Looking for ways to connect with the Fourth Church community and one another? On the church calendar you will find many opportunities to do so online (or, where noted, in person). 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).

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

In person and streamed from the Sanctuary on our YouTube channel: www.bit.ly/fpcvideos

in Buchanan Chapel

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

We have returned to having the front section of the Sanctuary set aside for those required to or choosing to practice social distancing. The remainder of the Sanctuary will be open seating. Seating for Jazz at Four is all socially distanced.

Beginning next Sunday, February 20 we will be streaming online via our YouTube channel only, the link for which is available above and on the home page of our website.

New “Rhythm and Word” videos are being released on Wednesday evenings during February. These fifteen-minute worship experiences, which weave together scripture, prayer, and music, are released on our YouTube channel (www.bit.ly/fpcvideos) on Wednesdays at 6:00 p.m. You can watch this week’s video below. To receive these videos by email, sign up online at www.bit.ly/rhythmandwordemail

This Sunday, February 13 we will conclude our sesquicentennial year with a festive service of worship at 10:00 a.m. John Buchanan, Pastor Emeritus, will preach that morning. We are honored to have Dr. Buchanan with us, to preach at Fourth Church for the first time since his retirement ten years ago.

We hope that you will join us in worship that day—whether online or in person—as we celebrate this congregation’s legacy and look toward our future!

Following the morning worship service this Sunday, we will gather for the Annual Meeting of the Congregation, which will be held both in person and online via Zoom.

As part of that meeting, the congregation will elect new officers. The recommended slate of officers that will be presented by the Nominating Committee is posted online and includes brief biographies.

The meeting will also include remarks reflecting on the previous year and looking ahead to the year to come.

All members are encouraged to attend the annual meeting in order to take part in this important activity in the life of Fourth Church!

11:15 a.m.

In the Sanctuary and also online via Zoom: www.bit.ly/fpcannualmeeting2022

Zoom Meeting ID: 813 0431 1127

Or to connect by phone: 1-312-626-6799, , 813 0431 1127#

Are you interested in singing with a choir at Fourth Church?

Many will be familiar with the Chancel Choir, which will be resuming rehearsals beginning this evening, Thursday, February 10 at 6:00 p.m. in Anderson Hall. Directed by John Sherer, this choir will be preparing music for Ash Wednesday, Maundy Thursday, and some upcoming morning services.

We are excited to be adding to that volunteer choral opportunity a new Fourth Church choir: the Gospel Choir, directed by Bryan Johnson.

Anyone interested in singing music of the gospel tradition is encouraged to join us for rehearsals, which will begin on Sunday, February 27 at 11:30 a.m. in Room 4F. This new choir will be preparing to sing in morning worship in March.

We are honored that Bryan Johnson will be directing the Gospel Choir. Bryan is currently the Executive Director of Music at the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. He has served as an in-school choral conductor with the Chicago Children’s Choir and represented the United Church of Christ on the core committee of the African American ecumenical hymn book compilation One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism.

In addition to his service at Trinity United Church of Christ and as choral director for the Evanston Children’s Choir, Bryan was the musical director for the United Church of Christ 2021 Synod. Born and raised in Chicago, he has family roots in Jamaica, Barbados, and Louisiana. We are delighted to welcome Bryan as part of the Fourth Church family.

If you are interested in singing in one or both of these choirs, please contact John Sherer. Also please note that all singers are required to show proof of COVID vaccination. 

Have you participated in a small group at Fourth Church or somewhere else? Why or why not?

What would interest you in a small group if you were to participate in one in 2022?

Whether or not you have participated in a Fourth Church small group, our Small Group Ministry team would appreciate it if you would take just a couple minutes to complete a brief survey to assist them in their planning: www.bit.ly/fpcsmallgroupsurvey22

If you would like to be part of one of our new Zoom Small Groups for Lent, please email Simon Crow.

These groups will start the week of February 27 and offer opportunity to connect with five to seven other people via Zoom for a time of fellowship, relationship building, and spiritual formation.

Come Alive!^® with Women at Fourth

Women at Fourth will be offering Come Alive!^® later this month. This seven-session small group program approaches wellness—starting with God’s love and joy in us—by integrating well-being into the daily rhythms of our life and connecting us with others. It makes focusing on well-being less about denying ourselves the things that we love (but are bad for us) and more about embracing all of the good and beauty that God places before us.

For details or to sign up for the series, contact Simon Crow.

10:00–11:15 a.m.

Via Zoom

The Spiritual Formation Council invites you to join them in traveling the “Path of Discipleship” during Lent.

This year’s six-part series will use the book Back to the Well: Women’s Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel by Frances Taylor Gench. Led by Nanette Sawyer and Joe Morrow, the series will take place via Zoom on Tuesdays at 6:00 p.m. beginning March 8. For the Zoom link, register at www.bit.ly/fpcpod2022

Prior to the “Path of Discipleship” series, Dr. Gench will join us via Zoom to talk about Back to the Well on Tuesday, February 22 at 7:00 p.m.

This one-evening program on the study of women’s encounters with Jesus in the Gospels will offer insights to interpretive issues that open new angles of vision upon these ancient stories. For the Zoom link for this author presentation on February 22, register at www.bit.ly/genchpfc222

Caring Ministries invites veterans in our church community to join Chaplain Mark Schimmelpfennig in exploring creating a group to meet periodically to give veterans and family members opportunity to share their experiences and concerns in a safe and confidential space. To learn more or join the initial Zoom gathering on Tuesday, February 22 at 6:00 p.m., contact Jeff Doane.

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 Jeff Doane, Parish Associate for Caring Ministries and Spiritual Formation, 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 would like to submit a prayer request to our Morning Prayer or Deacon Prayer Ministries, please email caringministries@fourthchurch.org

If you would like to alert pastoral staff to emerging pastoral care needs, please email caringministries@fourthchurch.org; 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.

In the Sanctuary, the front section is for those required to or choosing to practice social distancing. The remainder of the Sanctuary is open seating. Seating for Jazz at Four is all socially distanced.

We continue to require that everyone on the Fourth Church campus wear a mask, fully covering the nose and mouth, at all times. Anyone not wearing a mask fully covering their nose and mouth will be asked to leave, as we know that some people make the decision to worship with us in person—or participate in adult education classes—based on the knowledge that everyone will be fully masked. This is but one of the ways we continue to live out our commitment to value the health and safety of all.

Since everyone is masked throughout the service, the congregation is invited to sing.

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.

Our Sunday morning worship service is livestreamed at 10:00 a.m. (Central) via our YouTube channel (www.bit.ly/fpcvideos)

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

Beginning February 20 we will be streaming online via our YouTube channel only, the link for which is available on the home page of our website.

For those who do not have Internet access, we also make our livestreamed 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.

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