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CONTENTS
Year-End Gifts
No Sunday School This Weekend
January Series from Calvin College
Celebrating Our Cuban Relationships
Parking Rates to Increase in 2015
oneYear-End Gifts 
Our online giving page makes it easy to fulfill 2014 Annual Appeal pledges--and to make Light Up a Life gifts to thank those who hosted Christmas or were a special part of your life in 2014.


This can also be done through the Sunday offering or by mailing a check to the attention of Katy Frey Bever at Fourth Presbyterian Church, 126 E. Chestnut Street, Chicago, IL 60611.2014.

 

Please note that for those wanting to make gifts or year-end contributions by credit card, charges must be made to the card by 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, December 31 in order for those gifts to be listed on 2014 giving statements.

 

For those wanting to make a year-end gift or pledge fulfillment by check and have the gift listed on 2014 giving statements, please be sure the envelope is postmarked December 31.

twoNew Year's Eve Taiz� Service
A Year-End Time of Reflection and Prayer

Opportunity to reflect on the year past and look ahead to the year to come will take place during the New Year's Eve Taiz service this coming Wednesday, December 31 at 7:30 p.m. in Buchanan Chapel.

 

Held in a candlelit setting, this service offers time of contemplative prayer, meditative singing, and silent reflection at the close of the year.

 

Opportunity to walk the labyrinth in Anderson Hall between 6:00 and 7:30 p.m. will precede the service. This meditative walk takes approximately twenty minutes. 

threeNo Sunday School This Weekend
Classes Resume January 11

Sunday School classes will not meet this Sunday, December 28 or next Sunday, January 4. Preschoolers and kindergarteners are welcome in the Nursery on the first floor of the Gratz Center on those days, and older children are encouraged to attend worship with their parents. 

 

Sunday School will resume on Sunday, January 11 during 9:30 and 11:00 a.m. worship services.

 

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Live Video Feed at Fourth Church

"iGods: How Technology Shapes Our Spiritual and Social Lives." "CEO of the City." "Discovering God's Majesty in the Minuscule." "Storytelling and the Arc of Transformation."

 

All these and more are topics that will be discussed by fifteen speakers as part of the January Series at Calvin College. Opportunity to experience the "fifteen days of free liberal arts education" will be offered through a live video feed presented at Fourth Church January 7-27 at 11:30 a.m. each weekday in the Page Smith Room.

 

A complete schedule of speakers is available online here. A downloadable PDF schedule is available here.

We hope you'll join us for one--or more--of these enriching conversations! 

 

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fiveCelebrating Our Cuban Relationships 
Mission Trip in May 2015

This month as the United States and Cuba agreed to reestablish diplomatic relations and ease travel restrictions, Fourth Church is excited to again offer a mission trip to Havana, Cuba, next year May 11-18, 2015 (please note the date change from March 2015).

 

Mission trip participants will have opportunity to further our relationship with sister congregation First Presbyterian Church of Havana as it continues to thrive amid scarcity. The group will participate in a worship service in a parishioner's backyard and become familiar with the historical, political, economic, and cultural context for Christian witness in Cuba.

 

More information about the mission trip, including application details, will be posted online here in the coming weeks.

sixParking Rates to Increase in 2015

Parking rates at the 900 North Michigan garage (access from Rush or Walton Street) will be increasing in 2015. Beginning on January 1, the garage will be charging $10 for validated Sunday morning parking. Validation tickets for the 900 garage must be picked up during Coffee Hour or from the Chestnut Street reception desk.

 

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worshipWorship This Week
Sunday, December 28, 2014
8:00 a.m. with Communion
Victoria G. Curtiss, Associate Pastor, preaching
    "Be Amazed"
Scripture texts:
     Psalm 148
     Isaiah 61:10--62:3
     Luke 2:22-40

9:30 and 11:00 a.m. 
Victoria G. Curtiss, Associate Pastor, preaching
    "Be Amazed"
Scripture texts:
     Psalm 148
     Isaiah 61:10--62:3
     Luke 2:22-40

4:00 p.m. Jazz Service with Communion
Elizabeth Nickerson, Interim Director of Worship, preaching
    "Through the Acts of a Child"
Scripture texts:
     Exodus 16:4, 9-12
     Galatians 4:4-7

Worship bulletins
for this coming Sunday are available online Friday afternoon at www.fourthchurch.org/worship/this-week.html.
 
"News and Opportunities"
is the weekly printed newsletter distributed with the Sunday bulletin and is available online Friday afternoon at www.fourthchurch.org/news/2014/122814no.pdf

Sermons

from previous weeks are posted online at www.fourthchurch.org/sermons 

 

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musicConcerts at Fourth Church
The Noonday concerts listed here are free.
 

Friday, December 26, 2014
Church office closed
No Noonday concert

 

Friday, January 2, 2015
Cate Hummel, flutist
12:10 p.m. in Buchanan Chapel
Cosponsored by the Musicians Club of Women

Friday, January 9, 2015
Jonas Benson, violist
12:10 p.m. in Buchanan Chapel

Friday, January 16, 2015
Sarah van der Ploeg, soprano
12:10 p.m. in Buchanan Chapel

 

A complete concert schedule is available online.

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volunteerVolunteer at Fourth Church

There are several ways to get involved in the mission and ministry of Fourth Church. See below for details!

 

Current Volunteer Needs

Tutors for the Chicago Lights Tutoring program 

Tutors are needed one evening a week--Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday--from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m. New volunteers are asked to attend an orientation session. A schedule is available here.
 
Audio recording equipment operators for Sunday morning worship services 

This volunteer opportunity is available immediately. Training will be provided.

 

Church members to serve as Nursery caregivers during the 9:30 or 11:00 a.m. worship service

  

To sign up for any of these volunteer opportunities or to learn more about them, stop by Coffee Hour on Sunday morning or contact Larry Nicholson, Director of Volunteer Ministry.

 

A complete list of volunteer needs is available online