First Sunday in Lent, February 18

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

Tom Are Jr. preaching

Worship bulletin

11:00 a.m. worship in person

Tom Are Jr. preaching

Worship bulletin

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

The Gathering: Communion at 2:00

Nancy Benson-Nicol preaching

Worship bulletin

Lenten Candles

Each Sunday during Lent we will be extinguishing a candle at the front of the Sanctuary. Just as we lit candles on the Advent wreath to symbolize the light coming into the world through the birth of Christ, so now our extinguishing of candles points to the Lenten progression from light to the shadows of Good Friday and the crucifixion. 

Thank you to our youth who led us in worship last Sunday! It was a wonderful, inspiring morning, with sixth through eighth graders leading and preaching at the 9:30 a.m. service ...

... and senior high youth leading and preaching at 11:00 a.m.

If you were not with us on Sunday, we encourage you to watch the services, which are online on our YouTube channel: 9:30 service, 11:00 service, and also the 2:00 service, at which some of our morning preachers also shared their message.

Thank you to all who contributed to last Sunday’s Souper Bowl of Caring! Your generosity and the efforts of our youth to collect donations resulted in $1,443 and more than 100 food items for Fourth Church Meals Ministry and the Chicago Lights Social Service Center Food Pantry. 

This coming Tuesday we will embark on our Lenten pilgrimage Path of Discipleship, an opportunity to deepen our relationship with God while making meaningful connections with others.

Associate Pastors Nancy Benson-Nicol and Joe Morrow will be our guides for this dynamic way to learn more about the portrait of Jesus in the Gospels and to absorb firsthand experiences of pilgrimages through the Holy Land and other lands as we explore James Martin’s New York Times bestselling work Jesus: A Pilgrimage.

Over the course of this six-week series we will focus on a sampling of chapters of this marvelous and sweeping work, guiding us through Lent with both in-person and online experiences of discussion, spiritual practices, shared meals, special guests, and other activities.

Register today and plan to join our journey!

Tuesdays, February 20–March 26

6:30–8:00 p.m.

via Zoom weekly

and also in person on February 20 and March 26

Registration required

This summer we will set out on a walking pilgrimage along the Camino de Santiago in Spain, one of Christianity’s oldest and most popular pilgrimage routes.

Registration for this trip closes this coming Wednesday, February 21.

Pilgrimage is a spiritual practice that spans many faith traditions, one that can be a source of healing, a tool for discernment, and a foundation for spiritual renewal. This June 9–17 we look forward to taking an intergenerational group of members and friends of Fourth Church to Spain to experience this practice.

For six days, we will walk a portion of the Camino Portuguese, a relatively level route that can accommodate walkers with a wide range of experience and ability. Each day we will walk between eight to seventeen miles, stopping when necessary for rest, meals, and sightseeing and staying at simple but comfortable hostels or bed-and-breakfasts.

We will also have opportunities for excursions, worship at local churches, and daily time for devotion and reflection. Our destination will be the city of Santiago de Compostela, the legendary resting place of the apostle James the Elder.

If you are interested in learning more about this pilgrimage, contact Associate Pastor Joe Morrow. To sign up for the trip by the February 21 deadline, register here.

Neighborhood Entrepreneurship Lab

How might you use your professional skillset to be matched with business owners’ questions to help increase job opportunities in under-resourced Chicago communities?

This Sunday the Neighborhood Entrepreneurship Lab (NEL) will be with us to answer that question and highlight volunteer opportunities with NEL.

NEL provides training, mentoring, and grants to business owners on the South and West Sides of Chicago so more neighborhoods can prosper economically.

To supplement the mentors’ knowledge base, NEL needs Subject Matter Experts in areas such as accounting, law, logistics, tech, and more. By sharing your abilities online with an entrepreneur right from your home or office, you can make a world of difference in their success and create jobs in their neighborhood.

Sunday, February 18

11:00 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.

Room 5F

This year’s Chicago Lights Gala of Hope is less than two weeks away!

If have not yet reserved your tickets for this March 1 event at the Old Post Office, stop by Coffee Hour this Sunday or visit one.bidpal.net/galaofhope2024 today. The deadline for reserving tickets is Saturday, February 24.

This annual event supports the life-changing work of Chicago Lights, the nonprofit community outreach arm of Fourth Church, which includes the Tutoring and Summer Day, Urban Farm, and Social Service Center programs.

Come make a difference for these programs while enjoying a festive evening of dinner and dancing!

For more information, contact Caryn Blomquist.

Friday, March 1, 2024

6:00 p.m.

at the Old Post Office (433 W. Van Buren)

RSVP by February 24

A new Adult Education class begins this Sunday, February 18 with Jeff Doane leading us in an in-depth discussion of Jon Meacham’s book And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle.

Our conversation will focus in particular on how spirituality influenced Lincoln’s decision on Emancipation.

Participants will want to start reading this 421-page book (excluding the author’s notes) to prepare for the discussion.

Sundays, February 18 – March 3

11:00 a.m.

Borwell Dining Room (in person only)

Register here

The impact of dementia reverberates through countless lives, and it’s a reality that will touch even more families and caregivers in the future.

Next Sunday, February 25 join Women at Fourth as they welcome Jeannine Forrest, Ph.D., R.N., for the presentation “Dementia 101: Understanding Cognitive and Behavioral Changes, along with Effective Communication Strategies.”

With more than thirty-five years of clinical practice, education, and research in the field, Dr. Forrest brings a wealth of knowledge as a dementia educator, speaker, and private care consultant.

Dementia manifests in various forms, affecting individuals uniquely. Dr. Forrest’s insights will shed light on the complexities of dementia and offer strategies for improved communication with those affected.

Given the widespread impact of dementia, please don’t hesitate to share this opportunity with others who may benefit from the presentation.

Sunday, February 25

11:00 a.m.

Room 5G and via Zoom

Register here

The forty-day season of Lent invites us to thoughtfully take up the gifts of faith: worship, study, prayer, and service.

We encourage you to explore the variety of resources available to you for your Lenten journey, from the Path of Discipleship (see above) to daily devotions for your personal prayer and reflection to weekly Lenten Rhythm and Word.

Lenten Devotions

Offered as a resource for personal meditation and prayer, our daily Lenten devotions are written by Fourth Church members and staff. If you would like to receive them in your inbox each day during Lent, simply sign up at www.bit.ly/fpcdevotions or email devotions@fourthchurch.org.

Lenten Rhythm and Word

Also available for your reflection during the season is a Lenten “Rhythm and Word” video series led by Matt Helms and Rocky Supinger.

These brief online worship experiences (approximately ten minutes each) weave together scripture, prayer, and music and are released on our YouTube channel on Wednesdays at 6:00 p.m. To receive them by email, sign up online at www.bit.ly/rhythmandwordemail

If you have not already set aside a few moments for the video released on Ash Wednesday, you can watch it here:

We hope you will plan to join us on Monday evening, March 11 when we will welcome back to Fourth Church the Morehouse College Glee Club for a 7:30 p.m. concert in the Sanctuary.

We are honored to again host this musical group whose distinguished 113-year history includes among its many highlights singing at the funeral of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., performing for United States presidents, and taking part in the opening ceremonies of the Olympics.

You won’t want to miss this moving performance!

Monday, March 11

7:30 p.m.

in the Sanctuary

Suggested $20 freewill donation at the door

Youth Mission Trip Leaders

Volunteers are needed to serve as adult trip leaders for this summer’s youth mission trips.

• Senior High trip to Youngstown, New York (June 26–July 2)
• Junior High trip to St. Louis, Missouri (July 14–19)
• Montreat Youth Conference (July 27–August 3)

To apply to be a trip leader, complete the trip leader form online.

For details about the trips and youth registration, email Katie Patterson.

Meals Ministry Volunteers

Monday Night Supper is currently feeding 220 guests a week, an increase of 21 percent over 2022, and as a result has additional need for Meals Ministry volunteers to help with the meals.

If you can help, please sign up via VOMO.

Volunteer opportunities for other Meals Ministry programs are also listed there.

You can find more information about those programs and volunteer opportunities on the church website as well.

Our 154th Annual Meeting of the Congregation took place last Sunday, with hymn singing beforehand and to send us on our way. To all who suggested hymns, thank you!

Thank you as well to the Nominating Committee, who presented leadership candidates for Session, Deacons, Trustees, and the Nominating Committee and whom the congregation elected on Sunday. Thank you too to the newly elected, who have so generously offered their time and talent in service to this congregation!

We look forward to hearing from our Touring Choir about their trip to India, from which they return this weekend. Thank you to Fourth Church members Linda and Ken Vander Weele for this photo, taken when they were also in Delhi and were able to hear the choir in concert there.

We began our Lenten journey on Ash Wednesday, with two worship services in the Sanctuary and the opportunity for passersby to also receive the imposition of ashes. With this cross of ashes we were reminded of our human mortality — and the eternal life that is ours by God’s grace alone.

On Friday, February 9 we opened a new art exhibition, “The Boldness of Being: The Work of Natalie Jackson and Natasha Giles Somerville.” The art by these two African American women artists will be on display in the Loggia through Black History Month (February) and Women’s History Month (March).

Grief Groups

Grieving is a normal and important part of the human experience, which inevitably includes loss and suffering. Knowing we cannot escape loss, our Replogle Center for Counseling and Well-Being offers Grief Groups to help individuals grieve in a healthy, supported manner so they can move through the experience and into the rest of their life.

These groups meet for four weeks via Zoom. The next one will begin on March 13, with another group beginning May 15.

To learn more or to register for a group, please contact the group facilitator, Sharon Crawford-Tucker.

Conversation and Presence

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.

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, illnesses, hospitalizations, or deaths, please email Gloria Fleming, Assistant for Caring Ministries and Spiritual Formation; 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.

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.

Prayer

If you would like to submit a prayer request to our Morning Prayer or Deacon Prayer Ministries, please email Gloria Fleming or Nancy Benson-Nicol.

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 weekly at 9:30 a.m. via Zoom. On the first Wednesday of the month we also gather at 10:00 a.m. for in-person Morning Prayer in Buchanan Chapel. (Our next in-person Morning Prayer will be on March 6.) For Zoom details, email Nancy Benson-Nicol.

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 Sunday 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 is available (toll free) by calling 888.916.9166 just prior to the start of the service 9:30 service.