If you know someone who would like to receive updates from us but currently is not, please encourage them to add their email address to our distribution list by signing up at www.bit.ly/newsfromfpc

While we are not gathering in person in this season, there are many opportunities to connect online with the Fourth Church community and one another.

You will find these online opportunities posted on the church calendar, which is easily accessible from the “Calendar” button of our website (in the upper left corner). Included among them are—

For information about whom to contact for an event’s Zoom details, simply click on the down “arrow” to the right of the event name in the calendar.

In addition to making our online worship service available via our worship channel at www.bit.ly/FPCworship, we are also sharing the service via Facebook Live (www.facebook.com/fourthchurch) and—for those who use smart TVs or TV streaming devices—via our YouTube channel (www.bit.ly/fpcvideos) at 11:00 a.m.

For those who do not have Internet access, we also make our worship service available to listen to via the phone. If you know of someone for whom this audio opportunity would be welcome, please encourage them to call 888.916.9166 (toll-free) at the time of the service.

Shannon J. Kershner preaching

The worship bulletin is available to download and print in advance

Livestreamed from the Sanctuary at www.bit.ly/FPCworship

Our six-week sermon series—“To What End? Being Church in These Days”—continues this week, as together we explore the Six Great Ends of the Church. This set of statements was crafted in the early twentieth century to define and guide the life and work of the Presbyterian church—who we are and what we are called to do.

The Second Great End, our focus for this week, is “The Shelter, Nurture, and Spiritual Fellowship of the Children of God.”

This Sunday during worship we will also be ordaining, installing, and commissioning church officers who are beginning three-year terms as Deacon, Elder, or Trustee. As we do so, we ask you to keep them in prayer as they begin this important ministry.

If our 11:00 worship time does not fit your schedule, the service will be available for viewing throughout the week at www.bit.ly/FPCworship.

You can also subscribe to our worship and sermon podcasts available via iTunes and Spotify and sign up to receive the weekly sermon by email.

In the days ahead we have several opportunities planned for learning together via Zoom. We hope you will mark these on your calendar and register to join us!

9:30 a.m.

For Zoom details, register at www.bit.ly/3bTHnZd

What accounts for the great disparity—among other things, in SAT scores—across Chicago Public Schools? What needs to happen for all CPS students to get a high-quality education? We will take a closer look at these questions and others for the next three Sunday mornings.

To begin this series, Derrick Dawson, Co-Program Coordinator of Chicago Regional Organizing Against Racism, will lead us in delving into the historical context of racial disparities in education.

12:30 p.m.

For Zoom details, register at www.bit.ly/fpcff20

Beginning this Sunday we will embark on a weekly “Foundations of Faith” encounter with the Bible. The pastors will take turns hosting three-week thematic studies of biblical texts at 12:30 p.m. on Sundays.

To begin the series, David Handley will guide us in discussing texts around the theme “Knowing God, Loving God, Serving God.”

10:00 a.m.

Register at www.bit.ly/rccwscp920 for Zoom details and information about obtaining the necessary materials

Elise Magers and Margaret Brennan of our Replogle Center for Counseling and Well-Being invite you to experience the power of SoulCollage and poetry as doors to greater self-understanding and self-care. In a Saturday morning workshop on September 26 you will have opportunity to discover what delights, calls, and engages your soul.

7:00 p.m.

For Zoom details, register at www.bit.ly/taxamendment

With the Illinois Graduated Tax Amendment on the general election ballot in Illinois this November, the Equitable Education Committee at Fourth Church will be hosting a Zoom panel discussion about the amendment—with special emphasis on the impact on education funding—on Tuesday, October 6 at 7:00 p.m.

David Greising, President and CEO of the Better Government Association, will moderate the conversation of panelists Ralph Martire (President of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability and Arthur Rubloff Endowed Professor of Public Policy at Roosevelt University), Leslie Munger (Former Illinois State Comptroller and Deputy Governor), and Robin Steans (President of Advance Illinois).

Fourth Church Meals Ministry is in need of additional donations to support our feeding programs, which include Bag Lunch three days a week in addition to Sunday Night Supper and Monday Night Supper.

While we are unable to accept donations dropped off by individuals, we welcome deliveries direct from distributors, which you can place using our lists of preferred items with Amazon, Target, Walmart, or Costco. You can also make a financial gift online, designating it to Meals Ministry.

For more information about supporting the work of Meals Ministry, click here or contact Mike Usiak.

As we prepare to ordain, install, and commission new officers this Sunday, our Officer Nominating Committee is already beginning its work to prepare a recommended slate of leaders to begin terms in 2021.

Wednesday, September 30 is the last day to submit to the committee the names of Fourth Church members you think are good candidates for the offices of Elder, Deacon, or Trustee or for Nominating Committee or Chicago Lights Board member.

You can do so by adding their names—self-nominations are welcome—to the Leadership Candidate Form online at www.bit.ly/nominating2020.

On behalf of the Nominating Committee, thank you for your help!

Following worship each Sunday we hope you will join us via Zoom for virtual Coffee Hour, an opportunity to connect online with one another and share in a time of fellowship.

Following the postlude

Also accessible at www.bit.ly/fpcfellowship

(the link is also posted on our website: www.fourthchurch.org)

Meeting ID: 963 5583 1751

Passcode: 631276

Phone: Call 1 (312) 626-6799

and enter Meeting ID 963 5583 1751#

We hold in prayer all those affected by the wildfires in the west. Presbyterian Disaster Assistance (PDA) is at work in the area, helping to support feeding programs and emergency housing for displaced residents as well as working with local presbyteries to assess and address needs in their communities.

To support these efforts gifts can be made online through PDA.

“Living Well into the Future” is the topic of a Zoom presentation to be hosted this coming Tuesday evening by the Fourth Church Legacy Society.

Guest presenters will be Steve Keizer, Vice President for Ministry Relations, Presbyterian Foundation, and Joe Tackett, Planning and Development Officer, Presbyterian Foundation. The program will include opportunity to learn about the variety of options that are available to make planned gifts to Fourth Presbyterian Church, Chicago Lights, or other nonprofit organizations.

7:00–8:30 p.m.

via Zoom

Register online to receive Zoom details. For more information, email Stuart Jamieson.

Following worship next Sunday, September 27 we will have a virtual congregational meeting online at www.bit.ly/fpcprograms.

During the meeting, we will ratify the Session’s action in May to dissolve the pastoral relationship between Fourth Church and Vicky Curtiss, who retired on May 31.

We will also receive and act on the recommendation to elect Joe Morrow as Associate Pastor for Evangelism and Community Engagement.

This recommendation comes from the Associate Pastor Nominating Committee (APNC) elected in 2019 for the purpose of identifying and recommending a candidate for that newly defined Associate Pastor position.

That APNC—Ken Gaines; Elizabeth Hurley; Jared Light; Brian Satre, chair; Linnea Schramm; Kashane Taylor; and Jessica Wang—conducted a national search, reviewed applications, identified final candidates, and, after conversations with the final candidates, unanimously recommend Joe Morrow for this role.

We hope that you will join us online on September 27 as we take these important actions as part of our shared ministry together!

12:15 p.m.

Online at www.bit.ly/fpcprograms

To listen to the meeting, dial 888.916.9166

Mark your calendar and plan to join us—along with your pets!—via Zoom on Sunday afternoon, October 4 for our annual Blessing of the Animals.

This year we will do so virtually, as we gather online with our animal friends to thank God for the gift of special creatures in our lives.

3:00 p.m.

Via Zoom

For the Zoom details, register at www.bit.ly/animalblessing20

We are grateful to all who have made gifts in support of our mission and ministry this year. Thank you! This monthly generosity report summarizes those contributions to Fourth Church as of August 31, 2020.

Died September 12, 2020

Died August 31, 2020