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While we are not gathering in person this summer, there are many opportunities to connect online with the Fourth Church community and one another.

You will find these online opportunities posted on the church calendar, which is easily accessible from the “Calendar” button of our website (in the upper left corner). 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.

Matt Helms preaching

Worship bulletin to download and print in advance

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

If our 11:00 worship time does not fit your schedule, the service will be available for viewing throughout the week.

You can also subscribe to our worship and sermon podcasts available via iTunes and Spotify and sign up to receive the weekly sermon by email.

Do you miss connecting with people before and after worship?

If so, plan to join us online this Sunday following the postlude (around 12:00 p.m.) for the first of our experimental Coffee Hours via Zoom! Together we’ll learn to mix and mingle for a time of fellowship using the Zoom platform.

Stephen Ministers will be our Zoom hosts this week. In addition to time for sharing in conversation and greeting one another during Coffee Hour, for those who are interested there will also be opportunity to learn more about Stephen Ministry.

We hope you will mark your calendar and make note of the Zoom details. We look forward to seeing you in online Coffee Hour!

Following the postlude

(the link will also be posted on our website: www.fourthchurch.org)

Meeting ID: 963 5583 1751

Passcode: 631276

Phone: +13126266799,,96355831751# US (Chicago)

Another fellowship opportunity that is coming up is a virtual happy hour hosted by our LGBTQIA+ Widen Our Welcome group on Tuesday, August 11 at 7:00 p.m. If you’d like to connect with this group, please be in touch with Anne Ellis for the Zoom details for this gathering, which will last about a half hour.

Last month we had opportunity to hear the wonderful pianist Stu Mindeman perform during a Friday Noonday Concert by Juan Pastor.

This Friday Stu is back as the featured performer, a musical treat you won’t want to miss!

Next up on the concert schedule the following week will be an annual audience favorite: cabaret duo Beckie Menzie and Tom Michael on August 14.

Our online concerts are streamed each Friday at 12:10 p.m. at www.bit.ly/fpcprograms, where they are also available to enjoy throughout the week.

You are invited to an online Town Hall Meeting on Sunday, August 23 at 12:15 p.m., a time when staff and lay leaders will talk about our plans for the fall and the recent decisions made by the Session and Board of Trustees for our life together for the foreseeable future.

There will be time for questions and answers at the town hall. There will also be opportunity to hear more about the ways in which we will continue to serve those in need and build connections with one another—just one example of which is the online Coffee Hours with which we are experimenting this month!

So plan to join us for the virtual town hall!

Online at www.bit.ly/fpcprograms

In a time of great divisiveness and isolation, it’s vitally important to get to know each other and strengthen our connections.

So we invite you to join us and our Chicago Sinai neighbors for a Zoom conversation in which we will make new friends and deepen the bonds we already have.

We will gather online on August 19 to for this time of sharing our stories of life and faith in trying times. We hope you will join us!

via Zoom

Preregistration is required. Once you have registered, you will receive a confirmation email with the Zoom details. For additional information, please contact Anne Ellis.

The Nominating Committee would appreciate your help identifying candidates for the positions of Elder, Deacon, Trustee, and Nominating Committee and Chicago Lights Board members that will be open in 2021.

Please take a moment in the coming days to think of Fourth Church members who have demonstrated gifts for leadership and a commitment to the life and ministry of this congregation.

Then add their names—self-nominations are welcome!—to the Leadership Candidate Form online at www.bit.ly/nominating2020.

The Farmstand continues to be open on Fridays for your weekly produce shopping.

You can stop by the Chicago Lights Urban Farm (444 W. Chicago Ave.) between 1:00 and 5:00 p.m. on Fridays to stock up on fresh produce while supporting the community and the Farm, a program of Chicago Lights, our nonprofit community outreach arm.

Our “What We’re Doing” in 2020 video series continued last week with a look into what we’re up to in Children and Family Ministry.

If you missed it, you can watch it here. And keep your eye on your inbox for the next feature in this series!

Are you looking for healthy ways to cope with the stresses and anxiety, anger and frustration, grief and uncertainty that so many of us are experiencing?

The staff of our Replogle Center for Counseling and Well-Being is available to offer suggestions and support through phone appointments or teletherapy, whether for just a few sessions or on an ongoing basis.

To set up a time to talk or for more information about how the Center can be a resource for you, call the Center at 312.787.2729, ext. 2260.

Our Stephen Ministers are also available to be God’s listening presence during this season when many of us are struggling to sort things out.

If you would like to be in phone contact with one of our Stephen Ministers, who are trained in providing emotional and spiritual care, please leave a confidential message at 312.573.3365.

Additionally, 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.