Second Sunday of Epiphany, January 14

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

Lucy Forster-Smith preaching

Worship bulletin

11:00 a.m. worship in person

Lucy Forster-Smith preaching

Worship bulletin

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

The Gathering: Communion at 2:00

Nancy Benson-Nicol preaching

Worship bulletin

Honoring the Life and Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

This Sunday we join congregations and communities across the nation in honoring the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who was born ninety-five years ago, on January 15, 1929.

As we do so, we recall these words Dr. King wrote from Birmingham Jail in April 1963:

“Human progress never rolls in on the wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless effort of men and women willing to be coworkers with God, and without the hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of stagnation. We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right.”

Last week we were delighted to hear Organist and Director of Music, John Sherer, preach. If you missed his sermon “Arise, Shine!” or would like to enjoy it again, you can find it on our website.

This Sunday, January 14, Senior Associate Pastor Lucy Forster-Smith will be retiring.

Lucy will preach at both morning services this weekend, and we will have a reception in her honor during Coffee Hour at 9:30 a.m. and following the 12:00 p.m. congregational meeting.

Please plan to join us this Sunday in gathering to thank Lucy for her ministry among us and to wish her and her husband, Tom Forster-Smith, well in this next chapter in their lives.

Also this Sunday we will come together for a congregational meeting called by Session for Sunday, January 14 following the 11:00 a.m. service.

The purpose of the meeting will be to formally dissolve the pastoral relationship between Lucy and Fourth Church and will take place in the Sanctuary, with the ability to view the meeting live via Zoom as well (www.bit.ly/fpcmeeting114; the link is also accessible from the home page of our website, www.fourthchurch.org).

On Tuesday Fourth Church and Chicago Lights staff held a farewell party for Lucy, at which she was presented with the gift given to all employees when they leave Fourth Church: a framed drawing of the courtyard fountain.

After many months of work, the Long Range Planning Task Force is excited to share the proposed strategic directions and goals with the congregation.

Please plan to join them at one of the upcoming listening sessions (listed below), where the task force will share the proposed strategic directions and goals and welcome your feedback.

To ensure everyone has a chance to participate, we are requiring preregistration to manage group sizes and we ask that you sign up for only one of the sessions. (All sessions will present the same material.)

Thursday, January 18

6:30 p.m. via Zoom

Register

Sunday, January 21

10:45 a.m. in person

Register

Sunday, January 28 

12:30 p.m. in person

Register

Tuesday, January 30

8:00 p.m. via Zoom

Register

Sunday, February 4

12:30 p.m. in person

Register

We look forward to your participation, as your continued input is essential to the long-range planning process!

To learn more or to pass along questions, ideas, or reactions to the proposed directions and goals, email the task force.

Fourth Church is headed to Florida!

If you live in or are traveling to the Ft. Lauderdale or Naples regions in early February, please plan to join Tom Are as well as other Fourth Church members and friends for a gathering.

To learn more about Florida events planned for February 6–8, email Shawn Fiedler.

While we have members located across the country (did you know 20 percent of our membership lives outside of Illinois?), here in Chicago we are host to visitors from around the world.

In fact, since we reopened the Sanctuary from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on weekdays, most of our visitors have been from out of town, including tourists from the following countries!

Argentina 

Australia

Austria

Canada

Colombia 

Costa Rica

Ecuador

England

France

Germany

Iceland

Italy 

Japan

Korea

Mexico 

Netherlands

Poland

Puerto Rico

Scotland 

Sweden

Turkey

Curious to discover more about this congregation, and the opportunities and resources available to you here, as well as learn about the Presbyterian Church (USA)?

Interested in becoming a member of Fourth Church?

Join us for one of our upcoming one-session Inquirers’ Classes!

This Sunday, January 14

In person | Room 5F

12:15–2:30 p.m.

Register

Wednesday, February 7

Via Zoom

6:30–8:30 p.m.

Register

For additional information about Fourth Church membership, visit our website or reach out to Matt Helms, Associate Pastor for Children, Family, and Welcoming Ministries, who would welcome hearing from you.

“Chicago’s Newest Neighbors:

Examining the Migrant Crisis”

Join us as we cohost with the University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy a panel discussion about the influx of migrants moving to our sanctuary city.

The panel will feature Natalie Moore, WBEZ journalist covering race, class, and communities; Aimee Hilado, Assistant Professor at the Crown School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice and expert in immigrant trauma and mental health; Theresa Thornburg, Director of the Chicago Lights Social Service Center; and Brandie Knazze, Commissioner, Chicago Family Support Services.

Together they will consider the policy successes and failures, as well as the necessary wraparound supports for health care, education, and the welfare of our newest neighbors.

Thursday, January 25

5:30 p.m.

in Buchanan Chapel

Register

“The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy and the Future of American Democracy”

Mark your calendar for Wednesday, January 31 and plan to join us that evening when we are honored to welcome Robert P. Jones, author of the New York Times bestselling book The Hidden Roots of White Supremacy and the Path to a Shared American Future, as the speaker at our next Michigan Avenue Forum.

In a presentation moderated by Fourth Church member Cynthia Johnson, Mr. Jones will explain how the founders of the United States could build the philosophical framework for a democratic society on a foundation of mass racial violence — and why this paradox survives today in the form of white Christian nationalism.

Through stories of people navigating these contradictions in three communities, Jones illuminates the possibility of a new American future in which we finally fulfill the promise of a pluralistic democracy.

Robert P. Jones, president and founder of Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI), writes regularly on politics, culture, and religion for the Atlantic, TIME, Religion News Service, and other outlets. He is also the author of White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity and The End of White Christian America. He holds a Ph.D. in religion from Emory University and an M.Div. from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. 

Wednesday, January 31 

6:30 p.m. 

in the Sanctuary and livestreamed

5:30 p.m. Book Signing in the Commons

In this new year, we invite you to explore opportunities to connect with others in the Fourth Church community!

As you can see from our December gatherings, there are lots of different ways to share in fellowship and friendship, whether six or sixty, younger or older, or somewhere in between.

You can find information about all of these groups and others — including those meeting via Zoom! — on our website. Why not give one a try in 2024?

And if you are already participating in one, why not invite a friend to join you!

December Family Night featured cocoa and carols, including one about three French hens.

Cornerstones, a fellowship group for those sixty and over, also gathered for a Christmas sing-along, an annual event led by John Sherer.

TwentiesThirties, a group for young adults, gathered for a Paint-and-Sip evening in the Manse.

The Benevolent Guild, which gathers weekly to craft and sew items for those in need, took time out for a holiday lunch.

Women at Fourth brought their seasonal favorite “Cookies and Cocoa” to Coffee Hour on Sunday morning, December 17, hosting a festive fellowship time for all.

For their monthly gathering, Women at Fourth also had a Christmas party in the Manse.

The Center for Life and Learning got into the seasonal spirit as well with their annual holiday party.

Curious what our connection groups have in store for 2024? Watch our calendar for opportunities and come join in the fun and friendship

“Finding Faith in Hard Times: 

When Bad Things Happen to Good People”

This Sunday we continue our exploration of the age-old question: If God is all-loving, how can Christians make sense of personal trauma and collective evil in the world?

Amy Pagliarella, Parish Associate for Caring Ministries, will guide us in a closer look at the different ways Christians and people of other faiths have attempted to explain this over the years, examining both historical and contemporary perspectives.

Ultimately we will look at how our theology of evil and tragedy can help sustain us and support others during tough times.

Sundays, January 7–21 

11:00 a.m.

Borwell Dining Room and via Zoom

For Zoom details, register here 

On Sunday, January 28 at the 9:30 a.m. service, we will commission Robert Crouch to begin service as a Stephen Leader in our congregation. Stephen Leaders bring their gifts for leadership, vision, wisdom, administration, discernment, and teaching to select and equip those who will be Stephen Ministers — lay Christian caregivers — in our congregation.

Please join us as we pray for and show our support for this caring ministry and these people whom God has called and equipped for this important role. Following worship on January 28, Stephen Ministers will host a special Coffee Hour in Anderson Hall, providing opportunity to learn more about the work of Stephen Ministry in our congregation. 

For those looking for one-to-one spiritual and emotional support through life challenges, you can also learn more about being paired with a Stephen Minister by contacting Nancy Benson-Nicol, Associate Pastor for Caring Ministries and Spiritual Formation, or leaving a confidential message for a Stephen Minister at 312.573.3365.

Death

We give thanks to God for the gift of life eternal.

Joan T. Sessions

Died December 18, 2023

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, illnesses, hospitalizations, or deaths, please email Gloria Fleming, Assistant for Caring Ministries and Spiritual Formation; 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.

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.

To join a Grief Group facilitated by our Replogle Center, email Sharon Crawford-Tucker.

Prayer

If you would like to submit a prayer request to our Morning Prayer or Deacon Prayer Ministries, please email Gloria Fleming or Nancy Benson-Nicol.

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.

Children in Worship

Children are always welcome in worship at Fourth Church! If you need to step out to comfort your child, the Hospitality Suite, on the second floor of the Gratz Center, is a quiet space for families where worship is livestreamed.

On the second Sunday of the month — which means this Sunday! — Sunday School children in the 9:30 a.m. class are invited to come to worship with their parents. At the time of the Gloria Patri, the children will meet up with their teachers and head to their classrooms.

During Sunday morning services nursery care is available on the fourth floor of the Gratz Center for infants through two-year-olds.

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