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.

Formation
Select Year
Select State/Province
Teacher-Scholar Formation Music

University of Notre Dame Folk Choir

J.J. Wright

To teach Christian communities how to see grace and mercy in loss and suffering by enabling young people to contemplate difficult questions as they rehearse and perform the newly composed Passion for the Innocents.

Teacher-Scholar
South Bend, indiana
2022
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Teacher-Scholar Visual Arts Formation

Fuller Seminary/Brehm Center

Maria Eugenia Fee

To establish and facilitate a series of arts-based leadership development workshops for pastors and church leaders in order to introduce them to the formational value of the arts in worship and invigorate arts-based worship practices in their faith communities.

Teacher-Scholar
Pasadena, california
2021
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Teacher-Scholar Formation Intercultural

Azusa Pacific University

Alexander Jun

To study the experience of students of color in chapel programs at Christian colleges and universities, and to assess the influence of chapel worship practices on the stated goals of these institutions with regard to diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Teacher-Scholar
Azusa, california
2020
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Teacher-Scholar Congregational Life Formation

Concordia University

Rhoda Schuler

To analyze the field research data on the adult catechumenate in the Lutheran church and to offer workshops that help pastors and congregations envision an adult catechumenal model that could transform their congregations.

Teacher-Scholar
St. Paul, minnesota
2020
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Teacher-Scholar Formation Music

Mercer University

Nathan Myrick

To identify, through ethnographic research, the myriad ways that musical worship participates in human flourishing, and to share these insights with Christian leaders in order to promote healthy and vibrant communities of Christian fellowship and worship.

Teacher-Scholar
Macon, georgia
2020
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Teacher-Scholar Formation Worship Practices

Trinity Evangelical Divinity School

Mimi Larson

To gather wisdom from ministry leaders who thoughtfully engage children in worship, seeking to better theological and pedagogical understanding of how children make meaning of their worship experiences.

Teacher-Scholar
Wheaton, illinois
2020
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Teacher-Scholar Formation Worship Leadership

Fuller Theological Seminary

Ed Willmington

To research six vocational competencies of well-formed worship leaders and develop a variety of resources to share insights related to the formation of worship leaders.

Teacher-Scholar
Pasadena, california
2019
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Teacher-Scholar Formation Sacraments

Lee University

Lisa Milligan Long

To survey worshipers' understanding of the effect of participation in the Lord's Supper, and to offer methods to leaders in a variety of denominational settings for deepening Eucharistic participation.

Teacher-Scholar
Cleveland, tennessee
2019
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Teacher-Scholar Formation Historical

Trinity Christian College

Kyle Dieleman

To study the relationship between Sabbath observance and spiritual formation, offering historical insights and exploring contemporary adaptations.

Teacher-Scholar
Palos Heights, illinois
2019
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