On the church calendar are many opportunities to connect online (or, where noted, in person) with the Fourth Church community and one another. 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 (which is easily accessible from the “Calendar” button in the upper left corner of our website).

For information about additional opportunities, keep reading!

The worship bulletin will be available to download and print on Friday

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

in Buchanan Chapel

The worship bulletin will be available to download and print on Friday

Directions and the easiest routes for getting to Fourth Church this Sunday, which is the day of the Chicago Marathon, are posted on the Fourth Church website.

For those choosing to worship with us in person, wearing masks fully covering nose and mouth is required of everyone on the Fourth Church campus, regardless of vaccination status. Those who are not vaccinated against COVID-19 are also required to practice social distancing.

The front section of the Sanctuary is for those required to or choosing to practice social distancing, with seating by households. The remainder of the Sanctuary is open seating, with masks required wherever one sits.

We are not checking vaccination status, but anyone coming on site certifies by doing so that (a) they do not currently have COVID-19; (b) they are not experiencing COVID symptoms; (c) they have no reason to quarantine; and (d) they will practice social distancing if they are not vaccinated against COVID-19.

Doors open a half hour before each service, and there is no congregational singing.

Read about all of the guidelines that are in place for in-person worship—as well as information about continued online opportunities—at www.fourthchurch.org/reopening

The service is also available online any time afterwards on YouTube.

For those who do not have Internet access, we also make our worship services 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.

Our Sunday services are available for viewing following the conclusion of worship and throughout the week at www.bit.ly/fpcvideos.

Worship and sermon podcasts are available via iTunes and Spotify, and you can sign up to receive the text of the weekly sermon by email.

If you would like to connect with five to seven other people via Zoom for a time of fellowship, relationship building, and spiritual formation, our next round of Zoom Small Groups will begin this coming week and will meet weekly for six weeks.

To sign up to participate or find out more about our small-group opportunities, please email Simon Crow.

Our 2022 stewardship campaign for Fourth Presbyterian Church and Chicago Lights is underway, giving us opportunity to celebrate the particular ways in which this faith community is committed to actively participating in God’s re-creating and reconciling work in this world.

“Called to Be a Church Alive,” our stewardship theme, is also an invitation to each one of us to join in that work through our financial support.

In the days ahead, please prayerfully consider the investment you will make in your Fourth Church family and its work in 2022 and make a pledge by Reformation Sunday, October 31, which is also Commitment Sunday. For details, contact Andrea Miller.

While many can recite statements of faith by memory or by rote, the true import of those statements and their place in the history of faith is a fascinating study. This Sunday Jeff Doane will lead us in exploring one of the earliest, the Apostles’ Creed: its history, its language, and its importance for what we believe.

Next February the class will resume with a study of the Brief Statement of Faith, one of the most recent statements from the Presbyterian church.

11:15 a.m. via Zoom

For Zoom details, register at www.bit.ly/creed1021

Next Sunday morning, John Buchanan and Tom Dozeman will begin teaching a three-week class on the Old Testament figure David: “Shepherd, Warrior, Monarch.” Join us for a lively discussion about the multifaceted life of David and his importance to our faith.

This class will meet in person in the Gratz Center and will also be recorded for viewing online later in the week. Masks are required at all times on the Fourth Church campus, regardless of vaccination status.

11:15 a.m. in the Gratz Center

Register for this in-person class at www.bit.ly/david1021

If you are interested in learning about opportunities to get involved through volunteering and leadership at Fourth Church, please join us online this evening for our final Reconnect Zoom gathering:

Thursday, October 7 (tonight!)

5:30 p.m. via Zoom at www.bit.ly/fpcgetconnected21

In conjunction with the policy for Fourth Church and Chicago Lights staff, effective next Friday, October 15, 2021, all Fourth Church volunteers serving in person must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

If you are volunteering this fall please send a copy of your vaccination certification to vaxproof@fourthchurch.org by October 15.

Your information will be received directly by our Human Resources Department and kept confidential, only being used to confirm your ability to volunteer with the church. Please direct questions to Robert Crouch.

Starting this Sunday, Meals Ministry will resume offering limited indoor dining—in addition to the continued to-go option—for Sunday Night Supper.

To make this happen weekly, we need additional assistance serving guests on Sundays. Can you help?

You can sign up to volunteer on Sundays or for other Meals Ministry programs using VOMO, our Volunteer Ministry sign-up platform.

Do you have time one evening a week to mentor a student through Chicago Lights Tutoring? For the fall term, which kicks off this coming Tuesday, October 12, Tutoring will take place online from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.

If you would like to be a tutor or learn more about this mentoring opportunity, please fill out the Tutoring Volunteer Application or contact Program Coordinator Mark Dennison.

Our summer “Rhythm and Word” videos captured a following not only within the congregation but also across the country.

So we are excited to share that yesterday we launched a new autumn series of “Rhythm and Word: Midweek Music and Prayer” videos. (If you missed it, you can watch it here.)

These fifteen-minute midweek worship experiences weave together scripture, prayer, and music offered by the Fourth Church Jazz Quartet, with a new video made available each Wednesday evening.

You can subscribe to our YouTube channel (www.bit.ly/fpcvideos) and watch the videos there or receive them by email (sign up at www.bit.ly/rhythmandwordemail).

We are marking our sesquicentennial anniversary in various ways this year and hope you will join us for the following!

On Sunday morning, October 24, we will welcome to the Fourth Church pulpit guest preacher Dr. Otis Moss III, who has been recognized as one of the “12 Most Effective Preachers in the English-Speaking World” by Baylor University’s Truett Seminary. We are honored that Dr. Moss, Senior Pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ, will be with us, as we continue to give thanks for the many treasured relationships Fourth Church has had with other congregations and community partners over the years.

Also during the 10:00 a.m. service on October 24 we will have the first live performance of “A New Heaven and a New Earth.” This anthem by Norwegian composer Kim André Arnesen, which was premiered virtually during online worship on February 14, was commissioned by Fourth Church in honor of the congregation’s 150th anniversary.

We also look forward to using for the first time that Sunday new Ordinary Time banners commissioned to celebrate our sesquicentennial.

10:00 a.m. worship in the Sanctuary

Also livestreamed at www.bit.ly/FPCworship

“Is the Church a Light in the City? Faith in the Twenty-First Century”

How is the church a productive citizen? What is the church’s responsibility to the community? What challenges lie right before us in 2021 and beyond?

At a November 9 Michigan Avenue Forum, Shannon Kershner; Pastor Emeritus John Buchanan; Felicia Davis, President and CEO of the Chicago Foundation for Women; and William Schweiker, Professor of Theological Ethics at the University of Chicago Divinity School, will explore these questions as they consider “Is the Church a Light in the City? Faith in the Twenty-First Century.”

7:00 p.m. in the Sanctuary

Also livestreamed at www.bit.ly/fpcprograms

“The Church in the City: The Next 150 Years” is a Saturday morning event that will provide opportunity to further explore the topics discussed at the November 9 Michigan Avenue Forum. Participants will gather in person to exchange ideas with leaders in the areas of arts and culture, caring for others, racial justice, and community.

After an introductory greeting from Shannon Kershner, two breakout sessions will be held, and after a break, a second pair of sessions will convene. Registration details will be forthcoming.

9:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.

in the Gratz Center

Meeting on the second Tuesday of the month, Books by Women invites all women to join them for online discussion whenever their schedules allow and the books are of interest to them. The topic of this Tuesday’s October conversation will be A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf.

6:00 p.m. via Zoom

For Zoom details, email Simon Crow

A forum for examining the ethical and social issues facing Christians today, the First Tuesday Book Club continues its autumn conversations in November with online discussion of A Gentle Answer: Our “Secret Weapon” in an Age of Us against Them by Scott Sauls

7:00 p.m. via Zoom

For Zoom details, email Lewis Hamer

For those interested in becoming members of Fourth Church, our next online Inquirers’ Class will be held next Sunday, October 17 via Zoom.

You can register for this one-session class at www.bit.ly/inquirersclass1021

For additional information about Fourth Church membership, please contact Joe Morrow.

For one-to-one spiritual and emotional support through life challenges, we encourage you to consider being paired with a Stephen Minister. To learn more about this resource, contact David Handley, Interim Minister for Caring Ministries, or leave a confidential message for a Stephen Minister at 312.573.3365.

To set up a time to talk or for more information about how the staff of the Replogle Center for Counseling and Well-Being can be a resource for you, call the Center at 312.787.2729, ext. 2260.

If you would like to talk to a pastor, please call the church (312.787.4570) and your request will be forwarded to someone on the pastoral staff.

Child of Angie and Kim Coderre

Married October 2, 2021

Married October 2, 2021

Married October 3, 2021

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