CONTENTS
|
Get Connected This Sunday!
|
Learn about Programming and Volunteer Opportunities
|
This Sunday learn how you can stay connected and volunteer with Fourth Church!
Coffee Hour will feature information about upcoming and ongoing educational, fellowship, and community outreach opportunities, including details about fellowship groups and other ways you can get involved with the church community. Fourth Church representatives will be available to talk about volunteer needs, mission activities, Academy for Faith and Life classes, and more!
"Get Connected" Coffee Hour will take place in Anderson Hall and the Commons following 8:00, 9:30, and 11:00 a.m. worship services.
We hope to see you there as we welcome all to Fourth Church this autumn and celebrate ways to deepen connections and serve others!
|
Tasty Treats to Support Chicago Lights
|
An Associates Board Bake Sale
|
Treat yourself to a sweet--and support Chicago Lights--at a bake sale, hosted by the Chicago Lights Associates Board, this Sunday, September 18 in the Commons during "Get Connected" Coffee Hour.
Breads, cookies, cupcakes, brownies, and more will be available. All proceeds will support the five programs of Chicago Lights, the community outreach arm of Fourth Church.
Time:
Sunday, September 18
9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.
Place:
Gratz Center Commons
|
The Spiritual Formation Council at Fourth Church invites you to join Vicky Curtiss and Marsha Heizer for a spiritual pilgrimage to Iona, Scotland, next July.
Iona provides a moving setting in which to experience God's presence through times of contemplation while surrounded by the island's natural beauty. Participants will explore Celtic Christian spirituality, worship daily with the Iona Community at the Abbey, and learn the history of the island where St. Columba first brought Christianity to this part of the world. The pilgrimage will conclude in Edinburgh, Scotland, to learn about John Knox and worship at St. Giles' Cathedral, where Calum MacLeod is Minister.
Space is limited, so be sure to register soon! Applications for this July 19-31, 2017, pilgrimage, which are due on October 15, are available online. This trip immediately follows the Music Mission Trip to Ireland, which will take place July 10-19, 2017; participants may join both trips but will need to register separately.
|
New Adult Education Classes Begin on Sunday
|
Two new Academy for Faith and Life classes begin this Sunday, September 18!
Why not start your day with "Jeremiah and Discipleship," which begins at 9:30 a.m. in Room 5F. This course looks at the tumult of current events through the religious lens of the prophecy of Jeremiah, underscoring the importance of ethics in moments of uncertainty. Jeffrey Stackert, Associate Professor of Hebrew Bible at the University of Chicago, will guide participants in analyzing several Jeremiah texts over the course of four weeks, situating them within the context our contemporary world.
If you're looking for a later course, "Charisma in One Week," led by Adult Education Committee member Tom Payne, begins at 11:00 a.m. in Room 5G. Charisma is a gift amplifier--e.g., it helps leaders lead better. Through this four-week course, participants will learn how it can be acquired by virtually anyone in one week.
To learn more about these courses, visit the Academy for Faith and Life web page on the Fourth Church website. We hope you'll join us for one--or both--of these educational opportunities!
|
Six-Week Course Begins This Monday
|
Want to explore the Gospels but don't know where to start? Join us on selected Mondays, starting this Monday through November, as Associate Pastor Judy Watt leads us through the third Gospel, Luke.
Each of the six sessions of this class will include presentation of information by Judy, an oral reading of the text itself, and plenty of time for questions and discussion as we apply sections of the text to our current lives. By the time the course is over, participants will have read the entire Gospel out loud.
If you're not a Biblical scholar, don't worry--this is a class for people of all levels of exposure (or none whatsoever) to the Bible. Just bring your Bible (any version) and a curious mind!
Time:
Mondays, September 19 and 26; October 3 and 17; November 7 and 14
5:30-6:45 p.m.
Place:
Page Smith Room
|
Have you made a 2016 pledge
to Fourth Church and Chicago Lights? If not, please take a moment to do so, as we still need $100,791 to be pledged for 2016 to make our pledge goal.
If you have already made a 2016 pledge, thank you! Pledged gifts make up approximately 40 percent of our annual revenue budget, meaning fulfillment of those pledges is critical to our annual planning and programming. Gifts toward your pledge can be made
online here
.
|
A Care of Creation Workday This Saturday
|
Tomorrow from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. our Care of Creation Committee is sponsoring a cleanup of Oak Street Beach in conjunction with the Alliance for the Great Lakes and the Ocean Conservancy's International Cleanup.
Come join us for this great opportunity to get outside and care for our lake in fellowship with Fourth Church members. Please also consider bringing a bucket or plastic bag from home to reduce the event's environmental footprint.
Time:
Saturday, September 17
9:00-11:00 a.m.
Place:
Oak Street Beach
|
Contemplative Silence on Tuesday Mornings
|
Before starting a busy day, take a weekly break from the relentless pace and stress of daily life to find some stillness and be fully conscious to God, to yourself, and to creation.
"A Sacred Pause" will be offered each Tuesday morning at 7:45 a.m. in Stone Chapel, beginning Tuesday, September 27. Hosted by the Replogle Center for Counseling and Well-Being and Tom Schemper, Vicky Curtiss, and Nanette Sawyer, this meditative time will offer space for twenty minutes of silence.
No previous meditation experience is necessary, and participants are free to use the silence of the Sacred Pause in any way they'd like. All are invited to drop in occasionally or to make this a weekly ongoing practice.
Time:
Tuesdays, starting September 27
7:45-8:15 a.m.
Place:
Stone Chapel (enter from the Commons)
|
New Director of Volunteer Ministry
|
We are honored to welcome Benjamin Reynolds to the Fourth Church staff as our new Director of Volunteer Ministry! He is taking over the role from Larry Nicholson, who retired at the end of August.
Benjamin will be at Coffee Hour this Sunday and in the weeks ahead, so please greet him and give him a warm Fourth Church welcome!
|
Nominating Forms Available Through September 30
|
The Nominating Committee needs more recommendations for officer positions with Fourth Church or Chicago Lights!
Nominating forms for the offices of Elder, Deacon, Trustee, and Chicago Lights Board are available online. Paper forms are also available at the church in the pew racks and literature racks.
Please take a moment this month to send your officer suggestions our way!
|
| "Compelling Communication" |
Hosted by Women at Fourth
|
Join us on Thursday, September 22, when former radio personality Catherine Johns--author of Show Up and Shine: Simple Steps to Boost Your Confidence and Charisma--and HR specialist
Elinor Hite will give a presentation about the ways we connect to one another through speaking and listening.
Hosted by Women at Fourth, "Compelling Communication" will take place in the Bumpus Room at 5:30 p.m. that evening. All are invited. For more information, contact Anne Ellis (312.573.3369).
Time:
Thursday, September 22
5:30 p.m.
Place:
Bumpus Room
|
Worship This Week
|
Sunday, September 18, 2016
|
8:00 a.m. with Communion
Rocky Supinger, Associate Pastor, preaching
Scripture texts:
Psalm 113
9:30 and 11:00 a.m.,
New Members (11:00)
Shannon J. Kershner, Pastor, preaching
Scripture texts:
4:00 p.m. Jazz Service with Communion
Abbi Heimach-Snipes, Pastoral Resident, preaching
"Utilizing Our Gifts in a Dishonest System
Scripture texts:
Worship bulletins
for this coming Sunday are available online Friday afternoon at
www.fourthchurch.org/worship/this-week.html
"News and Opportunities"
is the weekly printed newsletter distributed with the Sunday bulletin and is available online Friday afternoon at
www.fourthchurch.org/news/2016/091816no.pdf
Sermons
Back to top
|
Passages
|
Death
We give thanks to God for the gift of eternal life.
John D. Carroll, August 24, 2016
Back to top
|
Concerts at Fourth Church
Friday Noonday concerts are free.
Friday, September 23, 2016
Roderick Demmings Jr., organist
12:10 p.m. in the Sanctuary
Friday, September 30, 2016
Thomas E. Gouwens, pianist
(Associate Organist at Fourth Church)
12:10 p.m. in Buchanan Chapel
Friday, October 7, 2016
Rachel Blumenthal, flutist
Beilin Han, pianist
12:10 p.m. in Buchanan Chapel
Cosponsored by the Musicians Club of Women
Friday, October 14, 2016
Edward and Junghwa Moon Auer, pianists
12:10 p.m. in the Sanctuary
A complete concert schedule is available online.
Back to top
|
Volunteer at Fourth Church
|
|
There are several ways to get involved in the mission and ministry of Fourth Church. See below for details!
Current Volunteer Needs
In2It Café instructors to teach thirty-minute enrichment classes-from yoga to chess to dance to creative writing-to Chicago Lights Tutoring students on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, or Thursdays, the first week of October through mid-December, from 5:25 to 5:55 p.m.
Tutors for the Chicago Lights Tutoring program
Nursery caregivers on Sundays at 9:30 or 11:00 a.m. in the Nursery
Greeters and ushers for the 4:00 p.m. jazz worship service
To sign up for any of these volunteer opportunities or to learn more about them, stop by Coffee Hour on Sunday morning or email [email protected].
A complete list of volunteer needs is available
online.
|
|
