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

On the campus of Calvin University and Calvin Theological Seminary
© 2024 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.
Nathan Chase
To study the connection between sacramental practices and ordinary life (meal, ministry of touch, and oil) through three historical case studies from the early church and Roman Catholic liturgical practice to help Roman Catholic worshiping communities understand the historical origins of Eucharist, healing, and ordination.
Antonio E. Alonso
To spark deeper conversations about the significance of the materiality of lived Christian practice through theological reflection on the reception of Vatican II liturgical reforms in Asian, Latine, and Black Catholic contexts.
Michelle A. Stinson
To create resources for exploring how “keeping time” with both liturgical and environmental/agrarian seasons can be a means of cultivating and fostering a biblical hope in uncertain times.
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.
Layla A. Karst
To explore the pastoral and theological implications of online pandemic Liturgies of the Word, focusing especially on the translation of ritual practices between off-line and online worship and on emerging understandings of ecclesial leadership and authority.
Sarah Travis
To create and field-test a preaching and liturgical resource addressing reconciliation among Settler Canadians and Indigenous peoples for the Presbyterian Church in Canada, based on two Calls to Action from the Canadian Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
To study, develop, and implement liturgical practices that equip worshipers for mission, and to discover gifts in the community that can be assets to the church's worship.
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.
Ronald Rienstra
To write a book comprised of brief essays that explore the deep patterns in worship as well as in worship's constituent parts (ordo, scripture, sermon, song, prayer, action).
