Looking for ways to connect with the Fourth Church community and one another? On the church calendar you will find many opportunities to do so online (or, where noted, in person). Included among them are—
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Men’s Bible Study on Tuesday mornings
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The St. Olaf Choir in concert this coming Tuesday evening, May 31 in the Sanctuary; tickets required for this in-person-only event
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Horizons Bible Study for women, offered at both noon and in the evening, on Wednesday, June 8
For information about whom to contact for an event’s Zoom details or the link to register for an event, 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 highlights about some additional opportunities, keep reading!
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Seventh Sunday of Easter, May 29
10:00 a.m. worship in person and online
Nancy Benson-Nicol preaching
Audio available by phone (toll free) by calling 888.916.9166
Due to the increased COVID risk level in Chicago, and consistent with the advice of city health officials, we are recommending, though not requiring, that individuals wear masks during worship and elsewhere on the Fourth Church campus.
4:00 p.m. Jazz at Four worship in person
with Communion
in Buchanan Chapel
Nancy Benson-Nicol preaching
Looking Ahead to Next Sunday, June 5
We will welcome Amantha Barbee, Senior Pastor of Oakhurst Presbyterian Church in Decatur, Georgia, as our guest preacher next Sunday morning, June 5.
A leader in the PC(USA), Amantha Barbee sits on the Board of Trustees for Montreat Conference Center as well as the Strategy Team for NEXT Church and is the chairperson of the PC(USA) General Assembly Committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Relations. She holds a Master of Divinity from Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond, Virginia, where she earned the E.T. George Award for Excellence in Homiletics and Worship.
We hope you will mark June 5 on your calendar and plan to join us, whether in person or online, for worship with Amantha Barbee!
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Fourth Church offers a variety of ways to connect with one another and this community of faith. Here are just some of those opportunities!
Benevolent Guild
Benevolent Guild—which has counted among its projects making stuffed animals and taggies for children in the hospital—meets in person this Wednesday morning, June 1 at 10:00 a.m. in Room 5B. If you plan to attend, please email Simon Crow.
TwentiesThirties
To help evaluate how Fourth Church can strengthen ministry by, with, and for young adults, we are asking that those age eighteen to forty please fill out a survey at www.bit.ly/yasurvey522 by Friday, June 3.
Young adults are also invited to take part in “Life Together: A Small Group Series on Relationships.” This online opportunity, led by Joe Morrow, will meet on Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m. on June 1, 8, and 15, offering opportunity to explore how we choose our friends and romantic partners, how we receive the joys and grief that come from being part of families, and how we get to know our neighbors in ways that model care and respect. For details, email Katie Patterson.
Cornerstones
Cornerstones, a group for adults fifty and over, will meet via Zoom on Friday evening, June 3 for fellowship and a video interview with Morgan Simmons recorded by Hope Daniels and Joe Morrow, who visited Morgan at his home to reflect on his tenure as Fourth Church Organist and Music Director. For details, register at www.bit.ly/cornerstones622
Women at Fourth
Women at Fourth will gather in person on Thursday, June 23 at 5:30 p.m. for “Paint and Sip,” a time of fellowship as well as instruction in creating individual paintings. Register at www.bit.ly/waf62022 (space is limited).
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Looking for some weekend reading? Here’s what’s up next for our book discussions.
First Tuesday Book Club
In her new book, Fortune: How Race Broke My Family and the World—and How to Repair It All, Christian activist Lisa Sharon Harper recovers the beauty of her heritage, exposes the brokenness that race has wrought in America, and casts a vision for collective repair.
Fortune helps readers understand how America was built upon systems and structures that blessed some and cursed others, allowing Americans of European descent to benefit from the colonization, genocide, enslavement, rape, and exploitation of people of color.
Join us as we welcome Ms. Harper for an evening of provocative and insightful discussion.
Tuesday, June 7, 2022
7:00 p.m. via Zoom
Books by Women
Books by Women will meet via Zoom in June to discuss Girl, Woman, Other by Bernadine Evaristo.
Winner of the Booker Prize, this novel offers what has been described as a “magnificent portrayal of the intersections of identity and a moving and hopeful story of an interconnected group of Black British women that paints a vivid portrait of the state of contemporary Britain and looks back to the legacy of Britain’s colonial history in Africa and the Caribbean.”
Tuesday, June 14
6:00 p.m. via Zoom
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For anyone interested in becoming a member of Fourth Church, our next Inquirers’ Class will be held in person next Sunday, June 5.
For additional information about Fourth Church membership, please contact Joe Morrow, Associate Pastor for Evangelism and Community Engagement.
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Those graduating from eighth grade, high school, college, or a graduate or professional program in 2022 are asked to email their names to Rocky Supinger no later than Sunday, June 19.
Graduate names received by June 19 will appear in the worship bulletin on June 26, which is Baccalaureate Sunday at Fourth Church.
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Several of our ministries are in need of volunteers to make the work of our congregation and Chicago Lights possible.
Might you have the time to help?
Sanctuary Hosts
As we look to open the Sanctuary on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday afternoons for those seeking a place of respite and prayer as well as those curious to learn more about Fourth Church, we are in need of Sanctuary hosts (five to six per afternoon) to commit to being a welcoming presence. If you can help make this opening possible by volunteering, please contact Tiffany Holmes or sign up for “Sanctuary Opening” via VOMO at www.bit.ly/fpcvolunteers
Social Service Center Food Pantry
The Chicago Lights Social Service Center is seeking volunteers to unload food trucks on the second and fourth Monday every month. Volunteers are needed from 8:00 to 10:00 a.m. to transfer food from the Greater Chicago Food Depository truck onto food pantry shelves. If you can lend a hand, please sign up via Vomo or email Jill Keiser.
Refugee Families
Our World Mission and Social Justice Council is recruiting volunteers to assist sponsored refugee families coming from conflict areas around the world. Also needed will be some items to help these families settle into a new home. Those who are interested in helping are asked to email refugeeproject@fourthchurch.org. |
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If you would like to join in praying for others—members of Fourth Church and those in need—we invite you to gather with us for Wednesday Morning Prayer at 9:30 a.m. via Zoom or at 10:00 a.m. in person in Buchanan Chapel. (The chapel is also open for opportunity to walk the labyrinth between 9:00 and 9:45 a.m. on Wednesdays and between 9:00 and 10:00 a.m. on Thursdays.) For Zoom details, email Nancy Benson-Nicol.
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 would like to alert pastoral staff to emerging pastoral care needs, please email caringministries@fourthchurch.org; however if the situation is an emergency or requires immediate attention, please call the church at 312.787.4570 to be connected to the Minister on Call.
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 Nancy Benson-Nicol, Associate Pastor for Caring Ministries and Spiritual Formation, 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.
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Mask Wearing Recommended
Although wearing a mask is not required at Fourth Church, we as a community have made a commitment to be a mask-welcoming campus, encouraging the wearing of masks by anyone who wants or needs to wear one.
With the COVID risk level in Chicago increased to “high,” we are going a step further to not just encourage but recommend (though not require) that individuals wear masks while on campus.
This is consistent with city health officials recommending that—in light of the “high risk” level—individuals wear masks indoors when they are not certain of the vaccination status of others present.
As a mask-welcoming—and now recommending—campus, we also remain committed to ensuring no one will feel out of place should they choose to wear a mask while at Fourth Church.
Since some populations are more vulnerable to COVID-19 than others, some programs on the Fourth Church campus choose to require masks. That is a decision that is made on a program-by-program basis.
We continue to have a socially distanced seating section at the front of the Sanctuary on the pulpit side. That section is reserved for those required to or choosing to practice social distancing, and everyone sitting in that section is required to wear a mask. The remainder of the Sanctuary is open seating.
Additionally, we are continuing our practice of 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 wear a mask and practice social distancing if they are not vaccinated against COVID-19.
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Campus Badges
As we return to more on-site programming, Fourth Church and Chicago Lights have implemented a new safety and security practice.
Anyone present on the Fourth Church campus is required to wear a campus badge while on site, except on Sundays and for other worship opportunities, concerts, and Meals Ministry meals.
Anyone who does not already have a campus badge when they enter (except for those exceptions noted above) will be asked to pick up a single-day badge at the 126 E. Chestnut reception desk. Reusable badges are being issued by some programs with regular, ongoing weekly programming, such as Chancel Choir. These reusable badges are only available from the staff of those programs, not from the reception desk. Anyone who does not bring their reusable campus badge will be able to pick up a single-day badge.
To facilitate this process—as well as for safety and security reasons—all access to the building is through the 126 E. Chestnut entrance only, except on Sundays and for other worship opportunities, concerts, and Meals Ministry.
Our ongoing commitment to the safety and security of all on our campus undergirds this practice, which was been under discussion since prior to the pandemic. (Implementation was set aside while the campus was largely closed.)
The campus badges and single-entry access point were strongly encouraged by our safety and security consultants and advisors and are also consistent with practices at other large, spread-out, multi-use buildings with spaces and uses like ours. The badges enable us to know who is in the building throughout the day. (Previous unlimited access has at times resulted in unknown individuals hiding in corners of the campus.) The badges also ensure that should we ever have to evacuate the buildings, we will know who was on site and needs to be accounted for.
As a congregation, we value radical hospitality and welcome for all, and we believe an integral component of that is our care for the well-being of those who are present with us. This safety and security practice is but one expression of that. For those who will be joining us on site as programming on campus continues to expand, we look forward to seeing you!
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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
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