Fourth Presbyterian Church: A Light in the City

Easter Sunday
One Great Hour of Sharing
Daily Lenten and Easter Devotions
Weekly “Rhythm and Word” Videos
Ash Wednesday
Palm/Passion Sunday
Lenten Taizé Service
Path of Discipleship
Easter Flowers
Maundy Thursday
Good Friday
Easter Vigil

Easter Sunday | April 9

Each Easter Sunday we gather for a festive celebration of the resurrection of the Lord.

This year we came together for an Easter sunrise service at Oak Street Beach; two festive Easter morning services in the Sanctuary (with the 9:00 service also livestreamed and still available on YouTube); and an afternoon Easter jazz service in Buchanan Chapel.

One Great Hour of Sharing Offering

Each year throughout Lent and on Easter we receive the One Great Hour of Sharing Offering. Your gifts to the One Great Hour of Sharing Offering touch the lives of those in need, respond to injustice, provide shelter, and feed the hungry, both here in our city and around the world.

Your gifts support

Chicago Lights Social Service Center, which annually supports 1,800 individuals who are experiencing homelessness or who are in transition, helping them gain greater stability through case management, a food pantry, clothing assistance, referrals to other agencies, and outreach
Chicago Lights Tutoring, which encourages 400 students living in under-resourced neighborhoods to graduate from high school and pursue higher education and meaningful careers
Fourth Church Meals Ministry, which distributes bag lunches each week, Tuesday through Thursday, and serves a hot supper on both Sunday and Monday nights, providing more than 36,000 meals per year for guests who are homeless
Presbyterian Hunger Program, which takes action to alleviate hunger, care for creation, and address the systemic causes of poverty so all may be fed
Self-Development of People, which partners with communities responding to their experiences of oppression, poverty, and injustice and educates Presbyterians about the impact of these issues
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, which works alongside communities as they recover and find hope after the devastation of natural or human-caused disasters and provides support for refugees

You can designate a gift to a “One Great Hour of Sharing” when making a gift online.

Daily Lenten and Easter Devotions

A resource for meditation and prayer, our daily Lenten devotions include reflections written by Fourth Church members and staff. Devotions are available in a variety of ways:

by email (sign up at www.bit.ly/fpcdevotions or send email addresses to devotions@fourthchurch.org)
via Facebook
via Twitter
online

Weekly “Rhythm and Word” Videos

Also available for your reflection during the Lenten season is our “Rhythm and Word” video series led by Rocky Supinger. These 10-minute worship experiences, which weave together scripture, prayer, and music, are released on our YouTube channel on Lenten Wednesdays at 6:00 p.m.

To receive notification when new videos are released, subscribe to our YouTube channel, or sign up at www.bit.ly/rhythmandwordemail to receive the videos by email.

Path of Discipleship

The season of Lent invites us to thoughtfully take up the gifts of faith — worship, study, prayer, and service — in preparation for Holy Week and Christ’s journey to the cross. Our weekly in-person Path of Discipleship series offers an opportunity to do so in the company of others. Generally focusing on one book throughout the season, we gome together one evening a week to discuss the book with a member of the pastoral staff, share in small-group discussion, and take part in a time of worship.

In 2023 that weekly series, which began on February 28 (and for which registration is now closed), explores The Spiritual Resilience Handbook by Connie Fourre.

Memorial Gifts for Easter Flowers

Each year we are invited to recognize those who are special in our life by making contributions toward the purchase of Easter flowers to decorate the Sanctuary. The names of those honored or remembered by the gifts are printed in the Easter bulletin.

The deadline for making contributions toward the purchase of 2023 Easter flowers has passed. We invite you to look for information in November 2023 about the opportunity to remember loved ones through gifts toward Christmas flowers.

Ash Wednesday | February 22

To begin our Lenten journey, we gathered for two worship services on Ash Wednesday, February 22, one at midday and one in the evening (which you can watch here).

Both services included Communion and the opportunity to receive the imposition of ashes.

Throughout the day we also had “Ashes on the Way,” making the imposition of ashes available outside the Sanctuary. This is offered for those in our community who are unable to be with us for worship but who find the ashes to be a meaningful way to mark the beginning of this season of repentance and reflection.

Palm/Passion Sunday | April 2

One of Fourth Church’s most beloved traditions took place during morning worship on on Palm/Passion Sunday: the processional of children entering the Sanctuary waving palms. Those worshiping with us from home were invited to join the festive opening to worship by having on hand a printed and colored palm.

On this first day of Holy Week — the most important week on the Christian calendar — we celebrated with palms and loud hosannas Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem. But the tone quickly changed, as shouts of “Hosanna!” gave way to the cries of “Crucify him!” and we remembered where this journey leads: to the cross of Good Friday.

Lenten Taizé Service

The quiet candlelit Lenten Taizé service held on March 24 offered a contemplative time of meditative song, silent reflection, and prayer for peace, reconciliation, and unity.

Maundy Thursday | April 6

Maundy Thursday receives its name from the Latin mandatum novum do vobis, “A new commandment I give you.” This new commandment, given by Jesus on the night he washed the disciples’ feet, was “to love one another just as I have loved you.” It is his example of — and our call to — love and service that we remember on Maundy Thursday.

It is also the day we commemorate the Last Supper.

On Maundy Thursday our evening service follows the ancient Office of Tenebrae (from the Latin for “shadows”), a worship opportunity that many find particularly meaningful. The service portrays the progression from light to darkness in the passion of Jesus, beginning with his abandonment on Thursday and concluding with his crucifixion. The service ends with the Sanctuary in complete darkness.

Good Friday | April 7

On this most solemn day of the church year, we gathered for two Good Friday worship opportunities: a noonday service and an evening service.

The evening service included choral works sung by the Morning Choir. Then, as we extinguished the flickering Christ candle and entered the solemn observance of the weekend, the bells tolled thirty-three times, once for each year of Jesus’ life on earth.

In the late afternoon we also had a Good Friday Children’s Program in Buchanan Chapel, offering an opportunity to introduce children to Jesus’ death without overwhelming them with details.

Easter Vigil | April 8

An ancient tradition of the church, the Saturday evening Easter vigil invites us into the story of salvation as we mark the conclusion of Lent and the dawning of Easter.

Together we heard readings from scripture that cover the story of salvation, from creation through redemption, and joined together in sacred song. We also reaffirmed our baptismal vows and celebrated the Lord’s Supper.