South Grandville Christian Reformed Church in Michigan offered a series of hands-on workshops to help members use video, visual arts, music, and dance creatively in worship.
Rehoboth (N.M.) Christian Reformed Church has been developing resources to help Navajo people use various art forms to incorporate the message of the Psalms in their worship life.
As two of nearly 60 recipients of grants last year from the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship (CICW), both of these congregations have been able to reach out and to help church members enhance the quality of their worship, says John Witvliet, the institute’s director.
Witvliet says he hopes that the success these and other congregations have experienced in bolstering their worship life will encourage organizations and churches to consider applying for the next round of grants.
The grants for 2009 will be funded by a recently awarded $7 million grant from the Lilly Endowment, which has supported the CICW in the past.
“The Lilly Endowment believes that we provide an important service, which is to help strengthen, through worship and other means, American Christianity,” says Witvliet. “Most of the funds from the grant go for worship renewal locally, nationally, and internationally.”
Based at Calvin College, the CICW has awarded millions of dollars in grants over the past 10 years. The new grant will run for the next three years.
For more information on the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, contact Witvliet at 616-526-6806 or visit the institute’s website at http://www.calvin.edu/worship.
About the Author
Chris Meehan is a freelance writer and commissioned pastor at Coit Community Church in Grand Rapids, Mich.
