Palm/Passion Sunday | March 24

One of Fourth Church’s most beloved traditions takes place during morning worship this Sunday: the Palm/Passion Sunday processional of children entering the Sanctuary waving palms.

If you will be worshiping with us online, we invite you to download, print, and color this palm to have on hand when we sing “all glory, laud, and honor” during the procession.

On this first day of Holy Week — the most important week on the Christian calendar — we celebrate with palms and loud hosannas Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem.

But the tone will quickly change, as shouts of “Hosanna!” give way to the cries of “Crucify him!” and we remember where this journey leads: to the cross of Good Friday.

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

with palm procession

Tom Are Jr. preaching

Worship bulletin

11:00 a.m. worship in person

with palm procession

Tom Are Jr. preaching

Worship bulletin

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

The Gathering: Communion at 2:00

Tom Are Jr. preaching

Worship bulletin

This weekend, our Sunday School children will be presenting their fish banks, in which they have saved their Lenten offerings.

You too can make your gift to our Lenten offering by using the envelopes in the pew racks or by designating “OGHS Lenten Offering” when giving at fourthchurch.org/give or via Venmo. You can also note that designation on the memo line of a check made payable to Fourth Presbyterian Church.

This year our Lenten One Great Hour of Sharing Offering supports

• Fourth Church Meals Ministry
• Chicago Lights Tutoring
• Chicago Lights Social Service Center
• Presbyterian Disaster Assistance
• Presbyterian Hunger Program
• Presbyterian Self-Development of People

Through the work of those six programs, your gifts touch the lives of those in need, respond to injustice, provide shelter, and feed the hungry, both here in our city and around the world.

Our Palm Sunday celebration will lead us into Jesus’ Passion and Holy Week, beginning with Maundy Thursday, which receives its name from the Latin mandatum novum do vobis, “A new commandment I give you.”

This new commandment, given by Jesus on the night he washed the disciples’ feet, was “to love one another just as I have loved you.” It is his example of — and our call to — love and service that we remember on Maundy Thursday.

It is also the day we commemorate the Last Supper.

Maundy Thursday | March 28

12:10 p.m. worship with Communion

with optional foot and handwashing as well

in person only

6:30 p.m. Tenebrae with Communion

in person and livestreamed

The evening service follows the ancient Office of Tenebrae (from the Latin for “shadows”).

It portrays the progression from light to darkness in the passion of Jesus, beginning with his abandonment on Thursday and concluding with his crucifixion. The service ends with the Sanctuary in complete darkness.

On this most solemn day of the church year, we gather for two Good Friday worship opportunities: a 12:10 p.m. service and a 6:30 p.m. service.

At 5:30 p.m. we also have a Good Friday Children’s Program in Buchanan Chapel, offering an opportunity to introduce children to Jesus’ death without overwhelming them with details.

Good Friday | March 29

12:10 p.m. Good Friday Service

in person only

5:30 p.m. Children’s Program

in Buchanan Chapel

in person only

6:30 p.m. Choral Service

in person and livestreamed

The evening service, which features the Morning Choir singing the choral work Stabat Mater by Francis Poulenc, concludes with the bells tolling thirty-three times — once for each year of Jesus’ life on earth.

At the last toll, the flickering Christ candle is extinguished, and we enter the solemn observance of the weekend.

Holy Saturday| March 30

7:00 p.m. Easter Vigil

in person only

An ancient tradition of the church, the Saturday evening Easter vigil invites us into the story of salvation as we mark the conclusion of Lent and the dawning of Easter.

Beginning in the Michigan Avenue courtyard, we will process by candlelight into the darkened Sanctuary.

There, together with our friends from First Presbyterian Church and Edgewater Presbyterian Church, we will hear readings from scripture that cover the story of salvation, from creation through redemption, and join together in sacred song.

We hope you will join us on Easter Sunday as we gather in festive celebration of the resurrection of the Lord!

Easter Sunday | March 31

6:30 a.m. Sunrise Service

at Oak Street Beach

in person only

9:30 a.m. Children’s Program

with children up through fifth grade enjoying a time of Bible story and crafts

in the Gratz Center

in person only

9:30 a.m. Easter Service

in person and livestreamed

11:30 a.m. Easter Service

in person only

Please note that to accommodate the number of worshipers, this second service in the Sanctuary starts a half hour later on Easter than on other Sundays.

2:00 p.m. The Gathering with Communion

in the Sanctuary

in person and livestreamed

Read more about Holy Week and Easter at fourthchurch.org/lent-easter

The first step in our search for a new pastor will be the election of a Pastor Nominating Committee (PNC) later this spring.

To help the Nominating Committee prepare a slate of recommended PNC candidates, the committee asks that you take a moment between now and April 7 to submit your suggestions of individuals to serve on the Pastor Nominating Committee.

You can complete online a form to indicate your willingness to be considered for the PNC or to recommend someone else.

Last Sunday the Nominating Committee held an in-person information session, with past members of a Pastor Nominating Committee talking about their experience. A Zoom session was then held on Tuesday. For additional information, visit fourthchurch.org/pnc or email the Nominating Committee.

There’s a lot going on at Fourth Church!

There is the formation of the Pastor Nominating Committee as well as the Long-Range Planning work, all in addition to worship services, classes, trips, concerts, gatherings, and more.

We want to make sure you feel connected to all of these initiatives and have all the latest information about them.

So we ask that you please take 1 minute to reply to a simple survey to let us know how you want to access the latest news and information from Fourth Church in the days ahead!

A Civil Rights Trail Pilgrimage to New Orleans, Jackson, Montgomery, and Birmingham is on our calendar for October 18–27.

Cosponsored by Fourth Church and the Community Presbyterian Church of Clarendon Hills, this curated journey will take travelers to locations central to our nation’s civil rights movement. 

This ten-day pilgrimage to the South — Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi — promises to deliver a deeper understanding of and insights into the historic movers and movements of the historic and ongoing civil rights struggles as travelers learn personal stories, visit museums and historical sites, and experience cultural immersion. 

Learn more, and download a trip brochure, on our website.

To join the pilgrimage, apply online.

Our most recent monthly activity for children, parents, and grandparents was the February Family Night Carnival, which brought bouncing fun to Anderson Hall!

Next week is our March gathering: the annual Good Friday Children’s Program at 5:30 p.m. in Buchanan Chapel.

At 6:00 sharp on Tuesday morning, almost an hour before sunrise, voters started arriving to cast their ballots in Borwell Dining Room for the Illinois primary. Both elections officers and voters who come to this polling place regularly express their appreciation for Fourth Church sharing its modern and accessible facility with the community.

The past two Sundays, parents of youth had opportunity to attend a symposium offered by the staff of the Sex Development Program and Division of Adolescent and Youth Adult Medicine of Lurie Children’s Hospital. Created and cofacilitated by high school students, it focused on how parents and trusted adults can navigate with teenagers and young adults difficult conversations on topics like sexual health, mental wellness, and substance use.

When St. Patrick’s Day falls on a Sunday, it means special treats at Fourth Church for people of all ages!

Also on Sunday, the visiting A Cappella Choir of Bowling Green (Ohio) State University delivered a powerful rendition of the African American spiritual “My Feets Is Tired.” 

Curious to discover more about this congregation, and the opportunities and resources available to you here, as well as learn about the Presbyterian Church (USA)?

Interested in becoming a member of Fourth Church?

Join us for one of our upcoming one-session Inquirers’ Classes.

Sunday, March 24

12:15 p.m. | Room 5F

Register here

Wednesday, April 10

6:30 p.m. | via zoom

Register here

For additional information about Fourth Church membership, visit our website or reach out to Matt Helms, Associate Pastor for Children, Family, and Welcoming Ministries, who would welcome hearing from you.

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.

Grief Groups facilitated by the Replogle Center for Counseling and Well-Being meet for four weeks via Zoom, with the next one beginning Wednesday, May 15. To learn more or register for a group, contact the group facilitator, Sharon Crawford-Tucker.

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.