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 integrate psalms into corporate and private worship habits in an ecumenical setting, primarily through guided conversations and scholarly-artistic engagement with university students and local pastors.
To promote inclusion of African Christians in multiethnic churches in the United States through documentation and teaching of the oral tradition of African Christian choruses.
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 enhance the theological and cultural diversity of worship in an increasingly diverse retirement community through educational events and guest worship leaders.
To promote cross-cultural healing, prayer, and community unity among and beyond three participating churches by teaching the practice and history of drum circles as worship.
To promote unity within diversity in Christian worship by providing safe and hospitable spaces for multilingual songwriting processes among diverse groups, leading to the incorporation of multilingual songs into existing liturgies.
To explore the role of music in Orthodox theological education in the midst of significant cultural and demographic changes and to develop a multicultural chant handbook that reflects the theological vision and demographic of the community and will facilitate spiritual formation.
To create liturgical resources for a multicultural, multilingual, and multigenerational congregation so this Asian-Canadian congregation can encounter the triune God through words and music.
To create a network of reflective practitioners of multicultural worship in the North American context who will learn from and support each other and discern a set of best practices that will result in a set of published resources.
To promote the inclusion of minority worship leaders in chapel services through inviting diverse guest leaders and emphasizing the theological potential of minoritized worship expressions in seminary courses and in a colloquium.
To support pastoral enrichment for second-generation Korean American pastors through piloting a cohort program that incorporates contextual formation, spiritual direction, pastoral rejuvenation, and funding for liturgical experimentation by cohort members.
To become a more hospitable and anti-racist church through training and reflection to deconstruct white-centered worship norms and by expanding the multiplicity of non-Eurocentric ways that we engage in worship.
