Spiritual Formation


2024 Pilgrimage: Camino de Santiago

Spiritual Growth Opportunities

Christ has called us to be his disciples, and as a community we focus on discerning and responding to this call individually and corporately, for the sake of the world.

Through the leading of the Holy Spirit, our hearts can be transformed to become the persons God created us to be by loving God and our neighbors more deeply. Spiritual formation is key to this transformative journey.

We invite you to join us on this journey, to partake of spiritual formation opportunities we offer throughout the year—practices, experiences, and disciplines for people of faith to deepen our relationships with God, neighbor, and self.

The Spiritual Formation Council hopes that these opportunities will help strengthen your spiritual growth:

Adult Education Classes
Bible Study Men’s | Women’s
Contemplative Retreats
Path of Discipleship
Pilgrimage Trips
Labyrinth Ministry
Meditation
Daily Devotions


Adult Education Classes

This adult education program provides short-term and ongoing education for our members, friends of the church, and the wider community. All programming is currently offered virtually via Zoom. No matter your particular interests, we trust the Academy’s offerings will provide opportunities for growth and Christian community.

For information about upcoming Academy classes, click here.

Back to top


Contemplative Retreats

Contemplative retreats are held at a nearby retreat center at various times during the church year, typically during Advent and Lent.

Back to top


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 Path of Discipleship series, hosted by the Spiritual Formation Council, 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 is grounded in James Martin’s New York Times bestselling work Jesus: A Pilgrimage.

As we focus on a sampling of chapters of this marvelous and sweeping work, Associate Pastors Nancy Benson-Nicol and Joe Morrow are our guides for a dynamic way to learn more about the portrait of Jesus in the Gospels and to absorb firsthand experiences of pilgrimages through the Holy Land and other lands.

We are also sharing in both in-person and online experiences of discussion, spiritual practices, shared meals, special guests, and other activities.

Registration is required and closes on Tuesday, February 27.

Tuesdays, February 20–March 26
6:30–8:00 p.m.
via Zoom weekly
and also in person on February 20 and March 26
Registration required

Back to top


Pilgrimage Trips

2024 Pilgrimage: Camino de Santiago

In June 2024, an intergenerational group of members and friends of Fourth Church will spend six days walking a portion of the Camino de Santiago in Spain, one of Christianity’s oldest and most popular pilgrimage routes.

We will spend our time together walking a portion of the Camino Portuguese, a relatively level route which can accommodate walkers with a wide range of experience and ability. We will begin at the coastal city of Baiona and walk from there to the city of Santiago de Compostela, the the end point of the Camino and the legendary resting place of the apostle James the Elder.

Each day we will walk between eight and seventeen miles, stopping when necessary for rest, meals, and sightseeing and staying at simple but comfortable hostels or bed and breakfasts. We will have opportunities for excursions, worship at local churches, and daily time for devotion and reflection.

Registration for this pilgrimage closes Sunday, February 25.

For more information, contact Associate Pastor Joe Morrow.

In the past, groups from Fourth Church have participated in pilgrimages to Iona, Scotland, and Ghost Ranch, New Mexico.


Labyrinth Ministry

A tool for prayer and meditation for those seeking God, the labyrinth in Buchanan Chapel is available for walking several days of most weeks.

More on the labyrinth

Back to top


Meditation

Those interested in meditation will find a variety of opportunities available at Fourth Church. Members of the Center for Life and Learning (a Fourth Church program for adults sixty and over) gather weekly for “Mindfulness Meditation,” and the Replogle Center for Counseling and Well-Being hosts weekly meditation workshops on Tuesday evenings.

Back to top


Subscribing to Daily Devotions

Daily devotions, written by the staff of Fourth Church, are available via email (sign up here or send addresses to devotions@fourthchurch.org).

Devotions are also posted on Facebook (www.facebook.com/fourthchurch) and online.

Back to top

FIND US

126 E. Chestnut Street
(at Michigan Avenue)
Chicago, Illinois 60611.2014
(Across from the Hancock)

For events in the Sanctuary,
enter from Michigan Avenue

Getting to Fourth Church

Receptionist: 312.787.4570

Directory: 312.787.2729

 

 

© 1998—2023 Fourth Presbyterian Church