CONTENTS
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Help Us Win a $64,000 Grant!
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Do you have fifteen seconds to change thousands of lives?
Your vote can help Chicago Lights move from second place to first place in the national competition to win a $64,000 grant as part of Opus Foundation's Third-Annual Gerry Rauenhorst Building Community Award.
The finalist with the most votes by Friday, April 14 at 3:00 p.m. will win the award--and voting couldn't be easier. Simply go to www.bit.ly/GRBCA and
- click on Chicago Lights once per device (e.g., vote via your home computer and your work computer, your smartphone, your tablet)
- share the www.bit.ly/GRBCA link with friends and ask them to vote too! (or look for Building Community posts to share from the Fourth Church and Chicago Lights pages on Facebook)
With your help we can secure this important funding for our Chicago Lights community outreach programs!
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An Information Session This Sunday
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Did you know there are more than 100,000 people in the United States waiting for a kidney transplant, among them people in our own city and congregation?
While most people know about registering to become an organ donor at the time of death, fewer people are aware of the opportunity to give the gift of life while living.
This Sunday, April 9 we'll have opportunity to learn more about the gift of living organ donation. Harvey Mysel, Founder and President of the Living Kidney Donor Network and also a kidney transplant recipient, will talk about the need for living donors of organs. There will also be opportunity to learn about the experiences of those who have donated a kidney to someone in need.
Come join us for a time of information sharing and light refreshments.
Time:
Sunday, April 9
12:45 p.m.
Place:
Room 5G
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Support Our Youth on Their Faith Journey
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Have you ever thought about joining high school students for a weekly youth group gathering? Going on a weekend retreat with junior high students? Helping to lead youth on a mission trip?
If so, our Youth Ministry staff would like to hear from you!
Visit
the youth leader volunteer page on our website
to find descriptions of youth volunteer opportunities for the 2017-2018 program year and to indicate your interest. We're collecting expressions of interest through Sunday, April 30.
For even more information or answers to questions, contact Rocky Supinger.
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Palm/Passion Sunday Worship
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This Sunday
, April 9, Palm/Passion Sunday worship services will be held at 8:00 (with Communion), 9:30, and 11:30 a.m., and 4:00 p.m. (with Communion), with Judy Watt preaching at 8:00 and Shannon Kershner preaching at 9:30, 11:30, and 4:00.
Please note that the third service of the morning will begin at 11:30 a.m.
One of Fourth Church's most beloved traditions will also take place during 9:30 and 11:30 worship this Sunday: the Palm/Passion Sunday processional of children entering the Sanctuary waving palms.
Children will gather in their Sunday School classrooms prior to each service; parents with infants and toddlers will meet in the Loggia at 9:25 and 11:25 a.m. They will all then process into the Sanctuary to begin our entrance into Holy Week.
As we begin our Holy Week journey this Palm/Passion Sunday, we hope you'll join us in singing "hosanna, loud hosannas"!
Time:
Sunday, April 9
8:00, 9:30, and 11:30 a.m.
4:00 p.m.
Place:
Sanctuary
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As Well as Communion at 12:10 p.m.
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Our journey to Easter Sunday continues on Maundy Thursday, April 13 with worship services at 12:10 and 7:30 p.m. in the Sanctuary. Both services will include Communion. Hardy Kim will preach at the 12:10 p.m. service, and Shannon Kershner will preside at 7:30 p.m.
The evening service will follow the ancient Office of Tenebrae (from the Latin for "shadows"). The service portrays the progression from light to darkness in the passion of Jesus, beginning with his abandonment on Thursday and concluding with his crucifixion. The service ends with the Sanctuary in complete darkness.
Time:
Thursday, April 13
12:10 and 7:30 p.m.
Place:
Sanctuary
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Good Friday Worship and Choral Service
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Good Friday worship opportunities on April 14 include a noonday service at 12:10 p.m., with Rocky Supinger preaching, and an evening choral service at 7:30 p.m., both in the Sanctuary. The Good Friday Choral Service will feature works by Allegri, Barber, and Whitacre, as sung by the Morning Choir.
A Good Friday program specially designed for children will take place at 5:30 p.m. in Buchanan Chapel. Children and their families will have the opportunity to attend a short worship service and then explore a variety of stations with activities, crafts, and readings loosely modeled after the Stations of the Cross.
Time:
Friday, April 14
12:10 p.m. Good Friday Service
5:30 p.m. Children's Program
7:30 p.m. Choral Service
Place:
Sanctuary (except for 5:30 p.m.)
Buchanan Chapel for Children's Program
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Kindling a Fire, Keeping Vigil
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The Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday
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The deeply moving Easter Vigil will be held on Saturday, April 15 at 8:00 p.m. This special service, an ancient tradition of the church, invites us into the story of salvation as we mark the conclusion of Lent and the dawning of Easter.
We will begin by kindling a fire in the Michigan Avenue courtyard and processing by candlelight into the darkened Sanctuary. As Easter draws near and the light of the Sanctuary increases, we will hear readings from scripture that cover the entire story of salvation, from creation through redemption, and join together in sacred song. The evening will culminate in a reaffirmation of our baptismal vows and the celebration of the Lord's Supper.
Worshipers are encouraged to bring bells to the service to joyfully ring in celebration of the resurrection.
Your heart, mind, and body will be engaged by this experiential celebration of the new life we are given in Christ. Please join us!
Time:
Saturday, April 15
8:00 p.m.
Place:
Beginning in the Michigan Avenue courtyard
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A Look Ahead to Easter
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Celebrating the Resurrection
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In celebration of the resurrection of the Lord, we will gather for a variety of Easter worship opportunities on Sunday, April 16: a sunrise service at Oak Street Beach, three Easter morning services in the Sanctuary, and afternoon Easter jazz worship with Communion in the Sanctuary.
The Easter sunrise service on Oak Street Beach begins at 6:30 a.m., with Hardy Kim preaching.
There will be three morning worship services in the Sanctuary at 8:00, 9:30, and 11:30 a.m., at which Shannon Kershner will be preaching.
The jazz service with Communion will be held at 4:00 p.m., with Nanette Sawyer preaching.
Please note that the last worship service of the morning begins at 11:30 a.m. on Easter in order to accommodate the number of worshipers that morning. Also please keep in mind that Sanctuary seating for all morning services fills quickly and early, and there may be possible delays in entering and exiting the parking garages as a result of increased traffic volume.
On Easter Sunday, nursery care for children under the age of five will be available on the first floor of the Gratz Center between 7:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m., and children five years of age through fifth grade are invited to participate in our 9:30 a.m. Easter children's program on the fourth floor of the Gratz Center, which will be followed by an Easter egg hunt on the fifth floor.
Time:
Sunday, April 16
6:30 a.m.
8:00, 9:30, and 11:30 a.m.
4:00 p.m.
Place:
Oak Street Beach for Sunrise Service
Sanctuary (except for 6:30 a.m.)
Gratz Center, fourth floor, for Children's Program
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An Invitation to Brunch
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An Easter Sunday Tradition
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Join Fourth Church members and friends for the annual Easter brunch at 12:30 p.m. next Sunday, April 16. The menu for the meal will include
sliced ham, crisp bacon, scrambled eggs, hash browns, fresh fruit, waffles and syrup, Danish, orange juice, coffee, tea, and milk.
All are invited for this special time of fellowship and celebration!
Time:
Sunday, April 16
12:30 p.m.
Place:
Borwell Dining Room
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Supporting One Great Hour of Sharing
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Since 1949, Presbyterians and millions of other Christians around the world have been receiving the One Great Hour of Sharing Offering as they seek to share God's love with people in need.
At Fourth Church, this annual offering, received during Lent and on Easter Sunday, supports Fourth Church Meals Ministry; Presbyterian Hunger, Self-Development of People, and Disaster Assistance programs; as well as the programs of Chicago Lights Tutoring and Elam Davies Social Service Center.
Gifts to this offering can be made by using the Lenten Offering envelopes that are available in the pew racks, or by noting "Lenten Offering" in the memo line of a check made payable to Fourth Presbyterian Church or made online.
The children of our congregation also support this offering through their Fish Banks. Throughout Lent, children have been putting coins in their Fish Banks, which they will bring forward this Sunday during the palm procession.
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Building Networks for Social Change
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Our World Mission and Social Justice Committee invites you to learn how to build networks for social change, identify issues and leaders, and advocate for justice.
Come take part in a one-day training session offered by the Community Renewal Society on Saturday, April 29 from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in Room 5G.
Registration is $10 to cover lunch, and the deadline to sign up is this Monday April 10. Register with
Vicky Curtiss (312.981.3598).
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Worship This Week
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Palm/Passion Sunday
April 9, 2017
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8:00 a.m. with Communion
Judith L. Watt, Associate Pastor, preaching
9:30 and 11:30 a.m. with New Members (11:30)
Shannon J. Kershner, Pastor, preaching
4:00 p.m. Jazz Service with Communion
Shannon J. Kershner, Pastor, preaching
Worship bulletins
for this coming Sunday are available online Friday afternoon at
www.fourthchurch.org/worship/this-week.html
"News and Opportunities"
is the weekly printed newsletter distributed with the Sunday bulletin and is available online Friday afternoon at
www.fourthchurch.org/news/2017/040917no.pdf
Sermons
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Passages
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We give thanks to God for the gift of life together.
Kacie A. Wikierak and George Dohrmann
March 25, 2017
Anne Nealon and Thomas Desmond
April 1, 2017
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Concerts at Fourth Church
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Friday Noonday concerts are free.
Friday, April 14, 2017
No Noonday concert on Good Friday
Friday, April 21, 2017
Menghua Lin, pianist
12:10 p.m. in Buchanan Chapel
Camerata Chicago
7:30 p.m. in Buchanan Chapel
Tickets available through Camerata Chicago
(use coupon code FPCC for a 40 percent discount)
Lakeside Singers
7:30 p.m. in the Sanctuary
Tickets available through Lakeside Singers
Friday, April 28, 2017
John W. W. Sherer, organist
(Organist and Director of Music at Fourth Church)
12:10 p.m. in the Sanctuary
A complete concert schedule is available online.
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Volunteer at Fourth Church
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There are several ways to get involved in the mission and ministry of Fourth Church. See below for details!
Current Volunteer Needs
Volunteers are needed to pass out cider to waiting worshipers prior to the 9:30 and 11:30 a.m. Easter Sunday services on April 16.
Hosts and servers are needed on Easter Sunday, April 16 from 11:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. to help with the congregational Easter Brunch.
Easter Sunday Night Supper volunteers are needed to cook (2:00 to 6:00 p.m.) and serve (3:30 to 6:00 p.m.) the Fourth Church Meals Ministry supper for our guests who are hungry and homeless.
Those interested in helping out on Easter Sunday, April 16 or curious to know about additional volunteer opportunities should email Robert Crouch, Director of Volunteer Ministry.
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