Adult Education Videos
We encourage you to explore — or revisit, if you already attended the classes — the videos from these popular courses!
Christians’ Role in Combatting Antisemitism
Enneagram as a Tool for Spiritual Growth
Earth-Keeping as a Spiritual Practice
Path of Discipleship: A Lenten Series
Israel and Palestine: How We Talk about the Conflict
The Book of Job and the Invention of Faith
Presbyterian Witness: A Brief Statement of Faith
David: Shepherd, Warrior, Monarch
Presbyterian Witness, Part One: The Apostles’ Creed
Understanding Gender Identity as a Church Community
Paradigm Shift: An Artist’s Story
The Great Divide: Inequity within Chicago Public Schools
Black History: Impact on Our Faith Traditions
On Restoring God’s Beloved Community
Pandemics, Biblical Reflections, and a Christian Call to Action
His Truth Is Marching On: The Life of John Lewis
Foundations of Faith: A Year with the Bible
Christians’ Role in Combatting Antisemitism
This course continues the discussion started at the November 2, 2023, Michigan Avenue Forum about our role in combatting antisemitism. Topics include the Scriptures used as the justification for antisemitism, the historical roots of antisemitism, and the rise of antisemitism today.
Session 1: Rabbi Michael Weinberg, Chicago Sinai Congregation
Faith in Hard Times
“When Bad Things Happen to Good People”
In this 3-part class, Amy Pagliarella digs deeply into the age-old question: if God is all-loving, how can Christians make sense of personal trauma and collective evil in the world? The class explores the different ways Christians and people of other faiths have attempted to explain this over the years.
Those discussed in this course include theologians and writers who have asked these questions (e.g. Rabbi Harold Kushner, Kate Bowler, Viktor Frankl, Elie Wiesel, Delores Williams, and others from the Black Womanist tradition). The course concludes with a look at how our theology of evil/tragedy can help sustain us and support others during tough times.
Foundations of Islam
“Discovering Common Ground and Debunking the Myths,” a 3-part course taught by Nanette Sawyer, Arshan Khalid, and Aisha Subhan.
Session 1 | Session 2 | Session 3
Celtic Spirituality
This class, taught by former Associate Pastor Vicky Curtiss, offers opportunity to explore the Celtic life-affirming theology of creation, daily life and work, incarnation, friendship, pilgrimage, blessing, social justice, and prayer.
Session 1 | Session 2 | Session 3
The Ancestors in Genesis
This class, taught by the lively and ever-popular Tom Dozeman, explores the themes of identity that emerge—both for ancient Israel and for contemporary readers—in the three cycles of stories about Abraham, Sarah, and Hagar; Isaac and Rebekah; and Jacob, Leah, and Rachel.
In looking at these stories, which are complex and hardly heroic, the class also examines the aim of the biblical authors in composing the literature and different ways in which readers have found identity in the stories.
Session 1 | Session 2 | Session 3
The Enneagram as a Tool for Spiritual Growth
This series provides opportunity to learn about the enneagram and how to apply it as a tool for enhanced self-awareness; heart, head, and body intelligence; and the spiritual dimensions of all nine enneagram types, their virtues and vices, and the holy ideas that reconnect us to our true nature and oneness with God.
Session 1 | Session 2 | Printable supplement
In her book The Luminous Web, Barbara Brown Taylor explores the dialogue between science and faith, describing her journey as a preacher learning what the insights of quantum physics, biology, and chaos theory can teach a person of faith. This class led by Lucy Forster-Smith andJim Ford, discussed and expanded on these topics, including why scientists sound like poets and why physicists use the language of imagination, ambiguity, and mystery also found in scripture.
Earth-Keeping as a Spiritual Practice
This class, led by Amy Pagliarella, explored what it looks like when sustainable living is valued as a spiritual practice.
Path of Discipleship: A Lenten Series
This year’s six-part series, led by Nanette Sawyer and Joe Morrow, centered around the book Back to the Well: Women’s Encounters with Jesus in the Gospel by Frances Taylor Gench.
Israel and Palestine: How We Talk about the Conflict
This class, led by Nanette Sawyer, examined the basic history of the region; the meaning and importance of homeland for Jews and Palestinians (Muslim and Christian); competing claims of sovereignty; the lenses through which we see and interpret the conflict; brief history of PC(USA) statements on the region; how the words we use affect how we are heard; and how our faith calls us to act.
The Book of Job and the Invention of Faith
This course, led by Adam Rose, explored how the Book of Job transforms the Hebrew Bible’s concept of God (from a large-but-finite and explicable deity to an infinite and fundamentally inexplicable one) and therefore, the proper behavior of both humans and God in the relationship they share and the possibility of a covenant between them.
Presbyterian Witness: A Brief Statement of Faith
This class—led by Jeffrey Doane—considered A Brief Statement of Faith, examining what makes this statement both universal for Christians and specific to the Reformed tradition and how it serves us as believers, children of God, and people in the modern world.
Watch the three sessions of “A Brief Statement of Faith”
From a church- and Chicago-based perspective, this course examined the 1619 Project, an acclaimed New York Times series on slavery’s continuing legacy of injustice and inequality. Topics included the history of slavery, African religious and cultural practices brought to America, the history of the Great Migration to Chicago, the 1919 Chicago race riot, and present-day struggles of America’s and Chicago’s Black community.
In commemoration of the church’s 150th anniversary, we examined the many wonderful aspects of our physical environment at Michigan Avenue and Chestnut Street. Don Allerton, who has led tours of the church for many years, explained the architectural aspects of Fourth Church’s present building and, in the second class, took attendees on a tour of the sanctuary and public spaces. Come learn the many secrets of our lovely building!
Watch “Architecture of Fourth Church”
God in the Modern Wing: The Book
One of our most popular classes in recent years, “God in the Modern Wing,” explored spiritual and artistic expression in the work of outstanding modern abstract artists. Extending and heightening this conversation, a collection of essays on the topic was recently released. The collection’s co-editor Walter Hansen discusses the work with us.
Watch “God in the Modern Wing: The Book”
Led by Lucy Forster-Smith and Tom Forster-Smith, this Bible study examined themes and events in Genesis.
David: Shepherd, Warrior, Monarch
This open and lively discussion of the life of the Old Testament figure David and his importance for our faith is led by Pastor Emeritus John M. Buchanan and Tom Dozeman of United Theological Seminary.
Watch “David: Shepherd, Warrior, Monarch”
Presbyterian Witness, Part One: The Apostles’ Creed
While many can recite statements of faith by memory or by rote, the true import of those statements and their place in the history of faith is a fascinating study.
This class explores one of the earliest, the Apostles’ Creed, along with its history, its language, and its importance for what we believe.
Watch “Presbyterian Witness, Part One: The Apostles’ Creed”
Understanding Gender Identity as a Church Community
As a loving and compassionate church community, we are called to understand, engage with, and minister to all, even when circumstances are confusing or break with traditional religious teachings and customs. Led by Community Outreach staff from Lurie Children’s Hospital, this course explores definitions and perspectives on gender identity and fosters understanding, so that all can feel at home at Fourth Church.
Session 1 | Session 2 | Session 3
Paradigm Shift: An Artist’s Story
In a one-on-one interview with Cynthia Johnson, Gerald Griffin — a prolific painter, sculptor, and poet whose painting “The Ascension” hangs in our Commons — provided us with a social commentary on current racial identity and effects on lingering problems of racial identity. Griffin’s “Paradigm Shift" is a series based on the concept of African Americans being viewed from the historical perspective of slavery. His narrative and art is focused on shifting that paradigm, exploring the life of modern-day African Americans, who they are as American people, and how they fit into the human family.
Watch “Paradigm Shift: An Artist’s Story”
We were honored to have Dr. Steed Davidson lead us in an exploration of “Women in the Book of Judges.” Dr. Davidson is Dean of the Faculty and Vice President of Academic Affairs at McCormick Theological Seminary, where he is also Professor of Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. An ordained elder within the United Methodist Church, he is the author of Empire and Exile: Postcolonial Readings of Selected Texts of the Book of Jeremiah, as well as Writing/Reading the Bible in Postcolonial Perspective. He also serves on the editorial boards of Biblical Interpretation and Black Theology: An International Journal.
Watch “Women in the Book of Judges”
The Great Divide: Inequity within Chicago Public Schools
The average SAT score for Whitney Young High School students is 1286; for Harlan High students it is 773. Yet these youth are all part of the Chicago Public School (CPS) system. Why is there such great disparity among CPS schools? What needs to happen for all CPS students to get a high-quality education? What is our responsibility as Chicagoans and as part of the Fourth Church community?
In this series we hear from Derrick Dawson (Co-Program Coordinator, Chicago Regional Organizing Against Racism), Maurice Swinney (Chief Equity Officer, Chicago Public Schools), and Cassie Burke (Bureau Chief for the Chicago edition of Chalkbeat).
Black History: Impact on Our Faith Traditions
The history many of us learned about our country and institutions—including churches—often overlooks the contributions, perspectives, and experiences of African Americans. This series highlights several aspects of history in the United States to help viewers gain a more complete picture of who and what has shaped our faith communities.
Watch “Black History: Impact on Our Faith Traditions”
On Restoring God’s Beloved Community: Looking for Guidance in Scripture
Jews and Gentiles created a uniquely inclusive community following the resurrection of Jesus. These early followers sought to live not by rules of empire but by the guidance of the Holy Spirit. A Holy Presence can be seen in their efforts to heal creation, working from distorted images of what it is to be human that derive from the early colonization of lands and peoples. Over time, this process led to the ongoing tenacious hold of white nationalism on religious and civic life. This series uses A Theological Commentary on the Book of Acts by Willie James Jennings, Associate Professor of Systematic Theology and Africana Studies at Yale Divinity School, to guide conversation.
Watch “Restoring God’s Beloved Community”
Pandemics, Biblical Reflections, and a Christian Call to Action
Using Walter Brueggeman’s Virus as a Summons of Faith as a starting point, this class examines the ways COVID-19 challenges us to reexamine and rededicate our faith. The pandemic has forced us to confront our worldly limitations and consider the unknowability of God’s plans for us. As we begin building a “new normal,” the lessons we can learn must not be swept away. Rather, the upheaval has presented us with a new urgency for restoring our covenant with God through prayer and service.
Watch “Pandemics, Biblical Reflections, and a Christian Call to Action”
His Truth Is Marching On: The Life of John Lewis
The life of the late civil rights pioneer and United States Representative John Lewis is the subject of a recent biography by Jon Meacham, His Truth Is Marching On: John Lewis and the Power of Hope. Meacham’s book served as the basis of this class, which explored Lewis’s struggles during the 1960s, his later political life, and his faith in the American system to overcome its past problems and affirm the worth and rights of all its citizens.
Watch “The Life of John Lewis”
Through scriptural study and discussion, this class examines the persistent mercy of God in the comic and tragic story of Jonah, the reluctant prophet.
Watch “Jonah: The Reluctant Prophet”
Foundations of Faith: A Year with the Bible
This series, led by Fourth Church clergy, gives viewers the opportunity to explore the biblical narrative of our Jewish and Christian heritage, focusing on passages that chronicle this faith journey. Each session considers a passage in its historical setting and addresses how the passage is relevant to the contemporary world. Each session is self-contained, so watch as many sessions as you like, or the whole series!
Past Foundations of Faith Classes
“Knowing God, Loving God, Serving God” with David Handley
Watch a recording of this class
“Varying Voices of the Prophets: Cries for Justice, Lamentation, and Consolation” with Jeffrey Doane
Watch recordings of this class
“From Pentecost to Constantine: How the Early Church Grew” with Matt Helms
Watch recordings of this class
“Scriptural Journeys: The Enduring Power of Migrations in the Bible” with Joe Morrow
Watch recordings of this class
“End Times: A New Look” with Lucy Forster-Smith
Watch recordings of this class
“Love Letters: 1, 2, 3 John” with Rocky Supinger
Watch recordings of this class
“The Bible as a Weapon: Disarming the Clobber Passages” with Nanette Sawyer
Watch recordings of this class
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