Fourth Presbyterian Church: A Light in the City

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

Maundy Thursday

Maundy Thursday, March 28
12:10 p.m. in person
with Communion and optional foot and handwashing

6:30 p.m. in person and online
Tenebrae, with Communion

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.

Our 6:30 p.m. service on Maundy Thursday 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

Good Friday, March 29
12:10 p.m. in person

5:30 p.m. in person
Children’s program

6:30 p.m. in person and online
Choral Service featuring Stabat Mater by Francis Poulenc

On this most solemn day of the church year, we gather for two Good Friday worship opportunities: a 12:10 p.m. service and a 6:30 p.m. service.

The evening service, which is also livestreamed, includes choral works sung by the Morning Choir. Then, as we extinguish the flickering Christ candle and enter the solemn observance of the weekend, the bells toll thirty-three times, once for each year of Jesus’ life on earth.

At 5:30 p.m. we also have 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

Holy Saturday, March 30
7:00 p.m. in person

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.

At this 7:00 p.m. service we will join with friends from First Presbyterian Church and Edgewater Presbyterian church to hear readings from scripture that cover the story of salvation, from creation through redemption, and join together in sacred song. We also reaffirm our baptismal vows and celebrate the Lord’s Supper.

Easter Sunday

Easter Sunday, March 31
6:30 a.m. Sunrise Service in person
with Communion
at Oak Street Beach

9:30 a.m. Children’s Program
in the Gratz Center

9:30 a.m. Easter Service in person and online

11:30 a.m. Easter Worship in person

2:00 p.m. Gathering Service in person and online
a more casual and intimate service with Communion

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

The 9:30 a.m. Easter service will be livestreamed, with the prelude beginning around 9:15 a.m., and will be available to watch anytime later that morning or afterwards.

Livestreamed worship is accessible by going to www.bit.ly/fpcvideos, subscribing to our YouTube channel, or clicking on the photo with a “Play” arrow on the home page of the Fourth Church website.

For those without Internet access, audio only is available by phone (toll free) by calling 888.916.9166.

Seating begins a half hour prior to each of the services in the Sanctuary.

Entrance for the 9:30 and 11:30 a.m. Easter services is only the glass Loggia doors on Michigan Avenue, next to the courtyard.

Nursery care is available between 9:00 a.m. and 12:45 p.m.

Sunday parking is available at 900 N. Michigan (access from Rush or Walton) at the rate of $9 for 6 hours (and $18 for up to 12 hours) and at the Hancock garage (875 N. Michigan, enter from Delaware or Chestnut) at the rate of $10 between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. Validation tickets for the garages must be picked up from ushers.

Daily Lenten and Easter Devotions

A resource for meditation and prayer, our daily Lenten and Easter 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 and Easter seasons is our “Rhythm and Word” video series. These 10-minute worship experiences, which weave together scripture, prayer, and music, are released on our YouTube channel on 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.

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.

Ash Wednesday

To begin our Lenten journey, we gathered for two worship services on Ash Wednesday. Both services included Communion and the opportunity to receive the imposition of ashes. You can view the 6:30 p.m. service here.

We also made the imposition of ashes available outside the Sanctuary throughout the day. This was offered for those in our community who were 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.

Path of Discipleship

Registration for this weekly series is now closed.

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 Path of Discipleship series offers an opportunity to do so in the company of others, in person and online.

In 2024 this opportunity to deepen our relationship with God while making meaningful connections with others was grounded in James Martin’s New York Times bestselling work Jesus: A Pilgrimage.

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 gifts for Easter 2024 flowers has now passed. We invite you to watch for information in November about honoring loved ones through contributions to Christmas wreaths and flowers.

Palm/Passion Sunday

One of Fourth Church’s most beloved traditions takes place during morning worship on on Palm/Passion Sunday: the processional of children entering the Sanctuary waving palms. Those worshiping with us from home are 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 celebrate with palms and loud hosannas Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem. But the tone quickly changes, as shouts of “Hosanna!” gave way to the cries of “Crucify him!” and we remember where this journey leads: to the cross of Good Friday.