CICW has awarded Vital 91ÁÔÆæ, 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.

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Teacher-Scholar Historical

Wheaton College

Karen Johnson

To study Christians who have historically worshipped together across racial lines, using case studies to explore how thinking Christianly and historically about race’s effect on American worship might help churches foster reconciliation in the present.

Teacher-Scholar
Wheaton, illinois
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 Hermeneutics Public Witness

Boston University School of Theology

Shively Smith

To identify the metaphors and images that shape the interpretation of Scripture within worshiping communities, and to assess the impact of these interpretive images on a community’s relationship to various “others” and socio-political realities.

Teacher-Scholar
Boston, massachusetts
2020
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Teacher-Scholar Liturgy 91ÁÔÆæ Resources

College of St. Scholastica

Elizabeth Anderson

To survey the process of revising the calendar of commemorations in the Episcopal Church since 2003 and to offer a proposal for how calendar reform might proceed amidst a diversity of theological understandings and liturgical practices.

Teacher-Scholar
Duluth, minnesota
2020
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Teacher-Scholar Accessibility 91ÁÔÆæ Practices

Columbia Theological Seminary

Rebecca Spurrier

To create a liturgical resource that responds to ableist images, narratives, and symbols that are common in Christian worship, drawing from insights in liturgical studies and disability studies.

Teacher-Scholar
Decatur, georgia
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 Missional Youth

Fuller Youth Institute

Tyler Greenway

To investigate the perceptions of public worship practices among young people who do not regularly attend worship services, in order to provide insight to Christian worshiping communities as they seek to better understand the life narratives of this population.

Teacher-Scholar
Wayland, michigan
2020
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Teacher-Scholar Public Witness Sacraments

Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary

Andrew Wymer and Kristen Daley Mosier

To engage the baptismal practices of diverse Christian communities in regions impacted by toxic water, and to construct a theoretical and practical vision of baptismal solidarity for the broader Church.

Teacher-Scholar
Evanston, illinois
2020
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Teacher-Scholar Congregational Life Historical

Hope College

Lynn Japinga

To explore the history of policies and practices regarding divorce in the Reformed Church in America, and to study how these policies have shaped worship practices such as Scripture reading, public prayer, and preaching, and affected divorced people.

Teacher-Scholar
Holland, michigan
2020
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Teacher-Scholar Preaching

McCormick Theological Seminary

Lis Valle-Ruiz

To study digitally mediated worship and preaching practices as it relates to the embodied experience, presence, and active participation from the perspectives of the worshipers. 

Teacher-Scholar
Chicago, illinois
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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