1855 Knollcrest Circle SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546-4402 USA

On the campus of Calvin University and Calvin Theological Seminary
© 2025 91ÁÔÆæ
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.
To facilitate intergenerational faith formation in worship by creating spaces for learning and collaboration between pastors and lay leaders in ethnically and denominationally diverse congregations.
To promote the role of visual art in the liturgy as a means of meeting God in worship, led by a community of worship artists.
To cultivate in children an awareness of the beauty of God in worship while teaching them skills for leading worship through music, dance, and visual arts.
To equip laypersons to lead and participate in worship by helping them integrate their own experiences of God’s presence with the history, creeds, and practices of African-American churches.
To draw adults into a life of Christian discipleship by studying four congregations with robust catechumenate programs in order to facilitate formational practices and patterns in the worship of other congregations.
To unify churches who share a common neighborhood by implementing ecumenical and contextual worship that meets the needs of the community.
To learn about inclusive worship in order to craft creative liturgies that allow for the full, conscious, active participation of all members of the community.
To facilitate relationships between Anglo- and African-American churches by fully engaging in one another’s worship experiences and by creating liturgical art together.
To reflect on Scripture and culture in order to compose songs and worship expressions that are fitting to a multicultural urban congregational context.
To cultivate an awareness of God’s glory by establishing shared rhythms and spaces to connect daily life and corporate worship.
To expand and strengthen the communal nature of campus worship by exploring the relationship between liturgy and spiritual disciplines and by engaging visual art as a form of intercessory prayer.
To build relationships between English-speaking and Spanish-speaking congregations by worshiping together and sharing stories of each community’s religious and cultural traditions.
