If you know someone who would like to receive 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
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Fourth Sunday of Easter, May 3
11:00 a.m. online
Shannon J. Kershner preaching
If the 11:00 time does not fit your schedule, the service will be available for viewing throughout the week.
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This Sunday is a time when we celebrate the countless contributions older adults make in the life of this congregation and in the larger community through the Center for Life and Learning. The first Sunday in May has been designated Older Adult Sunday by the Presbyterian Church (USA), and so on May 3 we join others around the country in giving thanks for the gift that older adults are to each one of us!
We are also invited to join the Presbyterian Older Adult Ministry Network (POAM) in celebrating Older Americans Week in our homes, our devotions, and our prayers. This week is part of a larger civic event, Older Americans Month, organized nationally each May by the Administration for Community Living (ACL).
As the Fourth Church Legacy Society writes, “When the ACL chose ‘Make Your Mark’ as the theme for 2020, the conversation about aging was different. There was a growing movement to reframe aging to better understand the full range of possibilities that exist in the last quarter of life. As noted in the POAM 2020 Handbook, ‘It is a challenge to move in a new direction, even as it is difficult to move from one’s home of many years. But Jesus calls us forward, into the future, even as we age. Jesus uses our past to prepare us for a new day.’
“Now COVID-19 may be setting us back, as daily reports on the pandemic paint ‘the elderly’ as vulnerable and frail. Perhaps this conversation is exposing a specter of ageism along with the real and present danger of the disease. While there is certainly a need for caution, there is also good reason to join the PCUSA in refocusing our vision on the work and contributions of the older adults in our midst.”
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Last Sunday we recognized the generous gifts of time and talent given by the nearly 2,000 volunteers who in 2019 filled some 3,000 volunteer positions.
During a Zoom gathering of those volunteers we shared this
four-minute video
celebrating the variety of ways in which Fourth Church members and friends make our shared mission and ministry possible. Thank you to all!
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Have you seen our photo throwbacks to
Easter lines over the years?
Or the ones of
aerial views of Easter sunrise at Oak Street Beach?
For these and ongoing glimpses into what we’re up to, be sure to follow us on
Instagram and
Facebook!
As you engage with us via these platforms, please know that
you are what makes our social media social! Your liking, commenting, sharing, and inviting is what connects us with others, expanding our reach and increasing our visibility. That in turn is how we together spread the word about what is going on at Fourth Church and Chicago Lights, build community, and extend hospitality and care, even while apart!
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Back by popular demand, Carlisle Wagner Sherer will be singing Broadway songs—accompanied by her father and our Organist and Director of Music, John Sherer—for this week’s livestreamed Friday Noonday concert.
Friday, May 1
12:10 p.m.
Carlisle Wagner Sherer singing songs of Broadway
Online at
www.bit.ly/fpcprograms (where you can also click on “Videos” to view the previous online performances)
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Looking for plant starts for your home garden?
Our Chicago Lights Urban Farm will be taking online orders for plant starts, with curbside pickup of the fulfilled orders one day only: Saturday, May 16 between 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. at the Farm (444 W. Chicago Ave.).
All proceeds will support the Urban Farm, which is dedicated to cultivating a thoughtful and engaged community of youth and adults through educational and economic opportunities, hands-on learning experiences, and access to fresh, local, and sustainably grown produce.
Ordering details will be available in the coming week. For more information, contact
Ben Jaffe.
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In this season when many of us are struggling to sort things out, Stephen Ministers are available to be God’s listening presence.
Trained in providing emotional and spiritual care, Stephen Ministers are here to help during this difficult time.
If you would like to be in phone contact with a Stephen Minister, please leave a confidential message at 312.573.3365.
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Our pastors, Deacons, Stephen Ministers, and other volunteers are available to connect with you by phone and email. As a connectional community committed to living out our care for one another and remaining together while apart, we very much want to hear from you!
Please let us know—
- if you have a prayer request. Dave Handley, our Interim Minister for Pastoral Care, is receiving these as part of our Morning Prayer and Deacon Prayer Ministries.
- if you would like to join us via Zoom for Morning Prayers on Wednesday mornings at 9:30 a.m., to pray for those in need, please contact Carol Allerton for the Zoom information.
- if you are a medical professional, please let our Pastoral Care Office know who you are so we can reach out and care for you as well in what we know are are difficult days for you.
- if you are—or someone you know is—in self-quarantine or feeling isolated, lonely, anxious, or sick, please contact our Pastoral Care Office so that we can reach out to you.
- 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 talk with a therapist in the Replogle Center for Counseling and Well-Being, you can schedule a teletherapy appointment by calling the Center at 312.787.2729, ext 2260.
- if you can help sew face masks for health care workers and other providers of essential services, please contact Nanette Sawyer.
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In this time of social distancing and our closed campus, we remain firmly committed to caring for the most vulnerable among us.
Fourth Church Meals Ministry is continuing to serve those in our community who are hungry. Staff and volunteers are outside in the Cloister handing out “to go” lunches on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays and “to go” meals for Sunday Night Supper. They are also handing out “to go” meals for Monday Night Supper at Catholic Charities. This enables us to distribute meals while also limiting lines and in-person gatherings.
How can you help? You will find online
lists of items we particularly need as we continue to feed our neighbors. These can be ordered and shipped directly to the church. You will also find, along with the list, information about making a financial gift to support this ministry for those in need.
The
Chicago Lights Social Service Center is also continuing to offer “curbside” emergency services on Tuesdays from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and Wednesdays through Fridays from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. These services include essential emergency clothing, hygiene items, and pre-assembled bags of food for those who have scheduled Food Pantry appointments
How can you help? While we cannot receive individual donations of canned goods, clothing, or hygiene items direct from households, you can order and have shipped to the church the items on our
emergency distribution list.
In particular need right now are the hygiene items:
- Toothpaste (travel-size)
- Toothbrushes
- Deodorant (travel-size)
- Shampoo (travel-size)
- Bars of soap or bodywash (travel-size)
- Razors
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