Grants

Worship Renewal Grants Program

Calvin Institute of Christian Worship Announces 2009 Worship Renewal Grant Recipients
May 1, 2009
Contact: Betty Grit

Conversations about worship often tend to focus on specific music or style, how technology was or was not used, or the quality of the sound, the sermon or the musicians.  But congregations who have focused for a year on learning about worship or a specific aspect of worship have discovered that conversations can go much deeper to consider how words, music and arts help people pray, lament, confess or give thanks.  

The Calvin Institute of Christian Worship (CICW), in Grand Rapids, Mich., through its Worship Renewal Grants Program, supports congregations who seek to engage in a year long process of worship renewal.  This year, the program’s tenth, CICW will award almost $500,000 to support a variety of worship renewal projects in 43 churches and organizations across North America. (View a list of grant recipients and summaries of their projects.)

"It is very gratifying to receive proposals that combine dynamic energy and patient thoughtfulness about the future of the church,” says CICW director John Witvliet.  “There is a hopefulness and eagerness here about the church that is contagious."

A church in Illinois will engage the congregation in a collaborative process for sermon development that includes learning the role of the sermon, reflecting critically on current practices and taking part in the process of developing sermons.  In Ohio, the Pastoral Care staff at a Children’s Hospital will engage young patients who are in treatment at an adolescent residential psychiatric facility to create scripturally-based, experientially rich worship using music, dance, visual art and writing.  A North Carolina congregation that meets in a neighborhood theater will offer seminars to help deepen understanding and appreciation for their weekly celebration of the Lord’s Supper and prepare the congregation to create new sacramental furniture.

These are just some of the creative projects that will be funded in 2009. For a complete list of this year’s grant recipients and summaries of their projects, see the Grants section of the CICW website, www.calvin.edu/worship.

For 2009 grant recipients, learning begins in earnest this June when project directors gather at Calvin College to dialogue with 2008 recipients and CICW staff.

“Grant recipients tell us that this gathering is essential.  Meeting other grant recipients, learning together, sharing ideas and reporting on their own project of worship renewal creates a synergy for the grant year and beyond,” says Betty Grit, Program Manager of the Worship Renewal Grants Program.  
This year, CICW received proposals from 22 denominations and 26 states and 2 Canadian provinces. An advisory board of pastors and teachers from a variety of backgrounds assisted in the grant selection.

Grant recipients for 2009 represent congregations and schools from 15 denominations in 20 states and 2 Canadian provinces.  

The Worship Renewal Grants Program is generously supported by Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment Inc. Founded in 1937, the Endowment’s major areas of concern are community development, education, and religion.

The next application deadline for the Worship Renewal Grants Program is January 10, 2010. For an overview of the grants program and information about the application process, see the Grants section of the CICW website, www.calvin.edu/worship.

View previous Worship Renewal Grant recipients by region and year
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