CONTENTS
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Tonight: An Art Opening Reception
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Yesterday we installed a new art exhibition in the Loggia: "Scratchings of a Madwoman: Personal Stories and Colored-Pencil Drawings Illustrating Intimacy with God."
This evening, between 6:00 and 8:00 p.m., you are invited to come meet the artist behind these exquisite colored-pencil drawings, Rhonda Nass. She will be with us to talk about the stories behind and within the images on display and also to demonstrate her colored-pencil technique developed over decades as a professional artist and instructor.
Join us for a time of refreshments, conversation, and exploration of art!
Time:
Friday, April 21
Place:
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Get Your Stock Certificates During Coffee Hour
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Invest in our youth's summer mission trips to Cuba, Montreat, and Detroit! Become a shareholder in their ventures--and the proud owner of stock.
Shares will be available in Coffee Hour only this Sunday, April 23 and the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend.
All shareholders will receive a stock certificate and an invitation to attend the August 13 shareholders meeting, at which they will hear reports on all that the youth learn and experience on their mission trips.
This Sunday stop by the youth table at Coffee Hour and show your support for the mission work the youth will be doing this summer!
Time:
Sundays, April 23 and May 28
During Coffee Hour
Place:
Anderson Hall
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Recycling to Care for Creation
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In observance of Earth Day, which is this Saturday, the Care of Creation Committee will be collecting old tennis shoes during Coffee Hour this Sunday.
These shoes will be recycled and used in making surfaces for playgrounds and athletic fields.
So check your closets for those old tennis shoes you're no longer wearing and bring them to church on Sunday!
Time:
Sunday, April 23
During Coffee Hour
Place:
Anderson Hall
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A Documentary on Climate Change
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Also in celebration of Earth Day, the Care of Creation Committee will be hosting a screening this Sunday of Before the Flood, a documentary about the challenges of climate change.
This ninety-minute film provides an account of the dramatic changes now occurring around the world due to climate change, as well as the actions we as individuals and a society can take to prevent the disruption of life on our planet.
Come learn about ways that we can care for God's amazing, life-sustaining creation.
Time:
Sunday, April 23
12:15 p.m.
Place:
Room 4F
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A 2018 Trip to South Africa
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Information about a Musical Visit Next Summer
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Last year Fourth Church singers and fellow travelers journeyed to England and Scotland on a music trip, singing in various churches along the way.
Next summer our music trip will take us to South Africa!
Anyone interested in taking part in this trip is encouraged to attend an information session on Thursday evening to learn more about the itinerary and plans. Come travel with us!
Time:
Thursday, April 27
7:00 p.m.
Place:
Buchanan Chapel
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A Screening of Two Documentaries
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Fourth Church will host the screening of two documentaries being shown as part of the Fourth Annual (In)Justice Film Festival, sponsored by Trinity UCC and the Interfaith Coalition Against Racism.
Both films--"Walk With Me" and "Faith in the Big House"--are related to ministry with those who are incarcerated.
Walk with Me tells the story of a unique church run by and for prisoners, ex-prisoners, and people of faith who want to be in solidarity with them. It starts with an ordained elder who is an ex-prisoner driving out to a prison to meet a church member who is getting out after twenty-one years inside. We meet two more formerly incarcerated church members and a longtime Presbyterian who has never been in prison. We see how people with radically different life experiences come together to worship, celebrate, support each other, work for social change together, and become friends.
Faith in the Big House explores the formulas used by Christian missionaries to convert inmates. At a maximum-security prison farm in Louisiana, a group of Christian evangelicals conduct a carefully scripted religious retreat. Five felons, labeled as misfits and handpicked by the warden, join other inmates in this "Encounter with Christ." Can a gang-banger, a self-styled theologian, a narcissistic rocker, a twitchy jock, and a former football phenomenon find redemption? Will the experience change these men? Can religion keep convicts from almost inevitably returning to lock-up? Prison ministry leaders, including the late Charles Colson, insist revivals and Bible studies radically reduce the number of inmates who are reincarcerated. Those of the secular persuasion doubt their findings, favoring traditional rehabilitation and guaranteed results. This film considers who should be in charge of re-entry programs such as vocational programs and drug counseling. Will it be the new armies of faith-based volunteers? Or will the transition back to society remain in secular hands? These screenings are free and open to the public. Time: Tuesday, April 25 6:30 p.m. Place: Buchanan Chapel
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Conversations about Racism
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Sign Up Now for May Discussions
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As we continue our congregational commitment to address issues of racism, we will be offering two important conversation opportunities in mid-May.
On Wednesday evening, May 17, Fourth Church will host one of the conversations about racial equity that are being sponsored citywide by the Chicago Community Trust. To take part in the conversation at Fourth Church on May 17 at 6:00 p.m. in Room 4G (there will be dinner), RSVP by Sunday, May 14 to Vicky Curtiss.
Then during the day on Thursday,
May 18, an "Introduction to Systemic Racism" training will be led by staff of Chicago Regional Organizing for Antiracism, which is a regional partner of Crossroads Antiracism Organizing and Training.
This training on May 18 will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. in Room 5G and
will provide an opportunity for us to develop common language, awareness, and framework with one another, which will help us have productive conversations about race, racism, and systemic racism.
The cost for this daylong May 18 training
is $25 per person. Please register with Anne Ellis by Friday, May 12. Space is limited, so register early!
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A Saturday of Cleaning and Gardening
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A Work Day at First Presbyterian Church
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It's once again time for our annual spring-cleaning visit to our sister congregation, the First Presbyterian Church of Chicago.
On May 6 we will be partnering with First Presbyterian Church to assist in gardening and cleanup at First Church's site in Woodlawn on the South Side of Chicago.
First Church was founded in Chicago in 1833 in response to an urgent need to address social and spiritual ills at the time.
It is First Church that eventually also founded our congregation!
If you can help with our cleaning-and-gardening day there on Saturday, May 6, please let Vicky Curtiss know.
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Worship This Week
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8:00 a.m.
Communion
Rocky Supinger,
Associate Pastor
9:30 and 11:00 a.m.
Shannon J. Kershner,
Pastor
4:00 p.m.
Jazz Communion
Abbi Heimach-Snipes,
Pastoral Resident
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Concerts at Fourth Church
All concerts are free unless ticket information is noted.
Friday, April 21, 2017
Camerata Chicago
7:30 p.m. in Buchanan Chapel
Tickets available at the door
Lakeside Singers
7:30 p.m. in the Sanctuary
Tickets available at the door
Friday, April 28, 2017
John W. W. Sherer, organist
(Organist and Director of Music at Fourth Church)
12:10 p.m. in the Sanctuary
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 details!
Current Volunteer Needs
Men are needed to serve as Shower Ministry attendants
on Tuesdays from 1:15 to 4:00 p.m., on a rotating schedule at the church.
Bread cutters
are needed to prepare Communion for the 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Sunday services.
Adult volunteers are needed for youth
ministry in 2017-2018. Sign up at www.bit.ly/2oapRbZ by Sunday, April 30.
Used tennis shoes
are being collected this Sunday during Coffee Hour for recycling into materials for playground surfaces and athletic fields.
Materials and funds for hygiene kits
for Presbyterian Disaster Assistance and Church World Services are being collected through May 14 during Coffee Hour and, during the week, at the reception desk.
To sign up for volunteer opportunities or to learn more about them, stop by Coffee Hour on Sunday morning or email Robert Crouch, Director of Volunteer Ministry.
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