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!

and Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem

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

On this All Saints’ Sunday, we will have opportunity at the 4:00 p.m. service to light candles for loved ones as part of a ceremony of remembrance.

During the 10:00 a.m. service, members of the Morning Choir will sing Gabriel Fauré’s Requiem, about which the composer wrote, “It has been said that my Requiem does not express the fear of death, and someone has called it a lullaby of death.”

Beginning this Sunday, the Deacons will be praying in Stone Chapel with individuals who would like to offer prayers of praise or concern. The Deacons will be available for this time of prayer immediately following the 10:00 a.m. service.

Wearing masks is required of everyone on the Fourth Church campus. The front section of the Sanctuary is for those required to or choosing to practice social distancing. Since everyone is fully masked throughout the service, the congregation is invited to sing.

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.

To read about all of the guidelines that are in place for in-person worship, see 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.

Daylight Saving Time ends this Sunday, November 7.

So before going to bed Saturday night, be sure to set your clocks back an hour as we “fall back” and get an extra hour of sleep before Sunday worship.

This Sunday we remember and give thanks for the faithful who have gone before us, honoring departed loved ones as we celebrate All Saints’ Sunday.

As part of that observance, the names of the following Fourth Church members, who entered the Church Triumphant in the past year, will be read during worship.

Maripat Abbott

David Albertson

David L. Anderson

Bernard B. Blaauw

Judith K. Braskamp

Robert J. Darnall

Lois Ekstrand

Patricia Kay Felkins

Irene Ruth Gerrans

Ronald S. Horning

Martha M. Kayler

Charles Kerr

Amy Lynn Kleckner

Michael J. Patterson

Randy W. Patterson

Robert T. Pernau

Robert W. Rasmussen

Londa E. Robinson

Rosemary Schnell

George S. Tolley

Joan S. Wettstein

As we look ahead to All Saints’ Sunday, we remember all the saints who are now resting from their labors. Perhaps one of them left a legacy that touched your life—a beloved teacher, friend, or parent. Whatever the contribution, your life is different because of that “saint.”

Some legacies are spiritual gifts whose value cannot be measured in dollars and cents. We have an opportunity to leave that kind of legacy by “running the good race with perseverance.”

We can also leave a legacy by making a financial decision to impact future generations. All Saints’ Sunday is a day when we remember with gratitude those who have gone before us and in their planned giving remembered those who would follow them in ministry here at Fourth Church.

It is also an invitation to consider our own legacy and the ways in which our gifts can sustain this church’s ministries for generations to come.

The Legacy Society for Fourth Church and Chicago Lights encourages you to view their video message and then make your commitment though your will, trust, or IRA.

For information about how you can help ensure the future vitality of Fourth Church and Chicago Lights or become a member of the Legacy Society, please contact Katy Frey Bever.

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

What is the church’s responsibility to the community? What challenges lie before us in 2021 and beyond?

This Tuesday, November 9 Michigan Avenue Forum will explore these questions, as notable church and community speakers join in looking at Fourth Church’s history as a citizen of Chicago.

Moderated by Lucy Forster-Smith, this panel discussion will bring together Shannon Kershner; Pastor Emeritus John Buchanan; Felicia Davis Blakley, President and CEO of the Chicago Foundation for Women; and William Schweiker, Professor of Theological Ethics at the University of Chicago Divinity School, for conversation about “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

We will continue the Michigan Avenue Forum conversation with curated in-depth, in-person conversations on Saturday morning, November 13, when we will gather in the Gratz Center for “The Church in the City: The Next 150 Years.”

Participants will exchange ideas in conversations led by Fourth Church members and program partners focusing on arts and culture, community, racial justice and diversity, equity and inclusion, and well-being.

After an introductory greeting from Shannon Kershner, two breakout sessions will be held, and after a break, a second pair of sessions will convene. For more information, contact Lewis Hamer.

8:30–11:30 a.m.

in the Gratz Center

As workplaces increasingly supply a sense of belonging and self-development that churches once did, it has become imperative to recognize, claim, and develop our unique vocational callings within that setting.

This Sunday join Lois Snavely as she leads us in looking look at how to discern vocational calling in a secular workplace, what unique “ministerial” challenges we may face at work, and how to bring the church out into the world in the days, weeks, months, and years ahead.

11:15 a.m. via Zoom

For Zoom details, register at www.bit.ly/vocation1121

11:15 a.m. in the Gratz Center

To limit the aerosol spread while singing, we ask that all joining us in caroling wear a mask while doing so.

In the upcoming season of gratitude and giving, we invite you to join us in making preparations to share Christmas joy with those in need.

Again this year Women at Fourth is coordinating our Christmas Wishes efforts to provide gifts for Chicago Lights Tutoring students. This year each student will receive a gift card and a book.

To support the Christmas Wishes project, we are collecting gift cards to Target, Amazon, and Walmart. If you are dropping off gift cards at the church, please mark them as to the attention of Simon Crow and designate the amount on the card(s). (We are giving $30 worth of gift cards to each student.)

Due to current shipping delays, Women at Fourth is purchasing all the books that will be given to students but would appreciate monetary contributions to support the book purchases.

Monetary gifts can be made to Fourth Church, noting “Christmas Wishes” in the comments/memo line.

For more information, contact Simon Crow.

This coming Tuesday Books by Women invites all interested women to join them online for conversation about Cher Ami and Major Whittlesey by Kathleen Rooney.

6:00 p.m. via Zoom

For Zoom details, email Simon Crow

In December the online First Tuesday Book Club will discuss IRL: Finding Realness, Meaning, and Belonging in Our Digital Lives by Chris Stedman.

7:00 p.m. via Zoom

For Zoom details, email Lewis Hamer

Save the date and plan to join us on Friday evening, November 19 when we will celebrate the sixth anniversary of the dedication of the Andrew Pipe Organ and John Sherer’s twenty-fifth anniversary as Organist and Director of Music at Fourth Church.

To mark the occasion, organist Aaron David Miller will present a concert in the Sanctuary, which will also be livestreamed.

Included in the program will be the premier of “Sonata for a Sacred Space,” a composition by Aaron David Miller commissioned by the congregation in celebration of John Sherer’s twenty-five years of ministry at Fourth Church.

7:30 p.m. in the Sanctuary

and also livestreamed at www.bit.ly/fpcprograms

Matt Helms and Joe Morrow invite you to join them this month for our midweek worship videos, “Rhythm and Word,” a pause for spiritual reflection in the middle of the week. You can watch the newest worship video in this series here:

If you want to be reminded of these weekly video offerings, we invite you to subscribe to our YouTube channel (www.bit.ly/fpcvideos) or receive the videos by email by signing up at www.bit.ly/rhythmandwordemail.

For those interested in becoming members of Fourth Church, our online Inquirers’ Class will be held this Sunday, November 7 via Zoom.

You can register for this one-session class at www.bit.ly/inquirersclass1121

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.

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