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 increase participation of laity across generations in planning and leading worship by strengthening the choir as a vehicle for leadership and formation.
To encourage a deep and ongoing engagement with scripture by singing, teaching, and praying the psalms of ascent as an intergenerational community.
To help children come to love, learn about, and interact with God through the development of a children's Sabbath program that uses music, drama, visual arts, and other disciplines to teach children liturgical concepts and enable them to participate significantly in worship services.
To deepen connections between worshipers and to encourage a practice of recognizing the sacred in all of life by centering corporate worship and home groups on practices of shared attention, communal creation, and joyful expression.
To foster spiritual and theological depth in worship leaders of all ages through educational opportunities and celebrating the gifts participants are developing.
To facilitate worship and learning opportunities centered around the sacraments of baptism and eucharist to help multicultural and multigenerational families in the local community become grounded in their faith.
To gather, share, and celebrate personal testimonies and connect them to the gospel story to illustrate in gathered worship the ways participants worship in all of life.
To enhance spiritual connection among all age groups by creating generationally diverse worship teams, educating worship leaders about inclusive worship, and using intergenerational teams to plan worship and develop new liturgical resources.
To engage children in worship and promote intergenerational worship by giving children opportunities to lead elements of worship and by equipping pastors to preach about children in the Bible.
To equip congregants of all ages to participate in worship leadership by providing theological and practical training as well as resources for personal and family worship.
To prepare emerging pastors with contemporary preaching skills by engaging in a leadership development curriculum that uses retiring pastors as mentors.
To promote appreciation for the diversity of gifts in the congregation and empower worshipers to live out their faith within and beyond the walls of the church by introducing visual arts, liturgical dance, and a choral program within worship services.
