Upcoming Event
A Reformation Sunday worship service commemorating the 20th Anniversary of the Accra Confession
October 27, 2024, 5:00 PM
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.
Samford University
Jonathan Rodgers
Jonathan Rodgers
To examine post-COVID worship in the Southern Baptist Church through interviews and surveys to gain an understanding of how worship has been and is being reconfigured.
Teacher-Scholar
Birmingham, alabama
2024
Samford University
Nelson Cowan
Nelson Cowan
To equip churches to better understand youths’ motivations for participation in worship by conducting a qualitative study of their attitudes toward diverse liturgical forms, their responses to liturgical change, and their participation in public Christian worship.
Teacher-Scholar
Birmingham, alabama
2024
Samford University
Amanda Howard
Amanda Howard
To identify challenges faced by individuals with sensory processing sensitivity (SPS) during worship services, to investigate strategies for self-regulation, and to evaluate support programs offered by worshiping communities, in order to create a resource guide for worshiping communities to better include people with SPS during religious services.
Teacher-Scholar
Birmingham, alabama
2024
Seattle Pacific University
Mischa Willett
Mischa Willett
To foster greater appreciation for the diverse ways Christianity has shaped human creativity and to explore ways in which Christian literary genres have influenced the spiritual lives of Christian communities through an analysis of hymnody, devotionals, spiritual autobiography, sermons, allegory, and more.
Teacher-Scholar
Seattle, washington
2024
Seattle Pacific University
Matthew Sigler
Matthew Sigler
To chronicle the history of the Charismatic Renewal movement in the Pacific Northwest by gathering stories from living witnesses, digitizing primary sources, and writing a monograph.
Teacher-Scholar
Seattle, washington
2024
Society for Pentecostal Studies
Marcia Clarke
Marcia Clarke
To equip pastors and worship leaders to guide congregations in theologically grounded, Spirit-informed worship experiences through promoting critical scholarly reflection on Pentecostal/Charismatic worship and collaboration between pastor-practioners and scholars.
Teacher-Scholar
Tulsa, oklahoma
2024
Society of Christian Scholars
Julie Canlis
Julie Canlis
To foster deep experiences of living in Christ among Christian worshipers through an exploration of how the early church formed the liturgical calendar.
Teacher-Scholar
Overland Park, kansas
2024
St. Andrew's College
Becca Whitla
Becca Whitla
To equip the Canadian church to use congregational song to further reconciliation between settlers and Indigenous peoples and to address questions relevant to the Canadian context through a conference and the development of shareable resources.
Teacher-Scholar
Saskatoon, saskatchewan
2024
The Presbyterian College
Roland De Vries
Roland De Vries
To develop a seminary course and book chapter on interculturality in homiletics to equip preachers and emerging preachers to address the increasingly intercultural nature of their communities.
Teacher-Scholar
Montreal, quebec
2024
The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology
Joel Kiekintveld
Joel Kiekintveld
To conduct a case study of how a church reimagined its worship model from attraction-based to member-led, in order to address the crisis of decline of church members and clergy by proposing a model of church rooted in the priesthood of believers.
Teacher-Scholar
Seattle, washington
2024
University of Alabama
Courtney O’Grady
Courtney O’Grady
To invite Catholic school practitioners (PK–12) to engage in self-study and group discussion as a means of reckoning with racism, ableism, and other injustices in American Catholic school practices, and then to reimagine Catholic schools as inclusive and justice-oriented worshiping communities.
Teacher-Scholar
Tuscaloosa, alabama
2024
University of Arkansas
Jeffrey Allen Murdock
Jeffrey Allen Murdock
To encourage more inclusive and vibrant worship experiences for Christian communities by developing resources for Black sacred music programs about the historical and cultural influences on the genre, then equipping sacred music scholars and practitioners to diversify worship music selections, educate congregations, and perform Black sacred music in a variety of contexts.
Teacher-Scholar
Fayetteville, arkansas
2024