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 break down barriers to full participation in worship by identifying the ways people may be prevented from feeling welcomed or included and creating new practices that welcome all.
To create and pilot participatory intergenerational worship resources that facilitate collaborative worship in a variety of contexts.
To create a consortium of young adults who will be trained and mentored to design and execute a monthly ecumenical, multicultural, and multigenerational worship gathering.
To initiate a contemplative worship service that uses participatory and sensually rich gestures, silence, and Celtic music in order to cultivate worshipers’ imagination of God.
To explore ways the worshiping community’s values can be embodied in communal worship practices that shape worshipers' engagement with God, one another, and God’s world.
To explore and experiment with different formats of intergenerational worship in order to foster cross-generational community and deeper connection with God.
To engage the local community in theological reflection on worship that deepens worshiper’s experience of God by enacting the word of God in many contexts.
To train worshipers in improvisational theater techniques in order to create a variety of worship experiences that facilitate intergenerational participation in worship.
To promote engagement with scripture and the Christian year in worship by reflecting on the life and teachings of Christ through stained glass art.
To pilot an interactive worship experience that fosters practices of justice, stewardship, and vocational exploration, and facilitates personal and communal encountering of God.
To foster unity among different African ethnic communities and awareness of varying worship needs and experiences by facilitating collaboration among worship leaders at African ethnic churches.
To develop a program that will assist churches in becoming physically, culturally, and spiritually accessible to people with disabilities, in order to create worshiping communities that honor the gifts and full participation of each person.
