News @ Fourth Church: June 26, 2020

June 26, 2020

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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—

Sacred Pause meditation on Saturday and Tuesday mornings
TED Talks for Parents on Sunday morning, June 28
Men’s Online Bible Study on Tuesday mornings
Junior High Gathering on Tuesday evenings
Preschool Story and Craft Time on Wednesday mornings
Wednesday Kids’ Group on Wednesday afternoons
Senior High Gathering on Wednesday evenings
Theology Reading Group for Youth on Thursday afternoons

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.

Sunday, June 28

11:00 a.m. worship online

Organ prelude beginning shortly after 10:45 a.m.

Joseph L. Morrow preaching

Worship bulletin to download and print in advance

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

On this Pride Sunday, our worship includes works by Aaron Copland, Karen Thomas, and Mark Miller, who are just three among countless LGBTQIA+ composers throughout history.

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.

Virtual Small Groups

Would you like to connect this July with five to seven other people via Zoom for a time of fellowship, relationship building, and spiritual formation?

These virtual small groups will meet for four weeks, beginning the week of July 6, and will gather via Zoom on weekday late afternoons or mid-mornings, depending on the interest of the participants. Discussion topics may include book studies or open conversation regarding spiritual journeys and faith life.

Similar small-group opportunities will also be offered in August.

If you are interested in being part of a group or would like to learn more about this opportunity to connect with others, please email Anne Ellis to let her know of your interest.

Men’s Small Discussion Group

Also beginning in July will be a new online Men’s Small Discussion Group led by David Handley, Interim Minister for Pastoral Care. This group of six to eight men will meet for three months to take turns sharing their “spiritual autobiography.”

These reflections on faith and personal life, shared in a confidential context, will be accompanied by opportunity for the other participants to talk about themes and experiences they have experienced that are similar. There will also be time spent reading the Gospel according to Mark and guidance on how we might hear the scripture being read in a way that intersects with our lives.

To express interest in taking part in this new group, please contact David Handley.

Those who would like to become members of Fourth Church and have previously participated in an Inquirers’ Class are invited to join this Sunday, June 28.

For Zoom details about this Sunday’s New Member meeting with Session and the New Member Zoom fellowship following online worship, please contact Nancy Davis or Joe Morrow.

News from Chicago Lights, our nonprofit community outreach arm, includes details about shopping the Farmstand, which opens today, as well as information about the online dance classes being offered this summer.

Summer Dance Classes Online

The Chicago Lights Dance Academy is taking its four-week youth Summer Dance Intensive online this summer. Beginning Monday, June 29, this summer’s robust virtual curriculum will feature two live Zoom classes each weekday morning and will cover the styles of ballet, jazz, musical theater, tap, and hip hop. Prerecorded dance lessons and independent study will also be included. More advanced choreography will be offered in the afternoons for seasoned students. Information, including registration details for this youth program, can be found online.

Produce from the Farm

You can purchase fresh produce while also supporting the community when you shop at the Farmstand at the Chicago Lights Urban Farm. The Farmstand will be open on Fridays beginning June 26 between 1:00 and 5:00 p.m. Guests are required to wear a face covering and practice social distancing while at the Farm (444 W. Chicago Ave.).

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 just for 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.

This coming Tuesday, June 30 is the last day for Senior High youth to sign up for the online service-learning experience through our Urban Youth Mission program.

Senior High UYM Cohort

For rising ninth- through twelfth-graders

Monday, July 20–Wednesday, July 22

9:00 a.m.–12:00 p.m.

via Zoom

In this three-morning series, youth will have opportunity to learn about food justice and the impact of COVID-19. Register here by June 30.

Weekly Youth Opportunities

Our weekly youth gatherings via Zoom also continue.

Worship Discussion on Sundays at 12:00 p.m.

Junior High Gathering on Tuesdays at 7:00 p.m.

Senior High Gathering on Wednesdays at 7:00 p.m.

Theology Reading Group on Thursdays, July 2 and 9 at 3:00 p.m.

For Zoom details, contact Katie Patterson.

We have lots of fun online opportunities planned for our children and families this summer, including midweek story and craft time!

TED Talks on How We Schedule Our Lives

For Parents

Sunday, June 28

from 9:00 to 9:45 a.m.

via Zoom

Summer Sunday School

For ages 3 to 11

Sundays in June and July from 10:00 to 10:45 a.m.

via Zoom

Wednesday Story and Craft Time

For ages 2 to 6

Wednesdays from 10:00 to 10:45 a.m.

via Zoom

Wednesday Kids’ Group

For ages 7 to 11

Wednesdays from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m.

via Zoom

For more information about these opportunities—including the Zoom details for the gatherings—contact Briana Belding-Peck.

And watch for news about other children and family online activities taking place later this summer, including a pizza-making family night via Zoom and online VBS!

If you missed this noon’s online Friday Noonday Concert featuring John Sherer playing our Andrew Pipe Organ, you can watch and listen to it online. (The June 26 concert program is also available to download and print.)

We will not be livestreaming a concert next Friday, July 3, but we hope you will join us online the following week, on Friday, July 10, when our online concert series will resume with a performance by the Fourth Church Jazz Quartet.

Our online concerts are streamed at www.bit.ly/fpcprograms, where they are also available to enjoy throughout the week.

The plan approved by the Session of Fourth Church for our life together as a church in the summer of 2020 includes the decision to have livestream-only worship throughout the months of June, July, and August.

Also during that same time period—June through August—the Fourth Church campus will remain closed, and programming will take place online, from Center for Life and Learning exercise classes to VBS to Summer Day to Bible studies and more.

The meeting of essential needs by Fourth Church Meals Ministry and Chicago Lights Social Service Center will continue to be offered outdoors, as it has been since mid-March.