CONTENTS
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Sunday School, Youth Groups--and a Dunk Tank!
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It's time for Kickoff Sunday! This is the weekend our regular Sunday School and youth programming resumes--with lots of games and special activities included!
Sunday School classes start up again at 9:30 and 11:00 a.m. this Sunday, September 10. Youth will have a time of fellowship and bagels at 10:30 a.m. in the Bumpus Room and will then divide up for Junior High Youth Group, Confirmation, and Senior High Youth Group gatherings at 11:00 a.m.
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.
There will be family lunch afterwards, offering time for children, youth, and their parents to share in fellowship and fun with outdoor games and activities in the Michigan Avenue courtyard--including, of course, a dunk tank!
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Suzanne Morgan on Sacred Spaces
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Join Suzanne Morgan, founder of Sacred Space International, on a journey to the geographic and architectural origins of a dozen world religions as together we broaden and deepen our understanding of both Christianity and other traditions.
Along the way we will examine what the setting, design, and construction of sacred spaces can tell us about different faiths.
September 10: Ancient Traditions
September 17: Monotheistic Traditions
September 24: Dharmic Traditions
October 1: Modern Faiths
Time:
Sundays, September 10
11:00 a.m.
Place:
Room 5D
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Jeff Doane on the Language of Discipleship
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When we seek to express our commitment to follow Jesus as twenty-first century disciples, where do we turn? Certainly the scriptures come first. Then we turn to tradition. Confessions and creeds--statements of faith and belief--inform our words and our deeds.
"A Brief Statement of Faith," which we frequently use in our worship liturgy, was adopted a number of years after the merger of the southern and northern branches of the Presbyterian Church (USA) in 1983.
This confession expresses diverse images of God, specifies Jesus' earthly ministry more extensively, and includes particular challenges of the church's outreach and mission under the work of the Holy Spirit.
We will read and discuss the Statement as we seek to explore how these words and phrases shape our discipleship as individuals and as the faith community of Fourth Presbyterian Church.
Join Jeff Doane, Parish Associate for Older Adults, for this three-week exploration of a "language of discipleship."
Time:
Sundays, September 10-24
9:30 a.m.
Place:
Room 5D
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102 Tutors and 10,000 Snacks
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Can You Help Us Meet These Needs?
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This month we highlight two particular needs we have in supporting our work to serve our neighbors:
We need
10,000 individually packaged snacks by October 1.
These items--single servings of granola bars, chips, pretzels, and fruit cups--are added to the bag lunches served on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays by Fourth Church Meals Ministry and to the emergency snack packs given to guests of the Chicago Lights Elam Davies Social Service Center. Boxes of snack items can be dropped off during Coffee Hour on Sundays or, during the week, at the reception desk.
We also need 102 new tutors by October 2 to make it possible for us to welcome 400 students to Tutoring this autumn. These mentors, who are each paired with a Chicago Lights Tutoring student, volunteer one evening a week at the church, October through May. Information about tutoring and the upcoming one-session orientations are posted online.
Please help us continue to sustain our ministry of feeding those who are hungry and mentoring students living in under-resourced neighborhoods!
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Sing Vivaldi's "Gloria"
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An Invitation from the Choral Society
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Do you enjoy singing?
If so, the Fourth Church Choral Society invites you to join them in learning Bach's Magnificat, Vivaldi's Gloria, and Handel's Zadok the Priest in preparation for a November 10 concert with the Camerata Chicago Orchestra.
Rehearsals begin this coming Thursday, September 14, and all who are interested--whether from Fourth Church or the wider Chicago community--are welcome to join us in making music!
Time:
Thursdays, September 14 to November 9
7:00 p.m.
Place:
Buchanan Chapel
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Responding to Natural Disasters
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Making Gifts to Disaster Relief
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To all who have made gifts in the past week to our Disaster Relief Offering, thank you! Your generosity has resulted in our receiving $21,183 of contributions so far to support the work of Presbyterian Disaster Assistance.
If you would still like to make a gift to help meet the emergency needs of those affected by the recent natural disasters, you can make a gift online at our website by clicking on "To Make a Gift" at the top left of the page and from there selecting the "Disaster Relief" fund.
You can also give by texting "fourthchurch" to 73256 (standard text messaging rates may apply).
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Welcome, Alex Wirth!
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Our New Minister for Evangelism
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Please join us this Sunday in welcoming Alex Wirth to Fourth Church!
For the next two years Alex will be serving as our Minister for Evangelism and as the primary pastoral presence at our weekly Jazz at Four Communion service.
At the end of Alex's time with us, we will search for an Associate Pastor for Evangelism. Intentionally, Alex will not be eligible to be called to that Associate Pastor role: this will give him more flexibility over the next two years to help us think creatively about how we might configure that position going forward and about what it means to be a member of Fourth Church.
Alex--who comes to us from Lakeview Presbyterian Church and is also the son and husband of Presbyterian pastors--is excited about this opportunity, as are we!
Welcome, Alex!
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Extending Hospitality Next Sunday
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Living Out Our Call to Offer Respite
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One of the ways we at Fourth Church live out our call to love and serve is by opening our doors as a place of sanctuary and respite. This welcome happens often during the week; next Sunday, September 17, you will see it in action, as we use Borwell Dining Room (which would otherwise be unused that morning) to extend hospitality to a film crew working in the neighborhood and looking for a place for their workers to have space to wait and rest. Please join us next Sunday in being a welcoming presence for those in our community.
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Worship This Week
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Sunday, September 10, 2017
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8:00 a.m.
Communion
Judith L. Watt,
Associate Pastor
9:30 a.m. and 11:00 a.m.
Baptisms
Shannon J. Kershner,
Pastor
4:00 p.m.
Jazz Communion
Nanette Sawyer,
Minister for Congregational Life
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Passages
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Marriages
Chelsey Lyn Stegmaier and Scott Alexander Luvin
August 26, 2017
Deaths
Sonja H. Bowen
Died August 31, 2017
A memorial service will be held Thursday, September 14 at 2:30 p.m. in the Sanctuary.
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Concerts at Fourth Church
All concerts are free unless ticket information is noted.
Friday, September 15
Thomas E. Gouwens, organist
12:10 p.m. in the Sanctuary
Friday, September 22
John W. W. Sherer, organist
12:10 p.m. in the Sanctuary
Friday, September 29
Kateri Gormley, soprano
Jason Weisinger, tenor
Brian Locke, piano
12:10 p.m. in Buchanan Chapel
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 just some of the details!
Current Volunteer Needs
Individuals to staff the Book Nook during the 12:00 noon Sunday Coffee Hour
Greeters for Jazz at Four, the 4:00 p.m. communion service on Sundays in the Sanctuary
Sunday School teachers for 11:00 a.m. classes
Unless otherwise noted, to sign up for volunteer opportunities or to learn more about them--as well as additional volunteer opportunities--stop by Coffee Hour on Sunday morning or email Robert Crouch, Director of Volunteer Ministry.
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