Looking for ways to connect with the Fourth Church community and one another? On the church calendar you will find many opportunities to do so. Included among them are

•  “Dying Well,” an Adult Education class with HD Mitchell, in person and via Zoom this Sunday, April 7
• “Sermon Discussion and Fellowship” in person on April Sundays
• Men’s Bible Study via Zoom on Tuesday mornings
• Books by Women discussing Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus in person on Tuesday evening, April 9
• Jim Wallis speaking on his new book, The False White Gospel, in person on Tuesday evening, April 9, with a book signing to follow
• Benevolent Guild in person on Wednesday mornings
• Horizons Women’s Bible Study via Zoom at noon and in the evening on Wednesday, April 10
• Inquirers’ Class, for those seeking to become members of Fourth Church, via Zoom on Wednesday evening, April 10
• Social Service Center Art Showcase in person on Thursday afternoon, April 11
• Friday Noonday Concerts in person and livestreamed, featuring organist James Roman and soprano Grace Roman on April 12
• Art Exhibition Opening in person on Friday evening, April 12

For information about whom to contact for an event’s Zoom details or the link to register for an event, simply click on the down “arrow” to the right of the event name in the calendar (which is easily accessible from the “Calendar” at the top of the menu on our website).

For highlights about additional opportunities, keep reading!

Second Sunday of Easter, April 7

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

with Communion

Tom Are Jr. preaching

Worship bulletin

11:00 a.m. worship in person

with Communion

Tom Are Jr. preaching

Worship bulletin

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

The Gathering: Communion at 2:00

Tom Are Jr. preaching

Worship bulletin

Celebrating Communion

This Sunday we will be celebrating the Lord’s Supper at all three services. Those worshiping with us online are invited to have bread and juice on hand as we share in this meal from wherever we are.

This Sunday, April 7 is the deadline for submitting your suggestions of individuals to serve on the Pastor Nominating Committee (PNC).

You can complete online a form to indicate your willingness to be considered for the PNC or to recommend someone else.

Read more about the PNC responsibilities and process.

By popular demand, returning as an Adult Education instructor is HD Mitchell, Spiritual Director at the Clare, who previously taught the class “Aging Gracefully.” Now he will help us explore the art of “Dying Well.”

According to the popular theologian Richard Rohr, “Death is largely a threat to those who have not yet lived their lives.”

As Easter people, how can we cultivate the courage and compassion to face our finitude and strengthen our capacity to live each day more fully with gratitude and awareness?

Come join HD as we dive into that question, and more, about dying well.

Sunday, April 7 

11:00 a.m.

Borwell Dining Room and via Zoom

For Zoom details, register here

Looking ahead, next Sunday we will begin a three-week course on “Troublesome Texts and Gender: Interpretive Strategies across the Abrahamic Faiths,” taught by Susan Ross, Professor Emerita, Department of Theology, Loyola University of Chicago.

Together we will look at how certain troublesome texts in scripture on matters of gender and gender roles have been interpreted differently (now and over time) within our Christian tradition and across the Abrahamic faiths.

Sundays, April 14 – 28 

11:00 a.m.

Borwell Dining Room and via Zoom

For Zoom details, register here

One suggestion that came up multiple times in our Long-Range Planning listening sessions was a yearning for opportunity to discuss, in a group setting, Sunday sermons. Beginning this Sunday, we will be doing just that!

Following the 11:00 service on April Sundays, Matt Helms, Associate Pastor for Children, Family, and Welcoming Ministries, will lead us in table group discussions of the Sunday sermon and lectionary texts. “Sermon Discussion and Fellowship” will also be an opportunity to share refreshments and get to know one another.

Together we will grow our faith, build fellowship, and deepen our understanding of the text and sermon topic by listening to what others have heard.

So that we can ensure we have enough refreshments, we kindly request that you register in advance for whichever sessions you plan to attend.

Sundays, April 7, 14, 21, and 28

12:15 p.m.

Borwell Dining Room (in person only)

Please register here

Bestselling author Jim Wallis will be with us on Tuesday, April 9 to talk about his just-released book: The False White Gospel: Rejecting Christian Nationalism, Reclaiming True Faith, and Refounding Democracy.

Mr. Wallis — the founder of Sojourners and a renowned preacher and commentator on ethics and public life — will join Chicago Presbytery Executive Presbyter Craig Howard in conversation.

Together they will talk about the message of Wallis’s book, which argues that the answer to bad religion is true faith that will help refound democracy. Central to the future of democracy in America, the author contends, is learning to practice a politics of neighbor love.

This event, which is cosponsored with DePaul University’s Center for Religion, Culture, and Community, will be followed by a book signing in the Commons.

Tuesday, April 9

6:30 p.m.

Sanctuary (in person only)

Book signing to follow in the Commons

Art Hour Showcase

Come show your support of Chicago Lights Social Service Center artists who will be showcasing their artwork this coming Thursday afternoon.

The artists have been taking part in the Center’s weekly “Art Enrichment” program and look forward to sharing their work with you!

Thursday, April 11

1:30–2:30 p.m.

Borwell Dining Room

Art Exhibition Opening

This week the art exhibit “Gathered Together,” featuring the works of Alexandra Antoine, was installed in the Loggia Gallery. We hope you will take a moment to enjoy it this Sunday.

Then plan to be with us on Friday, April 12, when Ms. Antoine will talk about her work during an opening reception for the exhibition.

The artwork, which will be on display until mid-May, honors the people and land of Léogâne, Haiti: as the artist explains, it “reflects on memories of communal experiences with my loved ones, the oral histories shared within these spaces, the native language of my people, and its use in sustaining my connection to land and spirit.”

Friday, April 12

5:30 to 7:00 p.m.

in the Loggia and Borwell Dining Room

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 a one-session Inquirers’ Class this coming week:

Wednesday, April 10

6:30 p.m. | via zoom

Register here

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.

Calling all who enjoy singing!

Come lend your voice to the Fourth Church Choral Society, which begins its spring rehearsals on Thursday, April 27 at 7:00 p.m. This will be in preparation for singing during the morning worship services on Sunday, May 19.

This spring will be the last time John Sherer directs the Choral Society before he moves to Rochester, New York in June. So we’re hoping for a big Choral Society turnout, from former choir members to those who just enjoy joining in song.

Thursdays, April 25–May 16

Rehearsals: 7:00–8:00 p.m.

Buchanan Chapel

Sunday, May 19

Singing in 9:30 and 11:00 a.m. worship

A Civil Rights Trail Pilgrimage to New Orleans, Jackson, Montgomery, and Birmingham is on our calendar for October 18–27.

Cosponsored by Fourth Church and the Community Presbyterian Church of Clarendon Hills, this curated journey will take travelers to locations central to our nation’s civil rights movement. 

The ten-day pilgrimage to the South — Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi — promises to deliver a deeper understanding of and insights into the historic movers and movements of the historic and ongoing civil rights struggles as travelers learn personal stories, visit museums and historical sites, and experience cultural immersion. 

Learn more, and download a trip brochure, on our website.

To join the pilgrimage, apply online.

Our Martin Luther King Jr. flag flies in the courtyard this week as we mark the anniversary of Dr. King’s assassination on April 4, 1968.

A week ago we were in the midst of our Holy Week journey, which began with handwashing and foot washing on Maundy Thursday. Our services that day also celebrated the Lord’s Supper and concluded with the evening service of Tenebrae. That night ended in complete darkness after Tom Are carried the remaining lit candle down the aisle while reading the account of Jesus’ burial and, at its conclusion, extinguished the flame.

Our Good Friday observances included a noonday service, a choral service, and a program in Buchanan Chapel for children.

We continued our solemn watch through the Easter vigil, when our lighting of a flame in the courtyard led us into the darkened Sanctuary, where we retold of the story of salvation, from creation through redemption, as we marked the conclusion of Lent and the dawning of Easter.

There’s a lot going on at Fourth Church!

There is the formation of the Pastor Nominating Committee as well as the Long-Range Planning work, all in addition to worship services, classes, trips, concerts, gatherings, and more.

We want to make sure you feel connected to all of these initiatives and have all the latest information about them.

So we ask that you please take 1 minute to reply to a simple survey to let us know how you want to access the latest news and information from Fourth Church in the days ahead!

Conversation and Presence

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.

Grief Groups facilitated by the Replogle Center for Counseling and Well-Being meet for four weeks via Zoom, with the next one beginning Wednesday, May 15. To learn more or register for a group, contact the group facilitator, Sharon Crawford-Tucker.

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.

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 offer individual prayers of praise or concern with a Deacon, you are invited to do so on Sunday mornings in Stone Chapel (through the Sanctuary door to the right of the pulpit) following the 9:30 and 11:00 a.m. services.

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 weekly at 9:30 a.m. via Zoom. On the first Wednesday of the month (May 1) we also gather at 10:00 a.m. for in-person Morning Prayer in Buchanan Chapel. 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.

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.