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

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.

Our “Reconnect, Renew, and Reawaken” Zoom gatherings are underway, highlighting different areas of opportunity at the church—areas in which you are invited to become engaged, get involved, and connect with one another.

If you are interested in learning more about opportunities in the following areas—or connecting with others who are—please join us online for as many of these Zoom information-and-connection gatherings as you like.

For more information, contact Simon Crow.

Thursday, September 16 (tonight!)

5:30 p.m. via Zoom

Tuesday, September 21

5:30 p.m. via Zoom

Thursday, September 23

5:30 p.m. via Zoom

Tuesday, September 28

5:30 p.m. via Zoom

Thursday, September 30

5:30 p.m. via Zoom

Tuesday, October 5

5:30 p.m. via Zoom

Thursday, October 7

5:30 p.m. via Zoom

Has it ever occurred to you that the ancient writings that are found in the writings to the early church some 2000 years ago land squarely in the lap of Fourth Church’s Nominating Committee?

In Ephesians, there are gifts that are bestowed on the community “to equip the saints [that’s you and me] for the work of ministry.” Some of those gifts are evangelists, apostles, prophets, teachers, pastors. And in his letter to the Corinthian Christians, Paul names spiritual gifts such as wisdom, knowledge, working of miracles, prophecy, discernment, and more. Yes, there is a range of gifts and leadership roles laid out for us as we order our life together.

So, what does this have to do with you?

Part of the work of the Nominating Committee is to receive suggestions of members whom you think possess gifts of leadership. Each year an elected group of Fourth Church members gathers to bring to the congregation a slate of nominees to lead us as a Christian community. But in order to do their job they rely on suggestions from the congregation.

And that is where your part comes in. It is incredibly important to open your heart and mind and spirit in an attentive mode. Yes, really paying attention to those around you in, say, a small group or adult education class or a TwentiesThirties gathering or serving a meal, and then with an open heart, consider the gifts with which another has been blessed.

Leaders may be the quiet but amazingly thoughtful person or the person who is wise beyond their years. Leaders may be those who attend to system-thinking as well as those who love the ever-pressing detail. A leader may be you!

As part of the body of Christ, each of us is called to contribute to the wondrous work that is before us. Whether you have joined Fourth Church a year ago or you’ve been a member for decades; whether you grew up in another Christian tradition or you are a lifelong Presbyterian, you are a precious child of God, and your gifts are needed!

Is God calling you or someone you know to be an officer? Listen—and then click here: www.bit.ly/nominating2022.

In conjunction with the policy for Fourth Church and Chicago Lights staff, effective 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.

Meals Ministry will resume offering limited indoor dining—in addition to the continued to-go option—for Sunday Night Supper starting on October 10.

To make this happen, we will 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. All volunteers will need to be fully vaccinated by October 15 to be able to participate. 

Do you have time one evening a week to mentor a student through Chicago Lights Tutoring? For the fall term, which kicks off on 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.

“What My Grandmothers Taught Me: Learning from the Women in Matthew’s Genealogy of Jesus” is this year’s theme for the Horizons Bible study for women. All women are invited to join us as we consider the lives of the women connected with Jesus in his life and ministry. Come share the family stories that helped shape Jesus, the stories of the women in his family tree.

This Bible study meets via Zoom on the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month at 12:00 p.m. For those who would prefer an evening Bible study, we are also forming a group that will meet at 6:30 p.m. on those same days.

Want to know more about the study? Join us via Zoom this coming Wednesday, September 22 at 12:00 p.m. when our guest speaker will be the Reverend Magdalena I. Garcia, pastor of Ravenswood Presbyterian Church and the author of the leader guide for this Horizons study.

For Zoom details, contact Simon Crow.

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 the week of October 11 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.

A forum for examining the ethical and social issues facing Christians today, the First Tuesday Book Club continues its autumn conversations in October with online discussion about Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life by Tish Harrison Warren on Tuesday, October 5 at 7:00 p.m. For Zoom details, email Lewis Hamer.

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. In October the topic of conversation will be A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf on Tuesday, October 12 at 6:00 p.m. For Zoom details, email Simon Crow.

Pianist Mio Nakamura returns to our Friday Noonday concert series along with trombonist Hugo Saavedra this Friday at 12:10 p.m.

Those who would like to join us in person are invited to do so, noting that all individuals are required to wear masks indoors for the entirety of their time on the Fourth Church campus.

For those who would prefer to join us online, we are also livestreaming the Friday concerts via www.bit.ly/fpcprograms, YouTube (www.bit.ly/fpcvideos), and Facebook, where they are also available to enjoy throughout the week.

12:10 p.m.

Featuring pianist Mio Nakamura and trombonist Hugo Saavedra

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.

If you know someone who would like to receive email 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