top
CONTENTS
Last Day for Easter Flower Donations
Honor Loved Ones This Easter
This is the last weekend to remember loved ones by making contributions toward the flowers that will decorate the Sanctuary on Easter Sunday.

Gifts may be made online, or you can download and return to the church this flower form. This form is also available in the literature racks.
 
Please note that in order for honoree names to be printed in the Easter Sunday bulletin, all contributions and names must be received by this Sunday, March 13.

For more information, contact Allie Williams.     
Daylight Saving Time
Daylight Saving Time begins this Sunday, March 13.

Be sure to set clocks ahead an hour as we "spring forward." We don't want to begin worship without you!
 
threeOur Organ in the Wall Street Journal!
Celebrating Our New Instrument
Chris Soer, who is heading up the organ project here at Fourth Church, was featured in Wednesday's Wall Street Journal--and along with him our new Andrew Pipe Organ! You can find this fun behind-the-scenes look at "The Old-World Art of Restoring Pipe Organs" posted online. 
 
Then on Friday you can hear the wide-ranging sounds of this new instrument when John Sherer plays the first in our series of organ dedication concerts. We hope you will join us at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, March 18 as we celebrate and give thanks for the new pipe organ!

Time: 
     Friday March 18
     7:30 p.m. 
 
Place:
     Sanctuary
 
fourA Big Gala Thank-You
An Evening with an Extraordinary Impact
Thank you to all who supported the Gala of Hope last Friday--whether by attending the event, donating auction items, participating in the Joy Ride Drawing, helping as a volunteer, serving on one of the committees, sponsoring the evening, becoming a Gala patron, or making a donation to support the benefit.
 
Thanks to your generosity and hard work, the 2016 Gala of Hope grossed more than $652,000. For the extraordinary impact that will have in the year ahead on supporting the life-changing and hope-filling work of Chicago Lights and the Replogle Center for Counseling and Well-Being, thank you!

For fun photos of the evening, check out the Gala of Hope album online.
 
five"Discerning Our Call": A Gathering for Women
An Evening of "Good News" Fellowship
On Thursday, March 17, Vicky Curtiss will lead women in activities that will help participants explore the talents, abilities, and skills that God has given us as individuals and as a group. It is by knowing our gifts that we are able to perform the mission and ministry to which God has called us.
 
All women are invited to take part in this month's "Good News" Fellowship gathering of Presbyterian Women at 5:30 p.m. in the Bumpus Room.

Time: 
     Thursday, March 17
     5:30 p.m.

Place: 
     Bumpus Room
sixLooking Ahead to Palm Sunday and Easter
Join Us on Our Journey
As we near the celebration of Easter, there will be a variety of opportunities to come together for worship during Palm Sunday and Holy Week. We hope you'll be with us for many of them!
 
On Palm Sunday, March 20, services will be held at 8:00 (with Communion), 9:30, and 11:30 a.m., with Shannon Kershner preaching at all three services. Please note that the third service of the morning on Palm Sunday will begin at 11:30 a.m. that Sunday.
 
One of Fourth Church's most beloved traditions will take place during 9:30 and 11:30 worship that day: the Palm Sunday processional of children entering the Sanctuary waving palms. Children will gather in their classrooms prior to each service; parents with infants and toddlers will meet in the Loggia at 9:15 and 11:15 a.m.
 
There will also be a 4:00 p.m. jazz service with Communion, with Nanette Sawyer preaching. 
 
On Maundy Thursday, March 24, there will be a 12:10 p.m. Communion service, led by Nanette Sawyer, and a 7:30 p.m. Tenebrae service, led by Shannon Kershner, both in the Sanctuary.

On Good Friday, March 25, there will be a 12:10 p.m. service, led by Vicky Curtiss, in the Sanctuary. There will also be a 5:30 p.m. children's experience led by Matt Helms in Buchanan Chapel and a 7:30 p.m. choral service--featuring Francis Poulenc's Stabat Mater --in the Sanctuary.
 
An Easter Vigil will be held on Saturday, March 26 at 8:00 p.m.--beginning in the Michigan Avenue courtyard around a fire and continuing in the Sanctuary--with Shannon Kershner presiding.
 
On Easter Sunday, March 27, opportunities to worship will include a 6:30 a.m. sunrise service at Oak Street Beach, with Hardy Kim preaching; 8:00, 9:30, and 11:30 a.m. services in the Sanctuary, with Shannon Kershner preaching; and a 4:00 p.m. jazz service in the Sanctuary, with Layton Williams preaching. A children's Easter service led by Matt Helms will be held at 9:30 a.m., starting on the fourth floor of the Gratz Center. Please note that the last morning service on Easter Sunday will begin at 11:30 a.m. as on Palm Sunday (see above). 
 
Back to top 
sevenLove Is a Verb
An Interfaith Event
This Wednesday, March 16 the Interfaith Resource Committee will host a screening of the film Love Is a Verb. This documentary details the work of Fethullah Gulen--Muslim scholar and humanitarian--and the Gulen movement, which has helped develop education, intercultural dialogue, bridge building, and humanitarian aid in more than 165 countries.

For more information about this free event, contact Anne Ellis. 

Time: 
     Wednesday, March 16
     6:30 p.m.

Place: 
      Buchanan Chapel

Back to top 
eightA New Pastoral Resident 
Introducing Abigail Heimach-Snipes
Since 2000 Fourth Church has had a Pastoral Residency program to offer recent seminary graduates the opportunity to work in a congregational setting while being mentored in the skills and disciplines of parish leadership.

These pastoral "residents" spend two years at Fourth Church, and as our current resident, Layton Williams, will be concluding her term this summer, a committee has recently reviewed and interviewed candidates who applied to become our next Pastoral Resident, a term that will begin later this summer.
 
We are pleased to share that Abigail Heimach-Snipes, who anticipates graduating from McCormick Seminary this May, has accepted our offer to participate in the Pastoral Residency program from late summer of 2016 through the summer of 2018. A member of Irvington Presbyterian Church in Indianapolis, Abbi has ministry experience at the denominational level with the Presbyterian Hunger Program, Peacemaking Program, and Young Adult Catalyst Office. She has also worked with Urban Village Church and Crossroads Antiracism.

We look forward to welcoming Abbi to Fourth Church later this year!

Back to top 
worshipWorship This Week
Fifth Sunday in Lent
March 13, 2016
8:00 a.m. with Communion
Layton Williams, Pastoral Resident, preaching
Scripture texts:

9:30 and 11:00 a.m. with Baptisms
Shannon J. Kershner, Pastor, preaching
Scripture texts:

4:00 p.m. Jazz Service with Communion
Layton Williams, Pastoral Resident, preaching
Scripture texts:
 
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/2016/031316no.pdf

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

Back to top
Concerts at Fourth Church
Friday Noonday concerts are free.

Friday, March 18
Andrew Nogal, oboist
12:10 p.m. in Buchanan Chapel

Friday, March 18
Organ Dedication Concert
   with John W. W. Sherer, organist
   (Organist and Director of Music at Fourth Church)
7:30 p.m. in the Sanctuary

Friday, March 25
No Noonday concert on Good Friday

Friday, March 25 Good Friday Choral Service
   with the Fourth Church Morning Choir
   singing Francis Poulenc's Stabat Mater 
7:30 p.m. in the Sanctuary 
 
A complete concert schedule is available online. 
 
Back to top
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
 
Ushers for the 11:00 a.m. worship service

Nursery caregivers during the 9:30 and 11:00 a.m. worship services

Sunday School teachers
during the 9:30 and 11:00 a.m. worship services  

Tutors for Chicago Lights Tutoring
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.

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. 
Copyright © 2016 Fourth Presbyterian Church. All Rights Reserved.

To subscribe to this weekly newsletter, email news@fourthchurch.org
To receive Fourth Church newsletters on specific topics,
click on "Update Profile" below.

Fourth Presbyterian Church
126 E. Chestnut
Chicago, IL 60611.2014
312.787.4570
www.fourthchurch.org
www.facebook.com/fourthchurch