September has arrived, and Labor Day weekend is past, which means one thing at Fourth Church: it's time to kick off a new program year!
Lots of familiar activities and events are resuming in the days ahead--including several this weekend, as you'll read below. Come join us in connecting with your Fourth Church family as we grow deeper in our discipleship, nurture community, and reach out to love and serve our neighbors.
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With a new program year kicking off, we have a full
church calendar. What might you find there for this coming week? Among other things--
- New Center for Life and Learning classes for adults sixty and over, beginning Monday, September 10
- Books by Women, which will be discussing Victoria the Queen on Tuesday, September 11
- A one-session Chicago Lights New Tutor Orientation on Tuesday, September 11 and again on Wednesday, September 12 for those interested in volunteering to mentor a student one evening a week at the church
- A new men's discussion series on the Gospels, which kicks off on Wednesday, September 12
The calendar--
www.fourthchurch.org/calendar
--is easily accessible from the home page of our website, and from there you can see what is happening when and in what room, as well as click to
add the events you
’
re interested in to your own calendar.
When
registration
is involved (including payment of any registration fees), you can also
take care of all that online
, directly from a link in the calendar!
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Sunday, September 9
Our Jazz at Four service will be held in Buchanan Chapel this Sunday, as we will be welcoming Chicago Sinai Congregation to the Sanctuary that evening for their Rosh Hashanah Eve service, something we are honored to do each year.
8:00 a.m. Communion
Lucy Forster-Smith
9:30 a.m. with Baptisms
Shannon Kershner
11:00 a.m. with Baptisms
Shannon Kershner
4:00 p.m. Jazz Communion
Joe Morrow
in Buchanan Chapel
Looking Ahead: Blessing of the Animals
Mark
Saturday, October 6 on your calendars as the day we'll be holding a Blessing of the Animals service--pets welcome! We'll be gathering in the Michigan Avenue courtyard at 10:00 a.m. for a simple service of song, prayer, and story as we thank God for the special creatures in our lives.
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It's time for
Kickoff Sunday for our Children and Family programs
! This is the weekend our regular Sunday School classes resume--with lots of games and special activities included as part of our celebration!
Sunday School classes start
up again at 9:30 and 11:00 a.m. this Sunday, September 9 on the fourth floor of the Gratz Center. Throughout the morning there will also be opportunity for parents to learn more about
the Children and Family Ministry Program by stopping by the fourth-floor lobby area to enjoy donuts and coffee, gather information, and meet other parents.
Cherub, Children's, and Youth Choir rehearsals
also kick off this Sunday, with Cherub Choir (age 3-grade 1) at 9:00 a.m., Youth Choir (grades 6-12) at 10:00 a.m., and Children's Choir (grades 2-5) at 10:30 a.m., all in Room 4F.
(Note that Youth Choir does resume this Sunday but other youth programming will not kick off until next Sunday, September 16.)
This Sunday there will also be a
Children and Family Kickoff Party
at 12:00 p.m.,
which will include family lunch in Anderson Hall, offering time for children, youth, and their parents to share in fellowship and fun along with outdoor games and activities in the Michigan Avenue courtyard.
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The
Academy for Faith and Life adult education program begins a new season of classes this Sunday with two thought-provoking and engaging opportunities.
Back by popular demand,
John Buch
anan and Tom Dozeman
are again team-teaching a course, this time on "
In the Beginning: God and Humankind in Genesis."
It begins this Sunday, September 9 at 9:30 a.m. in Borwell Dining Room.
For the next four weeks John and Tom will guide us on an exploration of how the foundational stories of creation found in the first few chapters of Genesis continue to inspire our core identity and our moral vision as Christians in the twenty-first century.
At 11:00 a.m. this Sunday (and also for four weeks),
Richard Hoskins will be our instructor for
"Just and Unjust Wars," which will meet in Room 5E.
This course will survey the history of the just war tradition and examine the applicability of that tradition and of just war doctrine to recurrent issues of war and peace.
The following Sunday, September 16, we will welcome Mary Mikhael, of the National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon, who will give a one-session presentation at 12:15 p.m. on the
humanitarian crisis in Syria.
Looking farther ahead, the
Fourth Church Racial Equity Council invites you to join them for an important book discussion they are cohosting with Dharma Foundation on Sunday, September 30 at 1:00 p.m., when author, pastor, and civil rights activist Joseph Ellwanger will talk about his book
Strength for the Struggle.
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As you're out grocery shopping in the days ahead, please consider adding to your cart some extra snacks for the guests of our Meals Ministry Bag Lunch program.
We are kicking off a drive to collect
5,000 individually packaged snack items by October 1,
items that will be used to fill the lunch sacks distributed to guests each Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday noon in Anderson Hall.
Particularly needed are single servings of granola bars, chips, pretzels, fruit cups, and applesauce.
Donations (labeled "Meals Ministry") can be dropped off during Coffee Hour any Sunday this month or at the reception desk on weekdays and Saturday.
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Our free Friday Noonday Concerts, which have returned indoors for the season, will feature instrumental ensembles the next two weeks.
Friday, September 14 at 12:10 p.m.
In Buchanan Chapel
Credo Chicago (instrumental)
Friday, September 21 at 12:10 p.m.
In Buchanan Chapel
Constellation (bass clarinet, marimba, violin)
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Deaths
We give thanks to God for the gift of life eternal.
Allan Cox
Died August 28, 2018
A memorial service will be held on Friday, September 21 at 1:00 p.m. in the Sanctuary with a reception following in Anderson Hall.
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Fourth Presbyterian Church | 312.787.4570 | www.fourthchurch.org
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