Nassau Presbyterian Church will host this Princeton Community Service celebrating the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., sponsored by the Princeton Clergy Association.
The offering will benefit the Peace Action Education Fund of the Coalition for Peace Action; and Not in Our Town-Princeton. If giving by check as an in-person attendee, please make your tax-deductible donation payable to Peace Action Education Fund, or PAEF. Those attending via Livestream or who prefer to give by credit card can do so at www.peacecoalitionedfund.org/donate
Join the pick-up Interfaith Choir – rehearsal before the service at 6:00 pm.
Monday, January 16, 6:00-6:30 PM, Trinity Church, Princeton
Trenton Music Makers Orchestra will give a community concert at Trinity Church on Monday, January 16 at 6:00pm, in honor of Martin Luther King Day and the National Day of Service.
The concert follows the growing tradition among El Sistema-inspired organizations throughout the United States, celebrating the spirit of youth empowerment and community service that the holiday encompasses. They are inviting the audience to lean into the holiday’s significance by contributing non-perishable foods, or a monetary donation, for another of our ministry partners, Arm in Arm.
Trenton Music Makers, launched in 2015, is a five-day afterschool orchestra for Trenton students in Grades 1-12, and is the sibling program of Music for the Very Young and Trenton Children’s Chorus. Both organizations are rooted at Nassau, with TCC founded by Marcia Wood and the beloved late Sue Ellen Page, and TMM also founded by Marcia Wood with Ellen Saxon. The orchestra includes string and percussion majors, daily orchestra rehearsal, small-group instruction, theory, improvisation and chamber music, together with academic support, hot meals, and transportation from selected schools.
The Trenton Music Makers Orchestra has performed with the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, with local and regional partner organizations in Paterson, Newark, Union City and Camden, for the Greater Trenton annual awards and the Mill Hill Historic House Tour, and as onstage guests of the NJ Symphony. They are members of the El Sistema NJ Alliance, and national partners of Carnegie Hall PlayUSA.
9:30 a.m. | Assembly Room (9:15 a.m. for breakfast snacks)
All lives have twists and turns. All lives have ups and downs. All lives see signs of grace.
Our tradition of intergenerational classes in the month of January returns. Middle School, High School, and Adults of all ages are invited to breakfast with members of our community as they share stories of God’s surprising faithfulness in their lives.
Audio recordings will be posted below each class description.
January 8
John Parker
Associate Director of Medical Writing, Bracco
John is a spouse, parent of three grown children, teacher, writer, and child of God (not necessarily in that order). At Nassau, he has been an Elder, Deacon, youth leader, and church school teacher. By profession, he is a director of medical writing for a Milan-based pharma company. He is grateful for the sustaining witness to the gospel provided by Nassau Church.
Associate Dean of Religious Life and the Chapel, Princeton University
An ordained Elder in the United Methodist Church, Theresa is a graduate of Howard University, Duke University Divinity School, and Wesley Theological Seminary. She is passionate about the intersections of theology, gender, organizational development, and social justice. She is a challenging preacher, thoughtful theologian, certified yoga teacher, wife, dog mom, and devoted friend. Dean Thames is a lover of life and a music connoisseur who prioritizes self-care and believes that freedom is not optional, rest is her strength, and radical joy is her resistance. She is involved with the Princeton community through student engagement, pastoral care, overseeing religious programs, and regularly preaching at the University Chapel.
January 22
Hannah Davis Millson
Project Coordinator, Employment and Business Services at AHRC, New York City
At AHRC (Advocacy, Humanity, Re-imagination, Change) NYC, a large nonprofit organization serving people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the New York area, Hannah focuses on projects spanning employment, education, and faith and spirituality. She has also developed the Partnership for Inclusive Internships in collaboration with NYC City government to facilitate a pathway to employment for people with disabilities in civil service roles. Prior to joining AHRC NYC, Hannah taught for 5 years as a special education teacher, specializing in adaptive and vocational skills.
Listen to the PCUSA podcast that Hannah mentions in her talk: A Matter of Faith (link).
January 29
Michele Minter
Vice Provost for Institutional Equity and Diversity, Princeton University
In this role, Michele oversees the University’s initiatives focused on diversity, inclusion and access for all campus populations and serves as chief compliance officer for Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity, Title IX and the Americans with Disabilities Act. From 2008 to 2011, she served as vice president for development at the College Board, where she led fundraising and strategic initiatives focused on educational policy. She is an ordained elder and deacon at the Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church, a trustee of the Princeton Theological Seminary and the Westminster Foundation/Princeton Presbyterians, a director of the New Covenant Trust Company, and a former trustee of the Presbyterian Foundation.
Come and participate in hands-on projects when we act on our Christian commitment to human flourishing in all places. All hands are needed and welcome.
HANDS-ON PROJECTS
Monday, January 16, 10:00 am – 12:00 pm, Assembly Room
We will be making pet blankets for orphaned animals, putting together sack lunches for the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen (TASK), assembling Creativity Kits for HomeFront, collecting personal care products for Arm in Arm clients and making calendars for ABC Literacy. Donation items are listed below. Contact Corrie Berg (email)
Creativity Kits for HomeFront
pkgs. of crayons (24–48 ct.)
pkgs. of colored pencils (24–28 ct.)
pkgs. of markers (10–12 ct.)
coloring books
coloring pads/sketch pads
individual packages of stickers
Personal Care Products for Arm in Arm
toothbrushes and toothpaste
shampoo and conditioner
razors and shaving cream
soaps and lotion
feminine products
COMMUNITY CLEAN-UP
Monday, January 16, 1:00-3:00 pm, Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve
We will work to remove invasive species within riparian restoration project areas, as well as install deer-exclusion caging to protect young tree saplings.
Registration Required with Friends of Princeton Open Space (link)
Each month Nassau Church recommits to giving until no one is hungry during the Hunger Offering.
Send Hunger Packing Princeton (SHUPP) is one of our local partners who works to eradicate food insecurity. Hear a fall update and see the transformative work SHUPP is doing in Princeton in the video below.
In the midst of this season of Advent, we are pleased to offer a Minute for Mission with a brief update on the family from Afghanistan that Nassau Church has sponsored for resettlement in Princeton.
It’s hard to believe, but we’re coming up on the one-year anniversary of their arrival in Princeton. On behalf of the coordinating committee, which includes Sue Jennings, Tom Charles, Lauren Valvanis, and Len Scales, we offer a sincere “Thank You” to the congregation. We are so grateful for those who have helped in this effort as volunteers and to all who have contributed to the Nassau Church Refugee Resettlement Fund.
So many of you have served as volunteers over this past year – by rough count, the total number of volunteers is well over 50, and you’ve donated over 1,800 hours of volunteer work this year, plus much more behind the scenes that we’ll never know about. It’s a gift of love, and we are very thankful.
As many of you may remember, the Hashimi family was kind enough to share their story in compelling detail during an adult education class on October 2nd. A recording of that session is available on the Nassau website (link).
They recently celebrated Thanksgiving and are grateful that their new home and all the support they’ve received in building a new life in the United States. And it really is remarkable how much progress they have made over this past year: they have successfully enrolled the younger children in local schools, found jobs for the older ones, made progress in learning English, navigated the health care system to get vaccinations, dental and other medical care, met the requirements to get drivers licenses, and one family member has even begun to take college classes.
With the help of a lawyer arranged with Nassau’s help, they have completed the arduous application process for asylum in the United States. They are now awaiting news about whether they have been approved. We have reached out to our elected representatives to ask for their help in expediting their application and hope they will hear good news about their approval within the next few months.
Unfortunately, the family is still awaiting news of approval for the father, Said Ahmad, to join the family in the US. He was not in Kabul when the city fell, and therefore wasn’t admitted along with the rest of the family. He has applied for humanitarian parole status and is also applying under other programs that may lead to him being able to enter the US. We spoke to him by Zoom yesterday, and he sends his greetings and thanks. I’m eager for you to get to meet him.
There are at least two additional challenges facing the family. The first is an important educational hurdle. One of the older sisters is working hard to earn a high school equivalency degree. She was on the verge of finishing high school when they had to leave Kabul and her credits were unable to be transferred.
The second relates to their housing. The family currently lives in a house generously provided by the seminary, but we will need to help them to find a new place sometime early next year.
We ask for your continued prayers for the family as they deal with all of these challenges.
We also ask you to consider a year-end gift to Nassau Refugee Resettlement fund. We have covered the expenses incurred thus far from past donations, but we need to rebuild that fund so that it is available for any future needs for this family, as well as to be in a position to welcome to a future refugee family when the time is appropriate.
Thank you for continuing to surround the Coordinating Team with support and the family with love!
Nassau was a founding partner in Trenton Children’s Chorus (TCC). Over the past year, TCC joined with Trenton Music Makers to share resources and increase impact by forming Capital Harmony Works. Watch the video to hear and see the music and joy Capital Harmony works provides for children in Trenton.
Join your neighbors and assist with asylum applications. There is acute need for Spanish speakers who can serve as interpreters on volunteer teams. More information below and on the flyer. Bill Wakefield (email) is a current Solidaridad volunteer and can answer questions.
Join Solidaridad Central Jersey in Welcoming our
Immigrant Neighbors and Make a Difference!
Solidaridad Central Jersey has been assisting neighbors with Asylum applications since 2018
We are seeking new volunteers to assist our neighbors. We have a ProSe Clinic that helps with understanding the legal process and completing asylum applications.
Benefits of being a volunteer:
Engage in meaningful work in our community
Develop new relationships with neighbors and volunteers
Work in teams
Receive traning and support
Volunteer on a flexible schedule and time commitment
The images and sounds of Advent are unmistakable and deeply familiar. Pictures of the Nativity, hymns that have been sung for generations, and stories we know from memory all prepare us for the coming of our Lord at Christmas. This season, come learn how what we see, hear, create and sing combines into a rich theology of the incarnation.
Audio recordings will be posted below each class description.
November 27 | Karlfried Froehlich
Christmas Art in Florence
Shall we travel to Florence, Italy for the holidays? Christmas art and its theological roots in the City of Flowers and Light is an almost inexhaustible topic across many centuries. Since Florence was the birthplace of the cultural and religious movement we call the “Renaissance,” we will concentrate on that era and explore Christmas themes in the work of some well-known artists of the 14th and 15th centuries whose lives were lived in the historical shadow of the Florentine Republic: Giotto di Bondone, Tommaso Masaccio, Lorenzo Ghiberti, Fra Angelico, Hugo von der Goes, Domenico Ghirlandaio, Benozzo Gozzoli, Sandro Boticelli.
Karlfried Froehlich,a native of Saxony, Germany, moved to the United States in 1964, taught at Drew University and, from 1968 to 1992, at Princeton Theological Seminary, where he held the Benjamin B. Warfield chair in church history. Karlfried is an active member of the Lutheran Church (ELCA). His scholarly interests include the history of Christian art and the history of biblical interpretation, a field to which he has contributed significantly through his teaching and writing.
In Luke 1:26-38, Mary said “yes” to becoming a co-creator alongside The Creator. Saying “yes” to serving as a catalyst for the in-breaking of God’s Kingdom, forever changing the story of our collective humanity. What would happen if we each took a small step towards saying “yes” to becoming co-creators in God’s continuously unfolding
story? We will explore this question through the meditative practice of CreatioDivina hosted by BeauFolio Studio, an embodied creative practice of sacred art-making and courageous conversation.
Carmelle Beaugelin (she/her) is a Haitian-American visual artist, Human-Centered Design Consultant, and “holy cheerleader” based in Princeton, NJ. Her creative focus includes abstract impressionism/expressionism painting inspired by Afro-Latin Caribbean art styles and Christian spirituality. She is the Founder and Lead Curating Artist at BeauFolio Studio, an emerging arthouse at the intersection of sacred art, humancentered design, and restorative equity. You can find some of her work at carmellebeaugelin.com.
The Advent hymn by Ambrose (“Savior of the Nations, Come”) and the Christmas hymn by Prudentius (“Of the Father’s Love Begotten”) have in common the historical context and the doctrinal content of the Nicene Creed. It was and is a complicated question: “Is Christ really God?” We will sing together and learn how our faith is formed by what we sing.
Paul Rorem is Princeton Theological Seminary’s Benjamin B. Warfield Professor of Medieval Church History Emeritus. An ordained Lutheran minister, his courses cover the confessions and influence of St. Augustine, the Christian mystical tradition, medieval Christianity, and the spiritual and theological legacy of the Pseudo- Dionysian writings.
First read as a holiday sermon, Presbyterian minister Henry Van Dyke’s parable imagining a fourth Magi’s lifelong search for the King of Kings remains one of his most popular works. Storyteller Maria LoBiondo will share her version of “The Other Wise Man,” as well as a brief history of the author, who was educated at Princeton University and Princeton Theological Seminary and called Princeton home.
Maria LoBiondobelieves 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 25 years old. In that time, she has shared stories at Princeton’s Littlebrook School and the Princeton Montessori School, at the Catholic Community of St. Charles Borromeo in Montgomery Township, at the Princeton Public Library, and at the New Jersey Storytelling Festival, among other venues. She is the editorial coordinator for Princeton University’s Office of Advancement Communications, and a former reporter and editor for The Princeton Packet.
