Lent begins with Ash Wednesday on March 5 and concludes with Easter Sunday on April 20.
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Author: npc-laureny
Engaging the World through Song, Study, and Service
Adult Education for February 2 – March 2
Sundays, 9:30 am, in the Assembly Room, unless otherwise noted
Explore how faith inspires meaningful action, deepens cultural understanding, and fosters justice and hope. Through hymn singing, historical reflections, theological insights, and community empowerment, these sessions invite participants to engage the world with compassion, courage, and purpose.
Audio recordings will be posted below each class description.
February 2 | Noel Werner
Lord, Make Me an Instrument: A Hymn Sing
Our bodies are instruments tuned for praise, singing with the Spirit and understanding, proclaiming the redeeming work of God, and carrying the Gospel into our homes, community, and world. Come for a hymn sing that celebrates songs of welcome in the midst of exclusion, courage in the midst of fear, hope in the midst of despair, love in the midst of hate, and light in the midst of darkness. Lord, make us instruments of thy peace!
Due to the interactive nature of this class, no recording was attempted.
Noel Werner has been the Director of Music at Nassau Presbyterian Church since 2006. Prior to this position, he was the Minister of Music at Central Presbyterian Church in Summit, New Jersey. Noel holds degrees from Westminster Choir College, Indiana University (Bloomington), and Christian Theological Seminary (Disciples of Christ) in Indianapolis. His wife, the Rev. Wendi Werner, is the solo pastor of First Presbyterian Church at Dayton, New Jersey. They have two daughters, Sophie and Emily.
February 9 | Heath Carter
The Sense of Our Small Effort: Faithful Witness in Dangerous Times
The word “unprecedented” is often overused these days. The reality is that U.S. democracy has often been imperiled and that constellations of power in this country have often been deeply unjust. In this session we’ll delve into some examples of how those who have gone before us have engaged faithfully in dangerous times. Far from suggesting that things never change, their example underscores the stakes of even the smallest efforts for a better church and world.
Dr. Heath W. Carter is the Associate Professor of American Christianity and Director of PhD Studies at Princeton Theological Seminary. Carter is the author and/or co-editor of 4 books and is finishing another entitled On Earth as it is in Heaven: Social Christians and the Fight to End American Inequality. He is also an Editor at Large for Eerdmans Publishing Company and the senior co-editor of the Journal of Presbyterian History.
February 16 | Rose Mary Amenga-Etego
Navigating the Tensions of Belonging
Despite centuries of Christianity in Ghana (Gold Coast in 1471), Ghanaian Christians continue to struggle with what it means to be Christian while maintaining their respective family relations and cultural identities. With ethnographic interview data from an ongoing Overseas Ministries Study Center (OMSC) research project on “The interplay between Christianity and indigenous religions in Ghanaian Christian funeral rites,” I wish to share with you some of my findings on how contemporary Ghanaian Christians negotiate their dual/multiple identities whether in the homeland or diaspora.
Rose Mary Amenga-Etego (PhD) is an Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Department for the Study of Religions, University of Ghana. She obtained her PhD from the School of Divinity, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, after her BA and MPhil degrees in Religions from the University of Ghana. She is a Research Associate of the Research Institute for Theology and Religion, University of South Africa, Ghana’s Representative of the African Association for the Study of Religions and a member of the Circle of Concerned African Women Theologians. She is also an Extraordinary Minister of the Holy Eucharistic and a catechist, teaching and learning the faith together with adult English-speaking catechumens of the St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Chaplaincy in the University of Ghana campus. She is currently one of the OMSC Resident Scholars at Princeton Theological Seminary.
February 23 | Raimundo Barreto
Introducing Liberation Christianity though a Latin American Lens
Learn about liberation theology in Latin America. Barreto will introduce concepts from his forthcoming book Base Ecumenism: Latin American Contributions to Ecumenical Praxis and Theology (Augsburg Fortress, Feb 2025).
This class was not recorded.
Raimundo C. Barreto is an associate professor of World Christianity at Princeton Theological Seminary, where he has been teaching since 2014. He holds a bachelor’s degree in theology from Seminário Teológico Batista do Norte do Brasil, an MDiv degree from McAfee School of Theology at Mercer University, and a PhD in religion and society from Princeton Theological Seminary. Before coming to Princeton, he taught at various institutions in Brazil and was the director of the Division on Freedom and Justice at the Baptist World Alliance. Barreto is the author of Protesting Poverty: Protestants, Social Ethics, and the Poor in Brazil (Baylor University Press, 2023). He is the co-editor of the Journal of World Christianity and a co-covener of the Princeton World Christianity Conference.
March 2 | Jeannette Rizk
WorkWell Partnership: From Prison Pipeline to Stable Community
Founded by the Presbyterian Church of Lawrenceville, the WorkWell Partnership provides life skills and job training to people in Mercer County who have been released from prison, or whose lives have otherwise been affected by the justice system. WorkWell Executive Director Jeannette Rizk will give a short presentation, along with a board member and a WorkWell graduate, followed by a Q&A. Equipping people from underserved communities with skills, enabling them to take charge of their own destiny, removing walls—all this lies at the heart of WorkWell’s mission. Some of our most dedicated volunteers come from Nassau Presbyterian Church, which has also generously provided financial support.
Jeannette Rizk, the executive director of WorkWell, grew up in Egypt and earned an MA in anthropology from the American University in Cairo. After a series of adventures in the field of international development: helping launch a media-production NGO, assisting in the creation of a docu-drama series on HIV awareness in the Middle East, and teaching a directing course in Sudan and Morocco, she took a job with the European Union to set up an ecotourism company for the Bedouin Jabaleya tribe in the south Sinai. This was followed by jobs in which Jeannette developed strategies to turn Egyptian women’s handicraft skills into genuine business ventures.
Adult Education: Journeys of Faith (January ’25)
Sundays, 9:30 am, in the Assembly Room, unless otherwise noted
Breakfast snacks will be ready by 9:15 am
Everyone experiences twists and turns in life, and God accompanies us along the way.
Our beloved tradition of intergenerational classes in the month of January returns. Middle School, High School, and Adults of all ages are invited to a light breakfast with members of our community as they share stories of God’s faithfulness in their lives.
Audio recordings will be posted below each class description.
January 5 | Jim McCloskey
Jim founded Centurion Ministries, the first organization in the world devoted to freeing the wrongly convicted. Since its establishment forty years ago, Centurion has freed seventy individuals, all of whom spent decades in prison serving life or death sentences for the crimes of others. McCloskey has a Master of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary. His memoir, When Truth Is All You Have, was published by Doubleday in 2020. His most recent book, Framed: Astonishing True Stories of Wrongful Convictions, co-written with John Grisham, was published in October 2024.
January 12 | Dirk Smit
Dirk is the Rimmer and Ruth De Vries Professor of Reformed Theology and Public Life at Princeton Theological Seminary. Smit came to Princeton from South Africa, where he taught systematic theology at the universities of Western Cape and Stellenbosch, was involved in ecumenical church activities and contributed to public life with both popular and academic writing.
This session was not recorded.
January 19 | Lizzie Salita
Lizzie is a Senior Associate at Booz Allen Hamilton’s Chief Technology Office, where she serves as a strategist focused on enhancing developer experience. Beyond her professional career, Lizzie is committed to community service. She is currently the President of the Junior League of Greater Princeton, has coached young athletes as a volunteer with Girls on the Run, and served as a mentor for Girls In Technology. Lizzie resides in Lawrenceville, NJ, with her husband Michael and their two young children, Chip and Blair. She and her family have been involved with Nassau Church, Princeton Presbyterians, and St. Paul’s since moving to the area in 2017.
January 26 | Lauren J. McFeaters
Lauren serves as Nassau’s Associate Pastor with responsibilities in congregational nurture through pastoral care and counseling, membership and the work of the Deacons, and worship and preaching. She is a certified pastoral counselor and a Fellow of the American Association of Pastoral Counselors. Before a life in ministry, Lauren was an actor in New York City and is a member of SAG-AFTRA, the American Screen Actors Guild & the American Federation of Television & Radio Artists. She’s the mom of Josie Brothers, the spouse of Michael Brothers, and the dog-mama of Luna, a very sassy 8-year-old Cavapoo.
Adult Education: Hope in a Weary World
December 1-22, 2024
9:30 a.m. | Assembly Room
In this season we anticipate the birth of Jesus and God setting all things right in the world. As we wait, let us look together for glimmers of hope. Our speakers will engage their expertise in art, stories, and community and invite us to join them in paying attention to where God is showing up. You are invited to bring in a poem, image, or story that speaks to hope on Sunday, December 22nd.
Audio recordings will be posted below each class description.
December 1 | Heath Carter
The Sense of Our Small Effort: Faithful Witness in Dangerous Times
Heath Carter’s session will be rescheduled for a ltater date. Due to this change Andrew and Len Scales offered “The Taizé Community: Welcome, Work, and Worship.”
December 8 | KimyiBo
Mothering & Art
For the past decade, KimyiBo has been exhibiting artworks that have emerged from her experience of motherhood, expanding the concept of mothering to encompass a commitment to creating, nurturing, and supporting the interconnectedness of life. During this talk, she will discuss how mothering has shaped her path as an artist and continues to inform her spiritual growth.
KimyiBo is currently an artist-in-residence at Overseas Ministries Study Center at Princeton Theological Seminary. KimyiBo’s art engages with concepts arising from life as an immigrant and caregiver in the form of ink drawings, prints, artist’s books, and collaborative practices. Like a mycorrhizal network, the themes of transition, growth, ambivalence, resilience, and hope form its subterranean network of roots, from which seedlings sprout for new work.
December 15 | Maria LoBiondo
Tolstoy’s Two Old Men: Where are you on life’s pilgrimage?
Leo Tolstoy’s short story, “Two Old Men,” follows two friends who set out to fulfill their lifetime dream of a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Through these characters, the celebrated author challenges us to consider our own life’s journey and how we respond to the twists and turns presented to us along the way. Storyteller Maria LoBiondo will share her oral version of Tolstoy’s classic tale.
Maria LoBiondo believes that a story is a heart-to-heart gift shared between teller and listener. She began practicing the oral tradition of storytelling when expecting her second child; her daughter is now 30 years old. She has shared folk and literary tales several times for Nassau Presbyterian’s Advent programs, as well as locally in schools, other religious settings, and festivals.
December 22| Karen Rohrer
Attention as a Pathway to Hope
The attention economy we find ourselves in grabs us with the shiny fixes, with tasks, chores, and logistics. Perhaps no more so than in the commercial Christmas season. Yet, Advent reminds us that so much of our life is waiting for God, if we can bear to sit still for it. This session is about cultivating hope in our waiting by attending to the slow and human-sized flow of community and connection, mutual care and genuine generosity.
Karen Rohrer is the Associate Academic Dean at Princeton Seminary. She pushes paper with conviction, believing that without trustworthy institutions individualism costs the church and ultimately the world the good gift God intends for us in community. She believes in dogs and the Holy Spirit and writing your way through. She is married to Andy Greenhow, Presbyterian Minister and life-sized cartoon, and lives in Lawrenceville, NJ.
#MissionMonday – Paul Robeson House of Princeton
The Paul Robeson House of Princeton is close to opening their renovated home!
The “Paul Robeson House,” dating from 1842, is a residential property located at 110 Witherspoon Street, where Paul Robeson was born on April 9, 1898. Paul Robeson’s roots in the African American community of Princeton launched him on his world-renowned career as an all-American athlete, actor, singer, scholar and writer, and voice for human rights. The renovated property will host a gallery of memorabilia, non-profit meeting spaces, and temporary lodging.
We are proud to be Mission Partners with The Paul Robeson House of Princeton and invite you to learn more about their capital campaign: https://give-usa.keela.co/Donate2023.
Adult Education: Civil Rights Storytelling
Audio recordings will be posted below each class description.
November 24 | Michele Minter
A Moment to Decide
In 1964, a civil rights icon, a famous Black nationalist and a Presbyterian minister crossed paths in Cleveland, with tragic consequences. Michele Minter shares a civil rights story.
If you have never heard of the name Bruce Klunder, you are probably not alone. And yet, his name is one of only forty-one martyrs inscribed in the famous Civil Rights Memorial in Montgomery, Alabama.
Michele Minter is vice provost for institutional equity and diversity at Princeton University, where her works involves community building and institutional history. She is a trustee of the Princeton Theological Seminary and a member of Westminster Presbyterian Church. She lives in Plainsboro with her husband Jeff.
#MissionMonday – ArmInArm
Our Mission Partner ArmInArm serves Mercer County families through food pantries, grocery deliveries, and housing stability services.
One of their three brick-and-mortar pantries is in the basement of NPC. In 2025, ArmInArm expects to provide $1.5 million in direct food aid! With increased need in our community, there is an increased need for volunteers. We invite you to visit their website (link below) to learn about ways you can support this crucial organization, including bagging groceries, making deliveries, and donating items.
#MissionMonday – HomeFront
Helping Families Break the Cycle of Poverty
HomeFront, a Mission Partner of Nassau based in Lawrenceville, provides shelter, housing assistance, groceries, and social services to families experiencing poverty in central New Jersey. Recognizing an emerging need with the families they serve and proposing an expansion of their project to the Missions and Outreach Committee, HomeFront used grant funding from Nassau to distribute 114,800 diapers in the month of August alone.
Nassau also supports HomeFront through the monthly Hunger Offering. Organizations supported by your faithful giving each month received over $10,000 in the past fiscal year. At HomeFront, this has contributed to the 23,426 cartloads of groceries distributed at their Choice Market and pop-up food pantries since October. We invite you to bring a donation to church this Sunday (the last Sunday of the month) or give online through the Give Now page of this website and selecting “Hunger Fund” from the drop down menu.
Connect with HomeFront:
- Learn more: https://www.homefrontnj.org/
- Volunteer: https://www.homefrontnj.org/volunteering/
- Donate: https://www.homefrontnj.org/donate/
Plan Your Vote: Election Day is November 5
Transporation to Polling Places:
The League of Women Voters has identified senior citizen and assisted living facilities in Mercer and Middlesex Counties whose residents need transportation to polling places during early voting or the general election.
And if anyone in our Nassau Church family requires any transportation assistance to a polling place, please contact us as well.
To volunteer contact Karen Brown (email) or Rich O’Brien (email)
New Jersey Voting Details:
- Early Voting Period: October 26 through November 3
- Deadline to apply by mail for a mail-in ballot: October 29 (envelope must be post-marked October 29)
- Deadline to apply to receive a mail-in ballot by email delivery for qualified overseas civilians and military personnel: November 1
- Deadline to apply in person for a mail-in ballot: November 4, 3 pm
- Election Day: November 5
- Deadline for Post Office to receive mail-in ballot (with November 5 postmark): November 5
- Deadline for in person submission of mail-in ballot to county election offices or authorized ballot boxes: November 5.
Find more voting dates and deadlines online:
New Jersey NJ Department of State | Vote
Pennsylvania PA Agencies | Upcoming Elections
Adult Education: Women in the Old Testament
Linked-In Learning, Fall 2024
October 20 – November 17, 2024
9:30 a.m. | Assembly Room
A queen, mothers of nations, and advocates for themselves and other women are among those we will meet during these weeks. They employ faithfulness and savvy as they navigate a life at the margins. Let’s learn from these women together as we ask challenging questions and remember other women who have helped make a way for us in our own lives.
“Linked-In Learning” helps us explore the same stories from multiple perspectives. In these classes members and friends of the congregation will lead us through the same texts the preachers will take up in worship and small groups will have engaged the week prior. Let’s learn together!
Audio recordings will be posted below each class description.
October 20 | Elaine James
Women, Poetry and God
Proverbs 31 (selected verses)
How can the Bible be a resource for women? How can women and folks on the margins engage texts that are patently androcentric and frankly difficult to read? This session considers the poem about the “worthy women” in Proverbs 31 as an example of how poetry can both reinforce patriarchal ideals and also imagine liberative pathways. Part of the craft of the poem is a celebration of the craft and handwork of women—creativity itself is enshrined in Proverbs as a divine force, in which we are all invited to participate.
Elaine T. James is Associate Professor of Old Testament at Princeton Theological Seminary. Her research interests are in biblical Hebrew poetry, ideas of art in the ancient world, and issues of land, ecology, and gender. She is the author of Landscapes of the Song of Songs: Poetry and Place (Oxford University Press, 2017), and An Invitation to Biblical Poetry (Oxford University Press, 2021).
October 27 | Isabella Shutt
The Daughters of Zelophehad
Numbers 27:1-11, Joshua 17:3-6
Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah are known as the Daughters of Zelophad. They are remembered for advocating on their own behalf for the inheritance of their late father’s land. We will use Dr. Wil Gafney’s practice of “sanctified imagination” to enter the text and draw out its revelations of God’s inclusion and the stories’ connections to our own embodied knowledge. Where were these women when their covenant with Moses was broken by the temple’s leadership? Why are they included in the listing of land inheritance if their familial line seems to stop? Who was their mother?
Isabella Shutt is a first-year M.Div. student at Princeton Theological Seminary and recent graduate of Princeton University. Originally from western North Carolina, she became a member of Nassau after worshiping weekly with Princeton Presbyterians at Breaking Bread. Isabella currently serves as the Intern for the Adult Education and Missions and Outreach Committees. She is the eldest of three daughters and brings this perspective to her readings of women in the Old Testament.
November 3 | Leslie Virnelson
Ruth and Naomi: Identity and Belonging
The Book of Ruth
We will discuss identity and belonging in the story of Ruth from multiple angles of religion, ethnicity, family, and age. As you read Ruth 1-4 ahead, consider how various characters change their identities throughout the story.
Leslie Virnelson is a Democracy Fellow at Interfaith America through a postdoctoral partnership with Princeton Theological Seminary (PTS) and a scholar of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. Her forthcoming book with Oxford University Press is Fruit of Her Hands: Women, Work, & Society in the Hebrew Bible. She has taught classes for masters and undergraduate students at PTS, Princeton University, Mercer University, Union Theological Seminary, and Union Presbyterian Seminary. She also served as the interim director of the Center for Theology, Women, & Gender at PTS from 2020-2023, organizing events and curricula to educate public and scholarly audiences on the intersections of religion and gender. She lives in West Windsor, NJ and enjoys hiking, foraging, and fermentation.
November 10 | Jonathan Shenk
Sarah and Hagar: Re-imagining Paths to Healing
Genesis 16:1-16, 21:1-21
Sarah is the matriarch of Jews and Christians, while Muslims trace their lineage through Hagar. All three faiths claim Abraham as their forefather. These early biblical stories sow the seeds of both historic and present-day conflicts among Christians, Muslims, and Jews. But could they also offer paths to healing? Sometimes we get stuck with unworkable solutions because we are asking the wrong questions.
Rev. Jonathan C. Shenk is a minister and entrepreneur. He is the owner of Greenleaf Painters, a local painting company. He is also a certified spiritual director and founding member of the Trenton Microloan Collaborative, a joint venture of Nassau and Westminster. He lives in Princeton Junction with his wife, Cynthia Yoder. Their son, Gabriel, is a high school English teacher and frontman for Sonoa, an indie rock band.
November 17 | Joseph Kwan
Esther: Courage and Power
The Book of Esther
According to ChatGPT, the lessons that we can learn from Esther include courage, faith, wisdom, selflessness, leadership, divine timing, and advocacy. But is that all? What else can we learn from Esther? The story of Esther is interesting not only because of its content but also because it reveals the patriarchal structure of Ancient Near Eastern society, the roles of women in different systems, and various power dynamics. This time, we will try to look at it from a new perspective, putting ourselves in Esther’s experience and reflecting on what meaning this story can have for us today.
There is no recording for this class.
Joseph Kwan (he/him) is currently a final year Master of Divinity student at Princeton Theological Seminary, and he joined Nassau Presbyterian in 2022. Joseph is originally from Hong Kong, where he was born, raised, educated, and lived for most of his life. Before coming to the US for ministerial formation, he studied theology for four years in Hong Kong. His living and educational experience in Hong Kong gave him a special lens through which to approach the scriptures and Christian tradition from a post-colonial and East Asian perspective. He is a candidate for ordained ministry in the Presbyterian Church (USA) under care through our church.