Third Sunday of Advent, December 11

10:00 a.m. worship in person and online

Shannon J. Kershner preaching

The worship bulletin is available to download and print

In person and streamed from the Sanctuary on our YouTube channel: www.bit.ly/fpcvideos

Audio available by phone (toll free) by calling 888.916.9166

Nursery care is available on Sundays at 9:45 a.m. on the fourth floor of the Gratz Center.

4:00 p.m. Jazz at Four worship in person

with Communion

in Buchanan Chapel

Nancy Benson-Nicol preaching

The worship bulletin is available to download and print

6:30 p.m. Festival of Advent Lessons and Music

in the Sanctuary and livestreamed at www.bit.ly/fpcvideos

Led by our choirs and Matt Helms

The worship bulletin is available to download and print

This Sunday, December 11 is the last day to make a Christmas flowers gift in remembrance of loved ones and those who are special in your life. Contributions can be made in their name toward the purchase of the Christmas flowers, wreaths, and garlands that will decorate the Sanctuary and Buchanan Chapel this Advent and Christmas season.

A list of those remembered will be printed in the Christmas bulletin.

Contributions can be made online and must be received by this Sunday, December 11 in order for names to be included in the bulletin.

For more information, contact Gloria Vicente.

We hope you will join us this Sunday evening as gather in person and online for one of our beloved Advent traditions at Fourth Church, the Festival of Advent Lessons and Music. 

Once again we will hear the scripture readings of the season and hear and sing the music of Advent as we anticipate the birth of Jesus Christ.

After the service, Women at Fourth will be giving “Cookies and Cocoa to Go” bags to those attending.

Sunday, December 11

6:30 p.m.

in the Sanctuary and livestreamed at www.bit.ly/fpcvideos

In this season of gratitude and giving, we invite you to join us in making preparations to share Christmas joy with others.

Christmas Wishes

Women at Fourth continues to receive contributions for our Christmas Wishes project to provide gifts for Chicago Lights Tutoring students. To support this project we are collecting gift cards to Best Buy, Starbuck’s, McDonald’s, Uber, Target, and Amazon (giving a total of $25 worth of cards to each student).

Gift cards can be dropped off at the church reception desk to the attention of Simon Crow by this coming Monday, December 12. (Please designate the amount on the cards.)

Monetary contributions can also be made to support the purchase of a book for each student. Gifts can be made online at fourthchurch.org/give or by writing a check payable to Fourth Presbyterian Church with “Christmas Wishes” designated in the memo line.

Light Up a Life

The annual “Light Up a Life” offering extends mercy, kindness, and love to those who are most vulnerable. 

Gifts to this offering support the mission and outreach efforts of Fourth Church and Chicago Lights as they provide meals, clothing, encouragement, and extra support.

Gifts can be made to this offering by noting “Light Up a Life” in the Designation or Comments section when giving via the Fourth Church website (fourthchurch.org/give) 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.

The sounds of music continue to fill Fourth Church this season. If you are looking for a musical treat to add to your holiday celebrations, you can find a variety of in-person opportunities on our concert calendar!

A Festival of Advent Lessons and Music

Sunday, December 11

6:30 p.m. in the Sanctuary

The choirs of Fourth Church sing seasonal favorites during this evening worship service

Also livestreamed on our YouTube channel

Christmas with Tower Brass

Saturday, December 17

5:00 p.m. in the Sanctuary

A family-friendly Christmas concert including seasonal favorites from classics to jazz and a carol sing-along

No tickets required; suggested donation of $20 at the door

Also livestreamed on our YouTube channel

Christmas Cantata: Gloria by John Rutter

performed by the Morning Choir and Tower Brass

Sunday, December 18

10:00 a.m. worship service in the Sanctuary

Also livestreamed on our YouTube channel

Sounds Good! Choirs Winter Concert

Tuesday, December 20

2:00 p.m. in the Sanctuary

A program by the Chicago area’s largest and fastest-growing choral organization for older adults

A complete concert schedule, including free Friday Noonday Concerts

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

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

To watch the most recent video, click here (or on the image below).

Advent 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 at www.bit.ly/fpcdevotions or read them online on our website.

Fourth Church member Gretchen Wahl recently visited our partner church, the First Presbyterian-Reformed Church of Havana, Cuba. She also attended the Encuentro, a meeting of Cuban and US Presbyterian church leaders at the seminary in Matanzas, Cuba.

Gretchen will be sharing findings from her trip and updates on our church friends and partners in Havana next Sunday morning.

We will also discuss future partnership activities, including a trip to Havana in 2023.

Sunday, December 18

9:00 a.m. in Room 5E

in person and via Zoom

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 on Wednesday evening, December 21, 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 21

Labyrinth Walk

5:30–6:30 p.m.

Anderson Hall

“Longest Night” Service

6:30 p.m.

Buchanan Chapel (in person only)

Christmas Eve | Saturday, December 24

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 on our YouTube channel

Christmas Eve Lessons and Carols

10:00 p.m.

In person only

There will be no socially distanced seating on Christmas Eve; masks are always welcome!

There also will not be nursery care on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, or New Year’s Day. On those days, as on every Sunday, children are invited to be with their parents in worship.

Christmas Day | Sunday, December 25

Christmas Day Service

10:00 a.m.

In person and livestreamed on our YouTube channel

Socially distanced seating will be available at the front of the Sanctuary as there is each Sunday.

The Jazz at Four afternoon service will not be held on December 25 and January 1 but will return on Sunday, January 8.

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

This quiet 7:30 p.m. service in Buchanan Chapel 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

Saturday, December 31

7:30 p.m.

in Buchanan Chapel (in person only)

Meals Ministry

Fourth Church Meals Ministry is in need of volunteers to assist in preparing and serving meals for our neighbors who are hungry and food insecure.

To learn more or explore the various Meals Ministry volunteer needs, see our Volunteer Ministry platform, VOMO (www.bit.ly/fpcvolunteers).

Michigan Avenue Forum Planning

This autumn’s “The 1619 Project Revisited”—featuring Pulitzer Prize-winning author Nikole Hannah-Jones and local award-winning reporter Natalie Moore—was our most recent Fourth Church Michigan Avenue Forum. If you enjoy unique events like this that feature important religious and secular thinkers discussing current civic, ethical, and religious issues, we encourage you to consider joining the group planning future forums.

The Michigan Avenue Forum planning team is looking for individuals to help develop and deliver events that promote civic engagement within the church and the Chicagoland community. If you would like more information on this volunteer opportunity, please contact Lucy Forster-Smith.