Sunday, September 24

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

Lucy Forster-Smith preaching

Worship bulletin

11:00 a.m. worship in person only

Lucy Forster-Smith preaching

Worship bulletin

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

The Gathering: Communion at 2:00

Lucy Forster-Smith preaching

Worship bulletin

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 for the 9:30 service is available (toll free) by calling 888.916.9166 just prior to 9:30.

The Officer Nominating Committee is in need of your recommendations of individuals to serve in leadership positions opening in 2024 for Elder, Deacon, Trustee, Nominating Committee, and the Chicago Lights Board.

If you know any Fourth Church members — including yourself! — who have demonstrated gifts for leadership and ministry, please offer your recommendations via the online form at www.bit.ly/nominating2024 or by using the paper forms in the pew racks.

The committee would like to receive all nominations by next Sunday, October 1.

Survey Responses Requested

Those who volunteer with Fourth Church or Chicago Lights programs are asked to complete their “Volunteer Experience” survey by the end of today, Friday, September 22.

Tutors Needed

Tutors are needed on weekday evenings, beginning in October, to partner with Chicago Lights Tutoring students. For details or to sign up, see the Chicago Lights website

There is still time to join one of the new Zoom Small Groups that will be beginning next week.

The groups will have as their focus conversation one of the following

• faith journeys
• Otis Moss’s book Dancing in the Darkness: Spiritual Lessons for Thriving in Turbulent Times
• Daniel James Brown’s book Facing the Mountain
• C. S. Lewis’s book The Problem of Pain

If you would like to connect with five to seven other people via Zoom for a time of fellowship, relationship building, and spiritual formation while discussing the above — or simply want to learn more about our small-group opportunities — please email Simon Crow.

Next Sunday, October 1, World Communion Sunday, we will welcome as our guest preacher the Reverend Brian Ellison, who has served as the Executive Director of the Covenant Network since 2012.

The Covenant Network, of which Pastor Emeritus John M. Buchanan was a founding co-moderator, seeks to strengthen the church by working for the full inclusion of LGBTQIA+ people in its life and leadership and calls the church to bear a unified witness to generous hospitality and faithful justice.

Covenant Conversation

“Beyond Words: From Mere Welcome to True Belonging” is an all-day event sponsored by the Covenant Network of Presbyterians and the Chicago Presbytery and hosted at Fourth Church on Saturday, September 30.

The program, which will include worship, will explore how Christians can show true hospitality to anyone who walks through our church doors, especially members of the LGBTQIA+ community.

Saturday, September 30

10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

at Fourth Church

Register to attend

Foundations of Islam

Coming up on October 1 is a new Sunday morning Adult Education class: “Foundations of Islam: Discovering Common Ground and Debunking the Myths."

In this three-week class, Nanette Sawyer, Arshan Khalid, and Aisha Subhan will discuss the commonalities and differences between Islam and Christianity and explore the 5 pillars of Islam, the sacred Islamic texts, the role of the Imam, the role of women, and contemporary reform movements.

Sundays, October 1–15

11:00 a.m.

Borwell Dining Room and via Zoom

Register online for Zoom details

Last week we were honored to host the funeral for Chicago Fire Department Lieutenant Kevin Ward, who died in the line of duty.

We are grateful to have been able to provide a time and space for people from across the city to gather in prayer and remembrance.

As we did then, today, and every day we give thanks for the thousands of individuals who serve the people of Chicago in so very many varying and far-reaching ways.

Do you enjoy singing?

Come enjoy time with fellow singers when the Fourth Church Choral Society kicks off its autumn season with a rehearsal on Thursday evening, October 5 at 7:00 p.m. in Buchanan Chapel.

We’ll be rehearsing weekly in preparation for a November 10 concert honoring Morgan Simmons, former Fourth Church Organist and Choirmaster.

For more information about the Choral Society or the concert, contact John Sherer.

Get your pets ready for an outing to the Michigan Avenue courtyard on Saturday, October 7!

We will be gathering that morning for a Blessing of the Animals service, giving thanks to God for the creatures that bless our lives. All pets are welcome! (Please have them on leash or in a carrier.)

If you’d rather not bring your pets, please bring photographs of them and join us as we celebrate the wonders of God’s creation and our relationships with its creatures, great and small!

Saturday, October 7

10:00 a.m.

Michigan Avenue courtyard

If your child is attending college this fall, please email their mailing address to Katie Patterson by Sunday, October 15.

We’d love to send them one of the care packages our youth groups will be assembling later on in October.

Grief Support Group

Our lives inevitably include loss and suffering and thus grief. The four-week Grief Support Group seeks to help individuals move through that grieving experience and into the rest of their life in a heathy manner.

These support groups are hosted by our Replogle Center for Counseling and Well-Being, with the next one beginning this coming Wednesday, September 27 at 7:00 p.m. via Zoom.

To register (required), email Sharon Crawford-Tucker or call the Center at 312.787.8425.

Prayer

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 join in praying for others—members of Fourth Church and those in need—we invite you to gather with us for Wednesday Morning Prayer at 9:30 a.m. via Zoom or at 10:00 a.m. in person. For Zoom details, email Nancy Benson-Nicol.

Conversation and Presence

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, 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.

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.

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.