If you know someone who would like to receive 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
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This Thursday evening, at the turning of the year, we will come together online for our annual New Year’s Eve service in the style of Taizé.
This quiet 7:30 p.m. service cohosted by Holy Name Cathedral offers moving music, time for prayer, and a meditative pause for reflecting on the year past and looking ahead to the year to come.
Thursday, December 31
7:30 p.m. online
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Worship This Week:
Second Sunday of Christmas, January 3
11:00 a.m. worship online
Organ prelude beginning shortly after 10:45 a.m.
David Handley preaching
Connecting to Our Online Worship Services
Our online worship services are available live at 11:00 a.m. (Central) via
For those who do not have Internet access, we also make our 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.
Throughout the Week
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Looking for some good reads to start the new year? Our First Tuesday Book Club and Books by Women groups have recommendations for you—as well as invitations to join them in conversation.
First Tuesday Book Club
Tuesday, January 5
7:00 p.m. via Zoom
This book group hosted by the Adult Education Committee examines the ethical and social issues facing Christians today.
January book: The Luminous Web: Essays on Science and Religion by Barbara Brown Taylor
Lucy Forster-Smith and Jim Ford will lead our discussion of these thought-provoking essays on the intersection of science and religion. In them Barbara Brown Taylor describes her journey as a preacher who is trying to learn what the insights of quantum physics, the new biology, and chaos theory can teach the believer. Along the way she highlights how both scientists and believers are engaged with the mystery and the wonder of the universe we inhabit.
Books by Women
Tuesday, January 12
6:00 p.m. via Zoom
All women are invited to join in monthly Books by Women discussions whenever their schedules allow and the books are of interest.
January book: The Optimist’s Daughter by Eudora Welty
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“Faith in Uncertain Times:
Reflecting on the Past and Envisioning the Future”
Mark your calendar for a Thursday, January 14 Michigan Avenue Forum that will be held online at 7:00 p.m.
That evening Lucy Forster-Smith will moderate a discussion among panelists Shannon Kershner; Horace Smith, Pastor of Apostolic Faith Church; Otis Moss III, Senior Pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ; David Crawford, President of McCormick Theological Seminary; and Ozzie Smith Jr., Pastor Emeritus of Covenant United Church of Christ.
As we head into a new year, they will explore together questions such as
- What is the role of faith and religious institutions in these unsettled times?
- How can our faith communities work together to rebuild society and become a unifying force in Chicago?
- What have you learned about faith and humanity from the pandemic?
- How do we survive, thrive and flourish in these historic times?
- What is your biggest hope for the future?
Thursday, January 14
7:00 p.m. online
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“Journal Writing as a Spiritual Formation”
Journaling as a spiritual formation offers us an opportunity to reflect upon the parallel journeys we travel: the actions we take as we “do” life and the sacred center out of which all life comes. The spiritual journey is what the soul is up to while we attend to daily living.
In January the Spiritual Formation Council invites you to join them for an online spiritual journaling workshop led by Christine Vogel, a pastor in the Presbyterian Church (USA), spiritual director, and former Dean of Students and Vice President of Student Affairs at McCormick Theological Seminary.
Together we will explore how through writing down the details and stories of our lives we can see the co-mingling between our spiritual and “ordinary” lives.
Saturday, January 16
10 a.m. to 12:30 via Zoom
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“Loving Our Neighbor in a Time of Social Distancing”
The Board of Deacons invites you to join them in a two-hour online workshop on Saturday morning, January 23, when David Hogue, Professor Emeritus of Pastoral Theology and Counseling at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, will lead a workshop on “Loving Our Neighbor in a Time of Social Distancing.”
This two-hour virtual workshop will offer a theological and biblical framework for the ministry of making phone calls to those who may be isolated during this season. Topics will include, among others, loneliness and depression, the COVID context of isolation and social distancing, and fears of the virus and the prospect of treatments, including hospitalization and ventilators.
Saturday, January 23
10:00 a.m. via zoom
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As we look toward year end, some have inquired about how to ensure gifts to Fourth Church and Chicago Lights are reflected as gifts made in 2020.
For gifts to be recorded as 2020 contributions, they must be
- received online at www.fourthchurch.org/give-online by midnight on December 31, or
- have been postmarked in 2020 (mail to Resource Development, Fourth Presbyterian Church, 126 E. Chestnut, Chicago, IL 60611.2014)
For information about making gifts through stock transfers or required distributions from one’s IRA or prepaying one’s 2021 Stewardship pledge, please contact Katy Frey Bever. |
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Each Sunday we have opportunity to connect online with one another and share in a time of fellowship following worship, when we hope you will join us after the postlude for virtual Coffee Hour.
Following the postlude
Meeting ID: 963 5583 1751
Passcode: 631276
Phone: Call 1 312.626.6799
and enter Meeting ID 963 5583 1751#
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Following worship on Sunday, January 10 we will have a virtual congregational meeting online at www.bit.ly/fpcprograms.
During the meeting, we will elect an Associate Pastor Nominating Committee to identify and recommend a candidate to serve Fourth Presbyterian Church as Associate Pastor for Caring Ministries and Spiritual Formation.
Sunday, January 10
12:00 p.m.
To listen to the meeting, dial 888.916.9166
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Those interested in becoming members of Fourth Church are invited to take part in our next online Inquirers’ Class, which will be held Sunday, January 17 at 9:00 a.m. via Zoom.
For additional information about Fourth Church membership, please contact Joe Morrow. |
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Death
We give thanks to God for the gift of life eternal.
Irene Ruth Gerrans
Died December 29, 2020
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On the church calendar are many opportunities to connect online with the Fourth Church community and one another. Included among them are—
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Men’s Bible Study on Tuesday mornings
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Morning Prayer on Wednesday mornings
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Benevolent Guild on Wednesday mornings
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Horizons Bible Study for Women on Wednesday, January 13
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). |
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