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Worship Renewal Grant Recipients—Year 2007

You can view posters displayed at Colloquium for grant recipients from the years 2003-2008. Click on the organization's name for an image of the poster. (You may need to zoom in to read the text on the poster.)

Asbury Theological Seminary, Wilmore, Kentucky To produce a multi-dimensional worship curriculum of small group sessions, individual study guides, and training for small group facilitators through a collaboration with the Lexington District of the United Methodist Church.

Baptist General Convention of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia To plan intergenerational worship services as small, rural congregations that combine historical and contemporary worship traditions through music, biblical storytelling, liturgical art, and contemplative methods.

Beulah Missionary Baptist Church, Cincinnati, Ohio To engage the congregation’s urban youth through workshops on hip hop, dance, and art that culminate with youth involvement in planning and leading worship.

Black Catholic Convocation Implementation Sub-Committee, Chicago, Illinois To empower youth to study and plan liturgies with a particular emphasis on music, art and sacramental celebration in African American congregations.

Blessed Jurgis Matulaitis Lithuanian Catholic Mission, Lemont, Illinois To break prejudices across generations and cultures in a Lithuanian immigrant community through an intentional focus on scripture, the creation of art, and religious instruction.

Bridge Street African Methodist Episcopal Church, Brooklyn, New York To plan liturgies that lead congregants to bring peace, love, joy, justice and hope in the world through a collaboration between leaders and the congregation.

Campus Chapel of Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor, Michigan To deepen corporate confession and lament during services in Advent and Lent with images, music and movement.

Candler School of Theology of Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia To incorporate new methods to plan, lead and reflect upon meaningful worship and to adapt worship planning to the gifts and challenges of local churches by working with seminary students and recent graduates across the United States.

Cherry Hill Missionary Baptist Church, Conway, South Carolina To study a biblical perspective on worship through a series of workshops for worship leaders and local congregations with small group follow-up and implementation in individual congregations.

Christian Reformed Home Missions, Grand Rapids, Michigan To develop worship resources and support for prisoners in both understanding and participating in worship by forming relationships between six West Michigan congregations (CRC and RCA) and worshiping communities in prisons.

Christians in the Visual Arts, Wenham, Massachusetts To reflect on the role of visual arts in worship as pairs of pastors and artists and to present the results of this collaborative learning to the broader body of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.

Church of St. Andrew, Sandy Springs, Georgia To create a mission-oriented worship environment that focuses on visual arts and healing within the emergent church by integrating tradition, cultural context, and individual gifts.

CLC Network (Christian Learning Center), Grand Rapids, Michigan To explore ways to make worship accessible for children and adults with disabilities and to recognize and encourage the participation and leadership of those with special needs and gifts through a partnership with eight to ten congregations.

Cornerstone Prison Church, Worthing, South Dakota To encourage deeper participation in the worship of prison congregations by teaching prisoners how to develop drama, lament, prayer, poetry, and music.

Crescent Hill United Methodist Church, Louisville, Kentucky To strengthen prayer, worship, and evangelism through a weekly worship service of healing, monthly times of fellowship, study and discussion, and a workshop for church leaders.

Delaware – Maryland Synod, Baltimore, Maryland To focus on biblical hospitality as a basis for inclusive worship that reflects diverse cultures through the collaboration of six local congregations.

Detroit Annual Conference, The United Methodist Church, Flint, Michigan To empower youth to plan and lead worship through study of and exposure to various forms of worship.

Diocese of St. Augustine Office of Liturgy, Jacksonville, Florida To train parish music coordinators in Roman Catholic liturgical practices and mentors to assist them in the application of these practices.

El Buen Vecino Presbyterian Church, Kissimmee, Florida To contextualize a Reformed theology of worship in the Hispanic/Latino community through biblical study and practice in music, arts, dance and drama.

First Christian Reformed Church, Hamilton, Ontario To create a sense of narrative, memory, and time by focusing on the practices of lectio divina, prayer, study, and service through a series of workshops and collaborative projects on using word and image in worship.

First Presbyterian Church, Altadena, California To unite intergenerationally and cross-culturally by interacting with scripture and the preached word through journals, lectio divina, prayer, inductive Bible studies, and Asian art.

First Presbyterian Church, Montpelier, Ohio To form small groups that will join with the pastor for Bible study, background research, service planning, and preparation of devotional materials for the congregation that connect the worship services with daily life.

First Presbyterian Church, Lebanon, Oregon To encourage intergenerational participation by integrating the gifts of the entire congregation through visual arts, music, multimedia, and drama in worship.

First Presbyterian Church, Wetumpka, Alabama To increase cultural awareness and communication among diverse community groups through a collaborative focus of local churches on diversity, hospitality, liturgical space, drama, music, and dance.

First United Methodist Church, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania To design multi-sensory, interactive, communal worship experiences that bridge the church community with the diverse, emerging, post modern culture.

First United Methodist Church of Santa Monica, Santa Monica, California To create resources for those unable to worship with the gathered Sunday congregation through a collaborative study of church history, ecclesiology, and liturgy.

Fredericktown United Methodist Church, Fredericktown, Ohio To connect weekly worship with daily living by encouraging personal and family Bible study and discussion that will be further explored through the Sunday sermon, drama, and congregational discussions.

Grace University Lutheran Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota To study scripture, examine traditions steeped in liturgical mystery and awe, create visual arts, and plan Lenten services of contemplation with lay leadership.

Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Kennebunk, Maine To design contemporary worship services that are planned collaboratively, are biblically based, proclaim the gospel through Word and Sacrament, and send people out to share God’s grace.

Holy Family Parish, Waukegan, Illinois To foster hospitality by creating multi-cultural and intergenerational worship planning and leadership through a collaborative study of worship, tradition, and culture.

Holy Redeemer Church, San Antonio, Texas To share the richness of the experience, history, and spirituality of the African American Catholic tradition with the local community through worship services and workshops.

Monument of Faith Church, Durham, North Carolina To connect the congregation’s worship life and its mission by studying how biblically embedded beliefs and practices, such as celebration of communion, adherence to the liturgical calendar, and use of a common lectionary, have formed congregations for service and witness.

Mount Hermon Missionary Baptist Church, Chicago, Illinois To study liturgy, music, and art as an interdenominational group of local pastors and lay leaders and to plan a combined worship service.

New Hope Community Services Society/Celebrating All Nations Church, Vancouver, British Columbia To train youth in a low income and refugee community in Bible study, worship leadership, and musical skills and to develop a youth band and gospel choir that will lead intergenerational worship services.

New Mount Hermon Missionary Baptist Church, Detroit, Michigan To deepen musical leadership through the formation of a committee of choir directors and musicians from local churches that focuses on congregational singing.

Open Table of Christ United Methodist Church, Providence, Rhode Island To study the theology of worship and incorporate the wisdom and practices of the Northern European, Latino, African American, Haitian, Korean, and Liberian cultures from the community into worship planning to empower the leadership and unite the congregation.

Orange United Methodist Church, Chapel Hill, North Carolina To design a new baptismal font through a collaborative process of artistic and educational engagement around the significance of baptism.

PACEM (Pacific Academy of Ecclesiastical Music), San Diego, California To plan and implement a weekly compline service with attention to music as encouraging reflection on scripture and the involvement of youth leadership.

Progressive Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ National Music Department, Columbia, South Carolina To train clergy and music staff in musical repertoire, theology of worship, and worship planning through a collaboration with eighteen local congregations.

Reconciliation United Methodist Church, Durham, North Carolina To develop a culturally authentic and theologically sound evaluative and creative practice of incorporating indigenous art into the worship space to enrich sacramental practices.

Redeemer University College, Ancaster, Ontario To strengthen campus worship leadership through leadership retreats, a regional conference that joins theoretical study with practice, training events, a worship-song composition workshop and the creation of worship visuals.

Rehoboth Christian Reformed Church, Rehoboth, New Mexico To develop resources with the Christian Navajo community that reflect the contextual use of the Psalms in the liturgy, drama, music and art of worship in Native American culture.

Sardis Baptist Church, Charlotte, North Carolina To form a worship development team that will formulate guiding statements about worship, create a worship library, host a liturgy training event for area churches focusing on creative adaptation and use of traditional liturgy, and offer a church-wide retreat on the meaning of worship.

South Grandville Christian Reformed Church, Grandville, Michigan To deepen hospitality and community in worship through congregational workshops and training that will encourage intergenerational participation and leadership.

Southeastern Iowa Synod, Iowa City, Iowa To begin a training program for musicians and clergy of small congregations that offers classes in the theological and liturgical foundations of worship and the development of musical skills.

St. Andrew Presbyterian Church, Iowa City, Iowa To explore using drama in worship for biblical proclamation through studying scripture texts, discussing communication methods, and partnering with local congregations.

St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, Pleasant Hill, California To reflect as a congregation on worship services and seasons and to equip leadership teams in music, arts, study and prayer.

St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, Taylors, South Carolina To increase congregational participation and knowledge of worship through the incorporation of the arts and the development of a worship planning team.

The Common Ministry at Washington State University, Pullman, Washington To develop ecumenical and intergenerational worship services that integrate Scripture, silence, and music with a world perspective and to accompany this service with theological reflection on its application for daily living.

The Gathering, Sacramento, California To train worship leaders in music, arts and drama through workshops and the experience of implementing a series of services that focus on spiritual formation through worship.

Underwood Hills Presbyterian Church, Omaha, Nebraska To study and discuss with a group of local pastors the development of worship practices that combine emerging worship with Reformed theology, with a particular focus on the sacraments.

Union University, Jackson, Tennessee To explore how Biblical psalms can and should be used in corporate worship and private devotion in order to aid the church in singing, worshiping, and praying well. uupsalmsproject.blogspot.com

Valley Baptist Ministers Conference, Cincinnati, Ohio To discuss the theological foundations of worship renewal and strategies for forming congregations around them as a peer learning group of local Baptist ministers and church leaders.

Wollaston Congregational Church, Wollaston, Massachusetts To study the history, theology and practice of worship in an ecumenical partnership with six congregations and to plan a combined worship service that demonstrates some of the discoveries from the yearlong study.

Click here for information on the Worship Renewal Grants Program.