consultation with clergy and lay leaders, and to assist them in developing a congregational plan for the intentional inclusion of these persons in worship, fellowship, education, service and justice activities.
To fully engage the visually and hearing impaired persons by developing a consortium of members of various educational communities of Northern Florida to design and implement worship that allows for full participation of all people.
To lead the Midtown community into a deeper understanding of the triune God and a more intimate union with Him through studying and practicing individual and corporate prayer.
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 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 equip worship leaders and planners to become more thoughtful, intentional and hospitable in the practice and instruction of the dialogic nature in worship, and to help all worshipers better understand the liturgical elements of and patterns within worship.
To develop a worship service series that focuses on exploring and encouraging “worship habits” (Vertical Habits) through multi-sensory, intergenerational experiences which help to cultivate a dynamic relationship with God.
To integrate offering of time, materials goods, services and money into liturgical practices so that worshipers better understand the processes by which we offer and receive gifts from God and from one another.
To encourage a wide variety of youth and adults who have gifts in music, technology, public speaking and hospitality to create ecumenical worship services which will be offered on Wednesday evenings for people in rural settings who often are unable to gather on Sundays for traditional worship.
