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 deepen engagement with Jesus’ teachings by creating songs, liturgies, and visual artwork in response to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount for use in congregational worship and art-making events.
To more deeply engage with the arts in worship by commissioning artists to lead the community in creating different art forms to facilitate worship throughout the liturgical year.
To deepen congregants’ spiritual engagement in worship and to build bridges between the congregation and community though engagement with visual arts and dance, especially with artists who use the church building.
To help people rest and reflect more deeply in God by creating opportunities for communal contemplation of God’s love and presence in the world through engagement with nature and the creative arts.
To deepen our congregation's appreciation for the grand narrative of God’s saving work by studying eight major acts of God in the Bible and collectively creating artwork that depicts the Bible’s overarching story.
To strengthen public worship and witness by building capacity in the music ministry, instituting a public worship event, and creating an outdoor mural.
To develop a cohort of artists that will affect the worshiping communities the artists belong to by exploring the sacred through creating visual art for worship together in online gatherings and an in-person retreat.
To invite worshipers into the depth and richness of God’s promises by weaving liturgy with the arts through collaborations with local artists for Advent, Lenten, Holy Week, and Pentecost services and through the development and dissemination of artistically inspired service plans.
To deepen community ties and invite other churches into collaboration by hosting art and worship events featuring music, performing arts, and visual arts with activities accessible for all ages.
To engage congregants and the community in worship experiences outside of traditional Sunday services through workshops and small-group worship experiences that incorporate music and the visual and performing arts.
To intentionally center visual arts in the worshiping community to cultivate the congregation’s appreciation of the role of art in forming and shaping its worship life.
To integrate ancient liturgy and prayer with expressions of worship such as art, meal sharing, and communal serviceso as to strengthen connections between gathered worship and daily life.
