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.
To develop skilled, confident, and energetic student worship leaders through a comprehensive worship leadership development initiative.
To promote inclusion of African Christians in multiethnic churches in the United States through documentation and teaching of the oral tradition of African Christian choruses.
To strengthen the connection between Christian worship and creation justice by producing worship songs and liturgical resources that encourage deeper love for and connection to God's creation through public worship.
To inspire a renewed love of Anglican worship through educational programming and retreats that explore how beauty and poetry reveal God’s truth.
To increase disability awareness and belonging in partner churches by providing resources and strategies for promoting the welcome and inclusion of Christians of all abilities in worshiping communities.
To deepen congregants’ spiritual engagement in worship and to build bridges between the congregation and community though engagement with visual arts and dance, especially with artists who use the church building.
To promote participation and leadership within Christian communities by diverse students who struggle to see themselves in the Christian story.
To address the spiritual needs of second-generation Ethiopian American children and youth in a culturally sensitive way through worship, preaching, and teaching that includes them in the life and leadership of the church.
To equip lay leaders by hosting workshops that broaden understanding of what preaching can be in an intergenerational and hybrid worship context in order to expand leaders’ repertoire of meaningful ways of engaging with scripture to facilitate spiritual growth.
To meet the increased demands on worship and arts leaders of in-person and online services through creating opportunities for mentorship, rotational leadership, and skill development.
To help people rest and reflect more deeply in God by creating opportunities for communal contemplation of God’s love and presence in the world through engagement with nature and the creative arts.
To deepen our congregation's appreciation for the grand narrative of God’s saving work by studying eight major acts of God in the Bible and collectively creating artwork that depicts the Bible’s overarching story.
