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 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 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 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 build a sense of unity across generations by focusing on renewal and grace during Lent and community outreach during Eastertide, through retreats and a series of worship services which incorporate teachings, music, drama, visual arts, liturgical dance, and particular times of prayer.
To encourage active participation of worshipers of all ages particularly during the Gathering, through practical workshops and deliberate effort for varied leadership during worship.
To increase involvement and understanding of sermons by engaging youth, leaders and pastors in a process of preparation which will include discussion of the text, life applications and the creation of visual materials.
To bring together artists and theologians to create pieces of art that illustrate and communicate the connection between the arts and theology, and to offer times of reflection and discussion, seminars and a Festival of the Arts.
To conduct a retreat and workshops for six churches on the purpose of worship, preparation for worship, prayer, biblically-based praise, preaching/teaching, giving, congregational participation and holiness of life.
To establish a series of workshops utilizing musical resources and ethnically appropriate instruments to teach songs of the global church, and to make the instruments and music available on loan to congregations following the workshops.
To create a multigenerational worship model through bilingual weekly communion and music. To reach this goal, they will develop a monthly “worship and spiritual formation school,” train worship planners, and develop resources for creating culturally sensitive worship environments that bring together young generations and older generations in Korean American congregations.
To conduct three leadership retreats for developing worship resources for both adults and children that will refelct the diversity of cultures in an inner city congregation.
To engage the entire congregation, through a retread and study, in a discussion of Reformed worship with the intent of constructing new forms of worship which will be meaningful and attractive to the entire congregation, especially to young families.
