Day of Pentecost | Sunday, May 28

10:00 a.m. worship in person and online

Shannon J. Kershner preaching

Worship bulletin

In person and streamed from the Sanctuary on our YouTube channel: www.bit.ly/fpcvideos

Audio available by phone (toll free) by calling 888.916.9166

Livestreamed worship services 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.

Children are always welcome in worship! During the service nursery care is also available on the fourth floor of the Gratz Center. This Sunday children up through second grade are also welcome in Room 4D during worship. (Sunday School does not meet this week but will resume next Sunday, June 4 at 10:00 a.m.)

Summer Worship Schedule

Throughout the summer we gather for one worship service each Sunday, at 10:00 a.m. (The afternoon service is pausing for a sabbatical until after Labor Day.)

Then on Sunday, September 10 we will add a second Sunday morning worship service. After Labor Day we will be worshiping at 9:30 and 11:00 a.m. on Sunday mornings. The afternoon service will also resume on that date.

Until then we look forward to continuing to worship with you at 10:00 a.m. on Sundays!

Pentecost

This Sunday is Pentecost, the day we celebrate the birth of the church and the giving of the Holy Spirit to the disciples of Jesus. Red, which is the liturgical color for the day, symbolizes the pentecostal fire of the Holy Spirit, and our processional ribbons evoke the wind from heaven, as described in the Acts of the Apostles. In the Jewish tradition, Pentecost (for “fifty” days after Passover) is a harvest festival of first fruits that also celebrates the giving of the Torah, or Hebrew law.  

We will be receiving a special Pentecost offering this Sunday to support Fourth Church and Presbyterian Church (USA) ministries working with at-risk youth and young adults.

To make a gift to this special offering, use the designation “Pentecost Offering” when giving at www.fourthchurch.org/give or write it on the memo line of a check made payable to Fourth Presbyterian Church.

Looking Ahead

On Sunday, June 11 we will welcome as our guest preacher Mx. Slats Toole, a writer, educator, preacher, and theater director/sound designer based in Minneapolis. They hold a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drama from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and a Master of Divinity and Certificate in Theology, Women, and Gender from Princeton Theological Seminary.

They currently serve as co-moderator of the board of the Covenant Network of Presbyterians. Slats is also a published author and has led workshops on expansive language and queer theology (with a particular emphasis on gender identity) throughout the United States and Canada. Slats’ work centers around creating space in the church where all are welcomed, embraced, and loved. We look forward to them preaching at Fourth Church on June 11!

Join us this Sunday when we celebrate and give thanks for Shannon Kershner’s ministry among us and wish her Godspeed in her call to Central Presbyterian Church in Atlanta!

May 28 will be Shannon’s last Sunday leading us in worship.

Immediately following the 10:00 a.m. service on Sunday we will also hold a congregational meeting in the Sanctuary. The meeting has been called by Session for the purpose of dissolving our pastoral relationship with Shannon. That in-person meeting will also be livestreamed at www.bit.ly/fpcvideos, with the livestream starting after the service ends.

Then after the meeting we will gather in Anderson Hall and the Commons for a reception in honor of Shannon. We hope you will join us for that opportunity to express our gratitude and well wishes to Shannon and her family as they prepare to move to Atlanta.

This Sunday is the last day to submit Baccalaureate Sunday names of those graduating from eighth grade, high school, college, or a graduate or professional program in 2023.

Baccalaureate Sunday at Fourth Church will be next Sunday, June 4, and graduate names sent to Katie Patterson by this Sunday, May 28 will appear in the worship bulletin on June 4.

This coming Tuesday evening, May 30 Fourth Church will cohost “Our Tears Are the Same Color.”

In this evening of dialogue and understanding, Robi Damelin and Laila Aksheikh, bereaved Palestinian and Israeli mothers, will share their stories of loss and their journey to peace.

We hope you will join us and our interfaith partners — American Friends of the Parents Circle, Families Forum; Interfaith America; Chicago Sinai Congregation; Mishkan Chicago; and the Muslim Community Center — for this important conversation.

Tuesday, May 30

7:00 p.m.

in the Sanctuary

On Monday ten travelers from Fourth Church will head to Cuba, where they will spend a week with our sister congregation, the First Presbyterian Church of Havana.

On Sunday we will commission them and our youth and their leaders who will also be active in summer 2023 trips as ambassadors from Fourth Church:

• the junior high youth traveling to St. Louis to work with the Amen! St. Louis ministry of Oak Hill Presbyterian Church
• the senior high youth traveling to Paris, France, to serve in the city with youth from the American Church in Paris
• the senior high youth traveling to Montreat, North Carolina, to take part in the worship and recreation of the annual Montreat Youth Conference  

Please join us in keeping in prayer all these travelers and all with whom they will share the journey.

Our work on the Fourth Church Member Census continues.

Late last week we mailed another batch of Member Census forms to member homes.

If you receive a form in the coming days, please take a few moments to complete it and return it to the church by June 15.

Your doing so will help in this effort to paint the picture of who Fourth Church is today and provide information that will help us strengthen connections in our community.

The Chicago Lights Social Service Center is in need of the following items.

Men’s Clothing

Jeans/casual pants/khakis (sizes 30–40)

Sweatshirts/hoodies (sizes S–3XL)

T-shirts (sizes S–3XL)

Men’s and Women’s Items

Spring coats (all sizes)

Sneakers/athletic shoes (all sizes)

New underwear (sizes S–2XL)

Carrying Items

Backpacks

Suitcases

Push or pull roller bags

Large cloth bags/sturdy shopping bags

Items can be dropped off at the church reception desk (enter at 126 E. Chestnut) on weekdays and Sundays between 8:30 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.

The Interim Pastor Nominating Committee (IPNC), which has responsibility for identifying and recommending an Interim Pastor candidate, has begun their work.

Serving on this committee are Mark Hurley, Chair; Jared Light; Sally Scott; Gretchen Van Natta; and Jessica Wang.

Their current work is focused on finalizing a Ministry Information Form — the job description that provides background about Fourth Church and details what we are seeking in an Interim Pastor. This will be an important tool in searching for and having conversations with candidates for this interim role of guiding us during the year or more when we are searching for the next Pastor.

If you have questions or comments about this process or the transition, please email them to transition@fourthchurch.org

You can also find updates and information at www.fourthchurch.org/transition

Death

We give thanks to God for the gift of life eternal

Nan Birmingham

Died May 22, 2023