Raymond church awarded 2015 Vital Worship Grant

Raymond Village Community Church - UCC (“RVCC”) is one of only 29 churches nationwide and the only church in Maine receiving a special grant to explore new and novel ways of enhancing worship. The grant of $12,000 from the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship is intended to help the Church generate renewed interest and energy in public worship at the local level and to make worship more relevant and attractive to people of all ages. 

“Our one-year grant of $12,000, from the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship, allows us to continue and enhance what has become a major theme for us; making worship a more meaningful and immersive experience,” said RVCC Pastor Nancy Foran. “We will use the money to explore and create new ways of worship that truly and deeply touch all people, regardless of age or faith perspective.” 

The Church’s grant team chose the theme of “Light and Dark”; using the symbolism of light and dark in Scripture, art, music, and literature as a lens to focus its vital worship efforts. Over the next year, church members will be creating special art installations, collaboratively developing a set of special services, hosting a community photo exhibition, and working with John Bell, one of the world’s major advocates for revitalizing worship. Light blocking curtains will be installed in the church sanctuary in order to allow the use of environmental projection – “painting” the sanctuary walls with images during worship.

The Vital Worship Grants Program is made possible through the generous support of the Lilly Endowment, a major national foundation and the only major foundation that actively supports the North American faith community, in addition to its work in education and community development.

“We are deeply grateful to the Calvin Institute and to the Lilly Endowment for making this program possible and for selecting us to participate,” Foran said. 

The CICW’s Worship Grants program (formerly known as the Worship Renewal Grants Program) is now in its 16th year and has seen more than 700 projects funded since its inception

For more information on the grants program, including a complete list of this year’s grants recipients, please see: www.calvin.edu/worship. For more information about RVCC, the church’s website can be found at www.rvccme.org.