Grants

Home > Grants > Worship Renewal Grants > Previous

Worship Renewal Grant Recipients—Year 2008

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.)

Allen Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Omaha, Nebraska To form an intergenerational liturgical dance program that connects movement to scripture while strengthening an appreciation for the African church and its expressions in worship.

Ashland First United Methodist Church, Ashland, Oregon To involve congregants in small rural congregations in southern Oregon and northern California in an interdenominational, intergenerational process that explores relationships in worship and focuses on connecting them to daily life.

Association for Reformed and Liturgical Worship, Sparks, Nevada To support ecumenical peer learning cluster groups to consider how seminaries can form worship leaders.

Being Whole Community at Stony Point Center, Stony Point, New York To train worship leaders in opening worship to the leadership gifts of persons with disabilities through a conference and a year long process of learning with several congregations.

Bethany Church, Muskegon, Michigan To form multigenerational, multicultural teams in which participants can explore how their gifts can be used in worship through music and the arts.

Bethel Christian Reformed Church, Fulton, Illinois To explore the role of visual arts in making the Lord’s Supper and Baptism more meaningful by giving attention to the church year in corporate worship and small group discussions.

Calvary Third United Presbyterian Church, Fort Wayne, Indiana To study and respond to the Psalms through prayer and jazz music in both corporate worship and small groups during the entire year.

Cathedral Church of St Paul/The Crossing, Boston, Massachusetts To offer a series of retreats, consultations, and worship services aimed at bringing together worship leaders and musicians for collaboration and reflection in an urban, multicultural, emerging worship community.

Celestial Church of Christ Emmanuel Parish, Toronto, Ontario To train youth and young adults from diverse backgrounds to lead worship and to strengthen unity in the congregation by encouraging and studying intergenerational worship.

Choristers Guild, Garland, Texas To begin a certification program that will equip children’s choir leaders with the skills necessary for creative and purposeful integration of children in worship.

Christ Community Church, Des Moines, Iowa To engage the congregation in a process that explores the connections between theology, liturgy and life through a conference and ongoing class which will study aesthetic liturgical reasoning to better understand decisions about music, outreach, and space.

Christians in Theatre Arts, Greenville, South Carolina To encourage five congregations to integrate theatre arts into worship with both artistic excellence and biblical integrity through a conference on theater in worship and a year long mentoring program for worship leaders.

Church of the Redeemer United Church of Christ, Westlake, Ohio To instruct and strengthen core teams of lay leaders through a year-long mentorship to create written resources, visual arts, graphics and musical arrangements for worship.

Columbia Theological Seminary, Decatur, Georgia To train pastors, music leaders and church officers in Korean-American churches to design and experience intergenerational, multicultural liturgies based on sacramental theology throughout the church year.

Columbine United Church, Littleton, Colorado To form an intergenerational team that study ancient and emergent worship practices and how they relate to worship today.

Community Recovery International, Grand Rapids, Michigan To develop worship experiences for women coming out of abusive backgrounds that will help them restore trustworthy relationships with God, family, and the church.

Convergence: A Creative Community of Faith, Alexandria, Virginia To offer theological and liturgical training for artists in the worshiping community who will bring their creative voice to collaborative, intergenerational worship planning.

Detroit Catholic Pastoral Alliance, Detroit, Michigan To empower youth of eleven parishes to lead worship using music that is both authentically Catholic and authentically Black.

Douglas Memorial Community Church, Baltimore, Maryland To create intergenerational worship services using music and the arts by engaging the congregation in a series of workshops and retreats with a focus on unity and music.

Edmonton Chinese Baptist Church, Edmonton, Alberta To connect church musicians and pastors of local Chinese Christian churches through a year long cooperative process of learning and reflection on worship and the role of music in worship.

Eliot Presbyterian Church, Lowell, Massachusetts To include the prayer life of children, expand the use of testimonies in worship, and deepen the understanding of baptism and the Lord’s Supper to unite people of different cultures, generations and denominations while celebrating their diversity.

Fellowship Christian Reformed Church, Edmonton, Alberta To study and evaluate past worship practices and create new liturgies that practice inclusivity, collaboration, creativity, and social justice and that encourage the gifts of musicians, artists, dancers, children, writers, and persons with disabilities.

First African Methodist Episcopal Bethel Church, New York, New York To create and train intergenerational worship planning teams of congregational members and ministry leaders in the planning of liturgies, music, mime, dance and visual arts to engage and unite worshipers of all ages with particular attention to social justice.

First Congregational Church of North Attleborough, North Attleborough, Massachusetts To invite painters, woodworkers, sculptors, musicians, graphic artists and photographers of all ages to use their gifts in worship leadership through ongoing study, practice, workshops, and worship experiences.

First Congregational Church of Webster Groves, United Church of Christ, St. Louis, Missouri To connect two diverse congregations in a collaborative effort to build community, transform space and inspire worship through the incorporation of visual arts into liturgy and the worship space.

First Presbyterian Church of Birmingham, Birmingham, Michigan To engage in study and reflection with leaders from several congregations on how visual arts, technology, drama, and liturgical movement can deepen corporate worship.

Good Hope Missionary Baptist Church, Houston, Texas To educate all members of the congregation in New Testament worship through a series of workshops and small group discussions that will explore the elements of corporate worship to develop a lifestyle of worship.

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Woodstock, Georgia To engage in a year long renewal of God’s promises in baptism and the book of Revelation through sermons, Bible studies, liturgy and education that will culminate with the Easter Vigil.

Grace Episcopal Church, Newton Corner, Massachusetts To explore with children, youth and adults what it means to be a baptizing community by focusing on the ways baptism impacts worship, vocation, and outreach.

Granite Springs Church, Lincoln, California To immerse the congregation in the Psalms through regular reading and memorization of the Psalms, a retreat, preaching, and pastoral care education that will teach people to pray all the emotions expressed in the Psalms.

Guild House Campus Ministry, Ann Arbor, Michigan To partner college students and congregational members in a study of worship and the arts that will lead to worship planning that encourages testimony and students in leadership roles.

International Council of Ethnodoxologists, Atlanta, Georgia To provide training through a collaboration of five congregations that will give a biblical perspective on the connections between global worship and the local church to develop a vision for multi-cultural worship.

Jordan United Church of Christ, Allentown, Pennsylvania To train youth to become active, mature leaders in worship through a year-long series of worship services that will incorporate their leadership and contributions in drama and music.

Kirk O’The Valley Presbyterian Church, Reseda, California To offer workshops in the theology and practice of worship, congregational singing, drama, movement and visual arts and implement what is learned into congregational worship.

Lancaster Theological Seminary, Lancaster, Pennsylvania To engage the pastor, choir director, organist, a member of the worship committee and a young adult from 10 small rural churches in Pennsylvania and Maryland in a year long process of learning about worship planning and congregational music that will include seminars and on-site consultations.

Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky To explore the role of the arts, liturgical gifts and an understanding of space in worship through a series of learning events that will integrate chapel more deeply in the life of the seminary.

Maple Avenue Ministries, Holland, Michigan To study and reflect on the nature of worship and the use of visual and dramatic arts, music, poetry and liturgy in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper in order to break barriers of perceived differences in age, race, ethnicity, theology, accustomed worship style and socio-economic status.

Mayfield Central Presbyterian Church, Mayfield, New York To explore and reclaim liturgical dance in worship while helping two congregations experience and study the Vertical Habits.

Mission San Luis Rey Parish, Oceanside, California To develop an intercultural worship planning team for a large, multicultural parish to encourage collaboration in celebrating cultural diversity in worship.

New City Church, Jersey City, New Jersey To research, experience, and reflect on using hip-hop in worship while nurturing urban teenagers as worship leaders.

New Hope Covenant Church, Oakland, California To explore ways of bringing together Asian American, Anglo, and African American urban youth for contextualized expressions of worship that are Christ-centered, joyful, sustainable and life-giving in collaboration with local churches.

Ohio Conference of Mennonite Church USA, Kidron, Ohio To engage leaders of 75 congregations in a deeper understanding and practice of testimony in worship through a workshop, book studies and quarterly discussions.

Orthodox Zion Primitive Baptist Church, West Palm Beach, Florida To study Reformed Theology within the context of the African-American worship experience through workshops, a retreat and written reflections with the congregation and pastors of area churches.

Pathway Ministries, Byron Center, Michigan To partner with other small congregations to explore the ways congregational song can help worshipers grow by connecting music in church and at home.

Sojourn Community Church, Louisville, Kentucky To create visual art for worship that communicates the core values of the church by training and equipping artists in the congregation through lectures, study and devotional resources.

St. John’s Presbyterian Church, Berkeley, California To engage adults and children in exploring music and liturgical art in worship through an intergenerational, multi-sensory all-church retreat and monthly workshops.

Sunnyside Christian School, Sunnyside, Washington To create collaboration between church, school and the home by focusing each month on one Vertical Habit in sermons, daily devotions, curriculum, special activities and chapel that will engage children and adults.

Tabernacle Community Church, Grand Rapids, Michigan To explore Old Testament worship in light of New Testament themes and to probe its implications for a variety of worship practices including cross cultural relationships and the arts.

The College Church, Northampton, Massachusetts To develop skills and opportunities for artistic expression of scripture that will connect to sermons through lectures and educational workshops.

The Gathering United Methodist Church, St. Louis, Missouri To incorporate visual arts in the worship space and liturgy of a small, urban church plant.

The Table: an Emerging Mennonite Church, Harrisonburg, Virginia To explore how an emerging Mennonite Congregation can more deeply incorporate the Lord’s Supper in worship and life through retreats, workshops, and mentoring relationships.

Union Theological Seminary and Presbyterian School of Christian Education, Richmond, Virginia To study and practice ways technology and movement can be integrated in worship while maintaining its historical identity and connecting with postmodern culture.

United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities, New Brighton, Minnesota To engage worship planners from five congregations with seminary staff in a year long learning process that will include theological reflection, dialogue and engagement of the arts.

Urban Hymnal, Seattle, Washington To partner with three Seattle congregations in exploring how new, creative, relevant music, text, and art can help people pray more honestly, engage more deeply with one another and address the needs of the community.

Click here for information on the Worship Renewal Grants Program.