Domestic Violence Awareness Month 

Purple Bows Tied on Trees outside the Manse
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
12:30-3:30 p.m.
Light lunch provided

Untie and Take-Down Purple Bows from the Trees outside the Manse
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m.
Coffee and doughnuts and light lunch provided

To volunteer contact Terrill Stumpf at 312.981.3396 or Anne Ellis at 312.573.3369.

To Heal the Heart: In a Community of Faith, Responding to Family Violence
Conference at Moody Church, October 7-8
This conference is open to community members, including pastors, social ministry leaders, social workers, clinicians, students, and lay leaders.

For more information, visit the Moody Church website.

Very Young Girls
A documentary film screening and panel discusion
Friday, November 11, 2011
6:00–9:00 p.m. in Anderson Hall

The Sunlight Project of Fourth Presbyterian Church, an education, advocacy, and action group that works to shine a bright light on and end the sexual trafficking of Chicago children, is sponsoring a screening and discussion of the documentary film Very Young Girls.

The film is an exposé of the commercial sexual exploitation of girls in New York City as they are sold on the streets by pimps and treated as adult criminals by police. Afterwards a panel will discuss this film produced by Showtime Network for the Girls Educational Mentoring Services (GEMS) and the issues it raises.

Panel Participants
Donna Werner, Werner Health & Wellness, provides individual health coaching and wellness presentations to clients and the public. She works on a volunteer basis to raise awareness about the commercial sexual exploitation of children and domestic human trafficking. Donna served as one of the founding board members of GEMS and as chairperson of the GEMS Board of Directors for four years.

Andrea Hall, Senior Organizer, Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, serves as a member of the Prostitution Alternatives Roundtable (PART) and as an advocate/activist for women's rights, particularly those involved in the sex trade. Drea has worked tirelessly at assisting to change policies and laws at a state level and ensuring the stories of survivors are heard. 

Octavia Tyson, Therapist, Chicago Women's AIDS Project (CWAP), currently works as the South Side therapist for CWAP and as a clinical case manager for a nonprofit. She is a licensed professional counselor who holds her Master's Degree in Clinical Psychology from Roosevelt University. In addition she volunteers as a therapist and community organizer for the Breaking Free project helping young, single mothers who have been formerly prostituted and with Diamonds in the Rough Inc. Octavia also serves as a committee member of the Prostitution Alternatives Roundtable.   

For more information about the Sunshine Project, please contact Nancy Davis (312.274.3815).

Christmas Wishes Gift Project
Plans are being finalized for the Christmas Wishes Gift Project that benefits children from such programs and agencies as the Chicago Lights Tutoring Program, Casa Central, Chicago Christian Industrial League, Christopher House, Erie Neighborhood House, and the Sunlight African Community Center.

Volunteering opportunities will include helping at gift-wrapping parties as well as organizing, tracking, and distributing the gifts collected. If you would like to be contacted as a volunteer for this project, contact Anne Ellis. 

Women@Fourth Connect Steering Committee Meetings
We invite you to join us at the W@FC Steering Committee meetings. The committee meets monthly on the third Thursday of the month from August through May.

Time and place
Thursday, October 20
5:30 p.m. in the Calvin Room on the 19th floor of the 737 building

Thursday, November 17
5:30 p.m. in the Calvin Room on the 19th floor of the 737 building

Opportunities with Fourth Church Neighbors

Check back periodically for updates on opportunities of interest hosted by neighbors and partner organizations.

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Ongoing Groups of Women@Fourth Connect

• Books by Women
Second Tuesdays from 6:00 to 7:15 p.m., September through June
At the 737 building

This book group has met faithfully for well over a decade to discuss classic and contemporary works by women authors. All are welcome: simply join the conversation whenever your schedule allows and the book interests you.

November 8, 2011. A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan (2010). Ms. Egan creates a set of characters with assorted links to the music business. Every character in this book has a dark side. A Visit from the Goon Squad, which is the winner of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the winner of the 2011 National Book Critics Circle Award, is an unconventional narrative written in an experimental format. For instance, one chapter in the book is seventy pages of PowerPoint charts meant to reflect the rogue thoughts of two adolescent children. Paperback (352 pages); also available in ebook format.

December 13, 2011. Burning Bright by Tracy Chevalier (2007). This story depicts the lives of a chair-maker's family lured to London by the promise of work during the French Revolution. Ms. Chevalier, also the author of The Girl with the Pearl Earring, writes from the perspective of the chair-maker's son, Jem, who befriends his famous neighbor, William Blake. The parallel story follows a part of the life of William Blake and the inspiration for his famous illustrated collection of poems, Songs of Innocence and Experience. Paperback (308 pages); also available in ebook format.

These books are available through local and online retailers and at the Book Nook during Coffee Hour after the 9:30 and 11:00 a.m. services.

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• Benevolent Guild
Most Wednesdays at 9:30 a.m.
September through December; March through June
At the 737 building, in the Calvin Room

Do you have some time to share on Wednesday mornings? The Benevolent Guild invites you to join in the fun of creating. You are also encouraged to bring a brown bag lunch and stay for a time of fellowship following the work session.

The group meets on Wednesdays at 9:30 a.m. in the Page Smith Room and concludes around noon with scripture and mission information followed by a brown-bag sandwich lunch together.

For more information, please contact Anne Ellis at aellis@fourthchurch.org (312.573.3369).

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• Sewing and Knitting Workshop
Fourth Tuesdays from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m.
At the 737 building

Join this active group of women who sew and knit items for those in need (items such as hats and scarves for adults and children, children’s pajamas and clothes, baby booties and crib caps, lap robes, and more). The group is designed to accommodate working women as well as those who stay at home, allowing participants to produce their wares on their own time.

• Quarterly Moms’ Nights Out -- We gather at a restaurant for dinner. 
• “Great Expectations” Shower -- We host a shower for expectant moms at Fourth Church. The next shower will be Sunday, October 30, 2011, at 12:30 p.m. in the Randolph Room. Those who are expecting a baby or have welcomed a new baby into their family in the past year are invited to meet other parents at Fourth Church at a luncheon especially for them. It's a great opportunity to talk about "baby issues" and make new friends. RSVP to Liz Nickerson at 312.573.3366.
  

• Lincoln Park Group -- meets Mondays from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m.
• Gold Coast Group -- meets Tuesdays from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m.
• Wednesday Evening Moms’ Group -- meets the second Wednesday of each month from 7:30 to 9:00 p.m. (Location varies on the North Side)
  
  For more information or to join a group, contact Liz Nickerson (312.573.3366).