Calvin Institute of Christian Worship Announces 2008 Worship Renewal Grant Recipients
When church leaders talk about worship, they tend to talk about style, techniques, and equipment for worship services. But many congregations are dedicated to reflecting on the deeper meaning and purpose of worship and congregational life.
The Calvin Institute of Christian Worship in Grand Rapids, Mich., encourages and supports these learning and reflecting processes through its Worship Renewal Grants Program. This year, the program’s ninth, CICW will award more than $700,000 to support a variety of worship renewal projects in 56 churches and organizations across North America.
In California a congregation will engage in a year-long study and memorization of the psalms to help them more meaningfully pray all the emotions in the psalms. A church in Georgia has planned a year-long pilgrimage of rediscovery and 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. A congregation in Harlem, New York, will create and train worship planning teams composed of ministry leaders and diverse, intergenerational members of the congregation to use liturgies, music, mime, dance, and visual arts to engage and unite worshipers.
These are just a few of the creative projects that will be funded in 2008. 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).
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, 2009. 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).