Third Sunday of Advent, December 15

9:30 a.m. worship in person and online

with Christmas Cantata

Tom Are Jr. preaching

Worship bulletin

11:00 a.m. worship in person only

with Christmas Cantata

Tom Are Jr. preaching

Worship bulletin

2:00 p.m. worship in person and online

The Gathering: Communion at 2:00

Worship bulletin

Christmas Cantata

Each year, as we near Christmas, the Morning Choir sings a Christmas cantata during morning worship. This Sunday they will sing Christmas Cantata by Daniel Pinkham.

From 1958 to 2000, Daniel Pinkham was the organist of King’s Chapel in Boston, and for much of that time he also taught at Boston Conservatory and the New England Conservatory of Music. He wrote a wide range of music but is best known for his Christmas Cantata, written in 1957.

The piece is in three short movements and reflects Pinkham’s love of early music.

A memorable December tradition, the annual “Christmas with Tower Brass” concert features the wonderful music of the season, from classics to jazz arrangements to favorite Christmas carols!

This year’s concert, which will be held this Saturday in the Sanctuary, will also be livestreamed on YouTube, where it will be available for later viewing as well.

Saturday, December 16

5:00 p.m.

in the Sanctuary and livestreamed

No tickets required, but a $20 donation per person is suggested

For a complete schedule of concerts at Fourth Church, see www.fourthchurch.org/concerts

“Art and Faith of the Crèche:

The Collection of James and Emilia Govan”

The crèche, or nativity scene, came about in the thirteenth century when St. Francis of Assisi created a living nativity scene as part of a Christmas Eve mass.

Join us this Sunday morning as Loyola Museum of Art (LUMA) museum manager and curator Kyle Mathers enlightens us on the history of the crèche and the amazing James and Emilia Govan collection at LUMA that contains more than 500 crèches, representing more than 100 countries.

Sunday, December 17

11:00 a.m.

Borwell Dining Room and via Zoom

Register here for the Zoom link

For many, the celebration of Christmas is made difficult by feelings of loneliness, grief, alienation, and sadness, whether personal or collective.

Our “Longest Night” service, which will be hosted by our Stephen Ministers this coming Wednesday evening, December 20, recognizes and makes space for these feelings and challenges.

Those who would appreciate a time of reflection prior to the service are invited to walk the labyrinth in Anderson Hall. Spiritual Formation Council hosts will be on hand to offer guidance. 

Wednesday, December 20

Labyrinth Walk

5:30–6:30 p.m.

Anderson Hall

“Longest Night” Service

6:30 p.m.

Buchanan Chapel (in person only)

Feelings of grief over losses can be heightened at this time of year.

Expectations for the holidays can be different from the realities.

Such experiences need not be dealt with alone. Fourth Church’s Replogle Center for Counseling and Well-Being offers various resources and a supportive environment for reflecting on, exploring, and coping with such experiences.

To learn how the Replogle Center can help, including learning more about their teletherapy options, call the Center at 312.787.8425.

Sunday, December 24



Fourth Sunday of Advent Service

10:00 a.m.

in person and livestreamed

Please note that on Christmas Eve, we will have only one morning worship service, and it will be at 10:00 a.m. We will follow that same schedule of one service only, at 10:00 a.m., on the morning of New Year’s Eve as well.

Four Candlelit Christmas Eve Services

Christmas Eve Children’s Pageant

4:00 p.m.

in person only

Christmas Eve Family Service

6:00 p.m.

in person only

Christmas Eve Lessons and Carols

8:00 p.m.

in person and livestreamed

Christmas Eve Lessons and Carols

10:00 p.m.

in person only

Monday, December 25

Christmas Day Service

10:00 a.m.

in person only

For those looking for an online option on Christmas Day, we invite you to view the Christmas Eve service from the evening before or any of our past offerings available on YouTube.

We will also be sharing on YouTube a brief Christmas “Rhythm and Word” video time of scripture, music, and reflection that morning. 

Read more about Christmas Eve and Day at Fourth Church

In this season of giving, we invite you to join us in sharing Christmas joy with our neigbhors, our city, and the world through the annual “Light Up a Life” offering.

Gifts to this offering are given to

• Fourth Church programs that support our neighbors and congregation
• Chicago Lights, as it extends kindness and love to those who are most vulnerable
• Presbyterian Church (USA) Joy Offering
• Presbyterian Disaster Assistance

Contributions can be made by noting “Light Up a Life” in the Designation or Comments section when giving via the Fourth Church website or Venmo or by writing it on the memo line of a check made payable to Fourth Presbyterian Church.

Gifts can also be made using the “Light Up a Life” envelopes in the Sanctuary on Sundays.

At the turning of the year we will come together with neighbors and our friends from Holy Name Cathedral for our annual New Year’s Eve service in the style of Taizé.

This quiet 6:30 p.m. service offers moving music, space for prayer, and meditative pause for reflecting on the year past and looking ahead to the year to come.

New Year’s Eve

Sunday, December 31

6:30 p.m.

in the Sanctuary (in person only)

Our weekly Advent “Rhythm and Word” video series, which weaves together scripture, prayer, and music, offers a resource for your Advent prayer and reflection.

A new ten-minute video is released each Wednesday evening on YouTube; to receive them by email, subscribe at www.bit.ly/rhythmandwordemail 

To watch the second video of the series, — this week reflecting on God’s call for us to say “Yes” — click here (or on the image below).

Advent and Christmas devotions written by Fourth Church members and staff are also available as a resource for personal meditation and prayer.

To receive them daily by email, sign up online at www.bit.ly/fpcdevotions or read them online on our website.

From Fourth Church Meals Ministry:

We are grateful to all who contributed to our Holiday Gift Bags project! We will be handing out 275 bags this Sunday at Sunday Night Supper and another 200 bags at Monday Night Supper at Catholic Charities. 

Your response to our request was tremendous and was in the true nature of the Christmas spirit. We know that our guests will truly appreciate having these items in time for the holidays.

Thank you!

Looking to 2024, Meals Ministry could use your assistance in a variety of volunteer roles, with options on weekdays and Sundays. If you can help, please sign up via VOMO.

For more information about volunteering with Meals Ministry, contact Mike Usiak.

Currently on exhibition in the Loggia is “Light in the Darkness,” featuring the artwork of Jan Brandt and Amy Hanks, who last Friday spoke to those attending an exhibit opening.

Again this December we hosted Northwestern’s Kellogg Executive MBA Convocation Ceremony, which took place last Saturday, with the procession forming in Anderson Hall before making its way through the Loggia to the Sanctuary.

Our Sunday School students have been making angels this month, as we mark the angelic appearances throughout the Advent and Christmas stories.

Glorious music and scripture filled the Sanctuary last Sunday evening as we enjoyed a favorite Fourth Church tradition, the Festival of Advent Lessons and Music.

Beginning this coming Monday, the Fourth Church Sanctuary will be open on weekdays from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on those days when the church office is open.

We look forward to welcoming to our space our guests, neighbors, visitors, tourists, and any who seek a midday place of rest, prayer, and beauty.

Prayer

If you would like to submit a prayer request to our Morning Prayer or Deacon Prayer Ministries, please email caringministries@fourthchurch.org

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. For Zoom details, email Nancy Benson-Nicol. (Morning Prayer will be via Zoom only on Wednesday, December 27.)

Conversation and Presence

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.

To join a Grief Group facilitated by our Replogle Center, email Sharon Crawford-Tucker.

Children in Worship

Children are always welcome in worship at Fourth Church! If you need to step out to comfort your child, the Hospitality Suite, on the second floor of the Gratz Center, is a quiet space for families where worship is livestreamed.

During the morning services nursery care is available on the fourth floor of the Gratz Center for infants through two-year-olds.

Livestreamed Services

Livestreamed worship services (9:30 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.) are accessible by going to www.bit.ly/fpcvideos, subscribing to our YouTube channel, or clicking on the photo with a “Play” arrow on the home page of the Fourth Church website.

These livestreams are available to view anytime after the service begins if you would prefer to connect online at a later time. For tips on how to watch — from the beginning — a service already in progress, see www.fourthchurch.org/watch-from-the-beginning

Audio-only by phone for the 9:30 service is available (toll free) by calling 888.916.9166 just prior to 9:30.