On the church calendar are many opportunities to connect online (or, where noted, in person) with the Fourth Church community and one another. Included among them are—

For information about whom to contact for an event’s Zoom details, simply click on the down “arrow” to the right of the event name in the calendar (which is easily accessible from the “Calendar” button in the upper left corner of our website).

For information about additional opportunities, keep reading!

The worship bulletin will be available to download and print on Friday

Streamed from the Sanctuary at www.bit.ly/FPCworship

in Buchanan Chapel

The worship bulletin will be available to download and print on Friday

During Sunday’s morning service we will hear the first live performance of “A New Heaven and a New Earth.” Commissioned by Fourth Church in honor of our 150th anniversary, this anthem by Norwegian composer Kim André Arnesen is based on Revelation 21:1–4. It was premiered virtually during our online service on February 14 and will be sung live in worship for the first time this weekend.

We will also be dedicating and using for the first time new Ordinary Time banners commissioned to celebrate our sesquicentennial. Designed by Ellie Cotey, they depict Chicago and its landscape and, with rays of radiating light, evoke this congregation’s call to be a light in the city.

For those choosing to worship with us in person, wearing masks is required of everyone on the Fourth Church campus, and those who are not vaccinated against COVID-19 are also required to practice social distancing. The front section of the Sanctuary is for those required to or choosing to practice social distancing, with seating by households.

We are not checking vaccination status, but anyone coming on site certifies by doing so that (a) they do not currently have COVID-19; (b) they are not experiencing COVID symptoms; (c) they have no reason to quarantine; and (d) they will practice social distancing if they are not vaccinated against COVID-19.

Doors open a half hour before each service, and there is no congregational singing.

Read about all of the guidelines that are in place for in-person worship—as well as information about continued online opportunities—at www.fourthchurch.org/reopening

The service is also available online any time afterwards on YouTube.

For those who do not have Internet access, we also make our worship services available to listen to via the phone. If you know of someone for whom this audio opportunity would be welcome, please encourage them to call 888.916.9166 (toll-free) at the time of the service.

Our Sunday services are available for viewing following the conclusion of worship and throughout the week at www.bit.ly/fpcvideos.

Worship and sermon podcasts are available via iTunes and Spotify, and you can sign up to receive the text of the weekly sermon by email.

In our sesquicentennial year, one of the relationships we celebrate is our ongoing friendship with the Reverend Dr. Otis Moss III and Trinity United Church of Christ, where Dr. Moss is Senior Pastor.

Thus we are particularly honored to have Dr. Moss as our guest preacher this Sunday morning. Recognized as one of the “12 Most Effective Preachers in the English-Speaking World” by Baylor University’s Truett Seminary, he has spent the last two decades practicing and preaching a Black theology that unapologetically calls attention to the problems of mass incarceration, environmental justice, and economic inequality.

With civil rights advocacy in his DNA, Dr. Moss has built his ministry on community advancement and social justice activism. He is committed to preaching a prophetic message of love and justice, which he believes are inseparable companions that form the foundation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and he is recognized for his creative Bible-based messages that reach across generations.

We are grateful for the opportunity to have Dr. Moss lead us in worship this weekend!

10:00 a.m. worship in the Sanctuary

Also livestreamed at www.bit.ly/FPCworship

“Is the Church a Light in the City? Faith in the Twenty-First Century”

How is the church a productive citizen?

What is the church’s responsibility to the community?

What challenges lie before us in 2021 and beyond?

What does the church need to address in the next 150 years?

A November 9 Michigan Avenue Forum will explore these questions, as notable church and community speakers join in looking at Fourth Church’s history as a citizen of Chicago.

Moderated by Lucy Forster-Smith, this panel discussion will bring together Shannon Kershner; Pastor Emeritus John Buchanan; Felicia Davis, President and CEO of the Chicago Foundation for Women; and William Schweiker, Professor of Theological Ethics at the University of Chicago Divinity School, for conversation about “Is the Church a Light in the City? Faith in the Twenty-First Century.”

7:00 p.m. in the Sanctuary

Also livestreamed at www.bit.ly/fpcprograms

We will continue the Michigan Avenue Forum conversation with curated in-depth, in-person conversations on Saturday morning, November 13, when we will gather in the Gratz Center for “The Church in the City: The Next 150 Years.”

This opportunity to further explore the topics discussed on Tuesday evening will invite participants to exchange ideas in conversations led by Fourth Church members and program partners focusing on arts and culture, community, racial justice and diversity, equity and inclusion, and well-being.

After an introductory greeting from Shannon Kershner, two breakout sessions will be held, and after a break, a second pair of sessions will convene. Registration details will be forthcoming. For more information, contact Lewis Hamer.

8:30–11:30 a.m.

in the Gratz Center

“Called to Be a Church Alive” is an invitation to each one of us to join in God’s re-creating and reconciling work in this world through our financial support.

In the days ahead, please prayerfully consider the investment you will make in your Fourth Church family and its work in 2022 and make a pledge by next Sunday, Reformation Sunday, October 31, which is also Commitment Sunday. For details, contact Andrea Miller.

This Sunday the adult education class “David: Shepherd, Warrior, Monarch” taught by John Buchanan and Tom Dozeman continues following the 10:00 a.m. service. Join us for a lively discussion about the multifaceted life of the Old Testament figure David and his importance to our faith.

This class meets in person in the Gratz Center and is being recorded for later viewing online.

11:15 a.m.

Borwell Dining Room

Register for this in-person class at www.bit.ly/david1021

As workplaces increasingly supply a sense of belonging and self-development that churches once did, it has become imperative to recognize, claim, and develop our unique vocational callings within that setting.

Join Lois Snavely in looking look at how to discern vocational calling in a secular workplace, what unique “ministerial” challenges we may face at work, and how to bring the church out into the world in the days, weeks, months, and years ahead.

11:15 a.m. via Zoom

Contact Lewis Hamer for details

11:15 a.m. in the Gratz Center

A forum for examining the ethical and social issues facing Christians today, the First Tuesday Book Club continues its autumn conversations in November with online discussion of A Gentle Answer: Our “Secret Weapon” in an Age of Us against Them by Scott Sauls

7:00 p.m. via Zoom

For Zoom details, register at www.bit.ly/firsttuesday1121

Meeting on the second Tuesday of the month, Books by Women invites all women to join them for online discussion whenever their schedules allow and the books are of interest to them. The topic of the November conversation will be Cher Ami and Major Whittlesey by Kathleen Rooney.

6:00 p.m. via Zoom

For Zoom details, email Simon Crow

Save the date and plan to join us on Friday evening, November 19 when we will celebrate the sixth anniversary of the dedication of the Andrew Pipe Organ and John Sherer’s twenty-fifth anniversary as Organist and Director of Music at Fourth Church.

To mark the occasion, organist Aaron David Miller will present a concert in the Sanctuary, which will also be livestreamed.

Included in the program will be the premier of “Sonata for a Sacred Space,” a composition by Aaron David Miller commissioned by the congregation in celebration of John Sherer’s twenty-five years of ministry at Fourth Church.

7:30 p.m. in the Sanctuary

and livestreamed at www.bit.ly/fpcprograms

If you missed this week’s “Rhythm and Word: Midweek Music and Prayer” video, you can watch it here:

These fifteen-minute midweek worship experiences weave together scripture, prayer, and music offered by the Fourth Church Jazz Quartet, with a new video made available each Wednesday evening.

You can also subscribe to our YouTube channel (www.bit.ly/fpcvideos) and watch the videos there or receive them by email (sign up at www.bit.ly/rhythmandwordemail).

For those interested in becoming members of Fourth Church, our next online Inquirers’ Class will be held Sunday, November 7 via Zoom.

You can register for this one-session class at www.bit.ly/inquirersclass1121

For additional information about Fourth Church membership, please contact Joe Morrow.

We are looking for additional volunteers to help Meals Ministry serve Sunday Night Supper. We have recently added a limited indoor dining option to our ongoing to-go meal, and staffing that requires more volunteers. Can you help?

You can sign up to volunteer on Sundays or for other Meals Ministry programs by using VOMO, our Volunteer Ministry sign-up platform.

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 David Handley, Interim Minister for Caring Ministries, 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.

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 know someone who would like to receive email updates from us but currently is not, please encourage them to add their email address to our distribution list by signing up at www.bit.ly/newsfromfpc