Register for the event: https://www.crowdcast.io/e/robesonhouseprinceton/register
Author: npc-laureny
#MissionMonday – LALDEF
Mission Partner Update
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[/ezcol_1third] [ezcol_2third_end]Nassau is grateful for all the ways members of the congregation and our partners from Westminster Presbyterian Church have been instrumental in the work of The Latin American Legal Defense and Education Fund (LALDEF)! Since 2004, LALDEF has worked to defend the civil rights of Latin Americans, offer educational assistance, and advance cross-cultural understanding in Mercer County. Nassau’s Mission & Outreach Committee is proud to have moved from offering one-time grants to LALDEF over the years to including LALDEF as a recurring partner beginning in the 2020-2021 budget.[/ezcol_2third_end]
Follow #MissionMonday on our social media platforms to hear about how, with your help, Nassau Presbyterian Church is supporting others in our town, our state, and across the world.
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Mass Incarceration Task Force – August 2020 update
A Note to the Congregation from NPC’s Mass Incarceration Task Force:
The nationwide protests in the wake of the tragic killing of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor at the hands of police officers affords our country the unprecedented opportunity to reassess our priorities and values. As Christians, we believe that God’s breath flows through all beings and that Jesus calls us to demonstrate our faith through acts of love, justice and mercy. Many of us are prayerfully considering how to respond within this urgent and vital Kairos moment – this time of God’s appointment.
Our nation’s racial justice crisis reaches far beyond occurrences of police brutality. For generations, people of color in the United States have struggled to earn the same rights and privileges automatically granted to white people. Biases in our institutions and systems have created barriers to the pursuit of health, well-being and prosperity.
People are asking: what can I do? How can I be a part of the solution?
The focus of Nassau’s Mass Incarceration Task Force – formed over 3 years ago – has been to raise awareness about the inhumanity of racially-oppressive over-incarceration and to facilitate opportunities to make a difference. Because we are largely a congregation with little firsthand experience of poverty, violence, or incarceration, we find inspiration in the words of Just Mercy author Bryan Stevenson: “You can’t understand most of the important things from a distance. You have to get close.” We have undertaken a series of baby steps toward getting closer — including deepening our understanding through reading, video, and seminars, and most especially, through hands-on involvement.
The Mass Incarceration Task Force’s web page can be found on the NPC website here.
Below are some opportunities our task force has engaged in and recommends:
- Increase your understanding through materials offered in our bibliography on race and incarceration here.
- Educate yourself on legislation and reform efforts at the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice website here.
- Sign up here for a zoom conference from 7-9 p.m., Thursday, Sept. 24: Transforming Criminal Justice in Our Lifetime: Michelle Alexander’s The New Jim Crow, 10 Years Later
- Get involved in one of the opportunities listed here, we would especially recommend:
- Virtual tutoring of at-risk teens through Life Ties
- Becoming the pen pal of a prisoner (contact Marcia Van Dyck)
- Serving as a mentor for someone returning from prison through NeighborCorps Re-Entry Services
- Virtual tutoring of adults through Trenton Area Soup Kitchen (Contact Calmia Hart).
We invite you to join us at our next MITF meeting to be held virtually at 7 p.m., Monday, September 21. For more information or to get on the MITF mailing list, please contact Anne or Jonathan.
We are grateful for Nassau Church’s history of faithful witness to God’s renewing work in the world, and we pray that we might courageously rise to the challenge of the present moment, trusting in God’s strength and wisdom.
Grace & courage,
Anne Kuhn & Jonathan C. Shenk
MITF co-chairs
#MissionMonday – Assistance for Beirut
Relief efforts are underway following the August 4 explosion in Beirut.
We join in prayer and action with members of our congregation and the wider Princeton community who have strong ties to Lebanon, the Near East School of Theology, and American University in Beirut. Matt Hackworth of Lutheran World Relief, former member of Nassau, is working with partners on the ground in Lebanon, and you can join the effort here.
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Read more:
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Replacing Lifesaving Supplies Lost
More blog posts from Lutheran World Relief [/ezcol_2third_end]
Follow #MissionMonday on our social media platforms to hear about how, with your help, Nassau Presbyterian Church is supporting others in our town, our state, and across the world.
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#MissionMonday – Trenton Children’s Chorus
Empowering the academic, social and spiritual lives of children through in music.
Listen to Vinroy D. Brown, Jr., Artistic Director, describe how Trenton Children’s Chorus is responding to the pandemic and celebrate Nassau’s 30+ year support of this vital organization in our neighborhood. #MissionMonday #NeighborsHelpingNeighbors
Follow #MissionMonday on our social media platforms to hear about how, with your help, Nassau Presbyterian Church is supporting others in our town, our state, and across the world.
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Opportunities for Outdoor Worship & Fellowship
Would you enjoy a safe, distanced summer picnic with folks from the church? How about a chance to worship together out in a park? A bring-your-own dessert evening in a nice big backyard?
The Forward in Faith Together working group is ready to launch our Nassau Large Groups. The goal is for the groups to meet a few times this summer. Just like small groups, people will have to opt in by signing up online using the form below.
The working group will establish the groups of 25 to 30 expecting that the turnout to a particular gathering would be something less. Staff will help to identify lay leadership. There will also be virtual large groups for any who would love to opt in but prefer not to or just should not.
All who participate will be asked to commit to our Gathering Covenant:
While some in our church family may already be experiencing outdoor gatherings with friends in the congregation, these large groups will intentionally reflect the breadth of our community and those who sign up. The response to these pilot summer groups and the feedback received will be used in our planning for outdoor large groups in the fall.
These pilot in-person, outdoor gatherings are part of the fuller, in-depth phased plan that the working group is presenting to the Session at a meeting on July 16. A summary of the phased plan will be shared with the congregation the week after that in the regularly scheduled Friday email. Please be assured that summer small groups and all official church gatherings have been part of the deliberative process with the working group, the Session, and the staff.
Please complete the form below by Monday, July 27. You will be contacted with details of your group by Saturday, August 1.
Sign ups are now closed. Contact Corrie Berg (email)
#MissionMonday: LALDEF
The Latin American Legal Defense and Education Fund
Incorporated as a 501(c)(3) organization LALDEF is a community-based, grassroots, nonprofit that grew out of a Princeton community-based coalition known as the Latin American Task Force which had been helping the Princeton Latino community in various ways for well over a decade.
In 2004, after seeing the growing marginalization and stresses on the local Latino community, a group of concerned Mercer County area residents joined together to take a proactive approach to address these concerns and formed the Latin American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc. (LALDEF). Initially an all-volunteer Princeton-based, largely advocacy effort working out of borrowed space in a church basement, LALDEF has grown into a dynamic, staffed organization, providing services and case management while staying true to its advocacy mission, with the Welcome House in Trenton as its center of operations. Members of LALDEF’s Board are a diverse cross-section of our community, representing a variety of socioeconomic, professional, cultural and ethnic backgrounds.
To learn more: LALDEF
Follow #MissionMonday on our social media platforms to hear about how, with your help, Nassau Presbyterian Church is supporting others in our town, our state, and across the world.
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July 2020 – Adult Education
July 2020
July 12 | Mark Herr
2020 is always hindsight, except when it’s not.
The fifth presidential election of the 21st Century: what a long, strange, trip it’s been.
The 2020 presidential election was launched in late 2017 when the first Democratic candidate declared and featured the greatest numbers of Democratic challengers in 100 years. The primary campaign has had more lead changes than an Indianapolis 500 and a surprise guest in the coronavirus pandemic. Add it all together, and you get the most intriguing race since . . . 2016. As the Talking Heads once asked, “How did we get here?”
July 5 | Larry Stratton
Least Dangerous Branch? US Supreme Court’s 2019-2020 Term
Alexander Hamilton famously wrote that the judiciary “will always be the least dangerous” branch to the “political rights of the Constitution; because it will be least in a capacity to annoy or injure them” Federalist Papers, #78. This session explores highlights and themes from the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2019-2020 term involving cases dealing with the electoral college, congressional oversight of the executive, the free exercise of religion and contraceptive mandates, and the 1964 Civil Rights Act and sexual orientation and transgender status discrimination. The survey will consider the arguments, personalities, and political dynamics of the Court as the Justices wrestle with these critical constitutional issues.
Small Groups: Summer 2020
Click on the Small Group Name to read more.
| Start Time |
MON |
TUE |
WED |
THU |
FRI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 a.m. | Harry Potter (grades 4-8) |
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| Noon | Bending the Arc | ||||
| 4 p.m. | Irish Reperatory Theatre |
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| 5 p.m. | No Reservations | ||||
| 7 -7:30 p.m. |
Sermon Text |
Adventures in Barth |
Bending the Arc | ||
| Animated Films | |||||
| 8-8:30 p.m. | Films from Fiction Favorites |
Micah’s Call for Families |
Tracking with the Sermon Text
Thomas Quinlan, Mondays, July 6-August 10, 7:30-8:30 p.m.
Register Here
Join us for a discussion of last Sunday’s sermon and text using discussion questions specially crafted for this group by our weekly preacher. This is a wonderful opportunity to sit with, reflect up and share with others the way the Word preached relates to the Word written.
Join us for a discussion of last Sunday’s sermon and text using discussion questions specially crafted for this group by our weekly preacher. This is a wonderful opportunity to sit with, reflect up and share with others the way the Word preached relates to the Word written.
For more than 30 years, Tom Quinlan has found Christian community in small groups. In the late 1980s, he led the first small group in his Roman Catholic Parish (Pasadena, CA). With a diverse educational background, his PhD is in cognitive psychology. For the past 5 years, he has basked in Nassau’s Christian community, which has included singing in the choir and participating in various small groups (of course).
Adventures in Barth
This group is FULL
Mark Edwards, Tuesdays, July 7-August 4, 7:30-9:00pm
During these dog(matic) days of summer we’ll wander through some of the great terrain of Barth’s Church Dogmatics as we discuss grace, freedom, time, and trinity. First-timers to experts are welcome as we gather around Barth’s theological challenge to the church & world. Reading is ~40 pages a week.
Mark Edwards joined Nassau as Director of Youth Ministries in September of 2013. He is a lifelong Presbyterian and holds a PhD (Philosophy and Theology, 2013) from Princeton Theological Seminary. He has been a Lecturer at Princeton University, and an adjunct professor at The College of New Jersey and Princeton Theological Seminary. Mark is married to Janine and they have two children.
Harry Potter and the Summer of Quarantine
This group is FULL
Corrie Berg and Emily Rounds, Thursdays, July 9 – August 13, 10:00-11:00 a.m.
Rising 4th- 8th graders
Come read (or re-read) these classic stories from a new perspective. This group will gather for weekly sessions focused on tracing Christian themes through this compelling series. You might be surprised to discover how author J.K. Rowling draws upon and incorporates a lot of theology in her stories. A familiarity with the books (or movies), characters and plot is helpful as some spoilers may be shared in discussion.
Corrie Berg is the Director of Educational Ministries at Nassau Church. She loves to tell, read and talk about stories.
Emily Rounds grew up at Nassau Church and is a rising senior at Davidson College. She is back for a summer of (not quite what we had planned) youth ministry, helping out with VVBS, Sunday events, and (of course!) leading some Zoom calls.
ABCs and Micah’s Call for Families
Brandy Alexander, Thursdays, July 2, 16, 30, August 6, 8:30-9:30pm
Register Here
“A is for Activist. Advocate. Abolitionist. Ally” (Innosanto Nagara, 2013). From inclusive board books to protests, what does it look like to do justice, encourage kindness, and walk humbly with God and our neighbors as families in 2020? Join other parents and caregivers of children for biweekly reflections, mutual encouragement, and prayer.
“A is for Activist. Advocate. Abolitionist. Ally” (Innosanto Nagara, 2013). From inclusive board books to protests, what does it look like to do justice, encourage kindness, and walk humbly with God and our neighbors as families in 2020? Join other parents and caregivers of children for biweekly reflections, mutual encouragement, and prayer.
Brandy Alexander is a member of the Adult Education Committee and has been participating in the life of Nassau and its faith partners since 2012. As a lifelong traveler, the spouse of an immigrant, the parent of two young bicultural children, and a social worker, she is committed to living into the complexity of building a more just and equitable world.
Nassau Film & Theater Festival
Animated Films Through a New Lens
Karl Bjorkman, Mondays July 6-August 10, 7:00-8:00pm
Register Here
Come explore the thematic and formal versatility (2D/3D, traditional vs. computer, stop motion, rotoscoping, etc.) of animated films. Perhaps when we think of animation, family-friendly favorites like The Lion King or Frozen might be the first titles that come to mind. But the visual playfulness and inventiveness of animation lends itself to storytelling that goes beyond the limitations of conventional live action filmmaking. But above all, the goal of this group is to watch some great movies, get together (so to speak), and have some fun conversations. Movies: The Iron Giant, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Tower, My Neighbor Totoro, It’s Such a Beautiful Day, Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse.
Come explore the thematic and formal versatility (2D/3D, traditional vs. computer, stop motion, rotoscoping, etc.) of animated films. Perhaps when we think of animation, family-friendly favorites like The Lion King or Frozen might be the first titles that come to mind. But the visual playfulness and inventiveness of animation lends itself to storytelling that goes beyond the limitations of conventional live action filmmaking. But above all, the goal of this group is to watch some great movies, get together (so to speak), and have some fun conversations. Movies: The Iron Giant, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Tower, My Neighbor Totoro, It’s Such a Beautiful Day, Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse.
Karl Bjorkman joined Nassau last year and is an M.Div. student at Princeton Theological Seminary and a recent graduate of St. Olaf College, where he studied both religion and film. He lives at the CRW Apartments with his wife, Eszter, who is also an M.Div. candidate at PTS.
Films Adapted from Fiction Favorites
Liz Beasley and Cynthia Miller, Wednesdays, July 8 – August 12, 8:00-9:00 p.m.
Join us for a six-week series on film adaptations of our favorite fiction. We’ll prepare for each session by watching one or two films, then meet via Zoom to discuss the adaptations and how they compare to the original novel. (Note: Reading the original fiction will be helpful, but not required.) Featured works will include The Joy Luck Club, The Scarlet Pimpernel, To Kill a Mockingbird, Persuasion, Mystic River, and The Last of the Mohicans.
Cynthia Miller enjoys reading as well as writing. She has self-published an historical fiction novel, a biography of Thomas Jefferson, several articles, and is currently working on another novel. She loves movies and plays and cannot wait to co-moderate this exciting group. Moving from the Chicago area in 1997, Cynthia joined Nassau Presbyterian Church soon afterward.
Liz Beasley founded the Rutgers-New Brunswick Writers’ Conference in 2017 and served as director for the first three annual conferences before her retirement in 2019. She loves reading literary and historical fiction, horror, thrillers, memoirs, biographies, and plays, and is looking forward to co-facilitating this small group on big screen adaptations of some of her favorite novels. She joined Nassau Presbyterian Church in 2007 and was ordained as a deacon in November 2019.
Let’s Go To The Show!
Marcia Wood, Fridays, July 3-31, 4:00-5:00 p.m.
(performance dates: week of July 20)
Register Here
The stage is dark, but we will get to see a live performance of Conor MacPherson’s “The Weir” put on by the Irish Repertory Theatre and discuss it together. We will start with a Meet and Greet on July 3, with introductions and catch up. July 10 and 17, those who would like to read the play aloud together will meet. During the week of July 20, you can choose from several evenings or a matinee to watch the production. We will share our reactions on July 31. Feel free to drop in or drop out as we go along.
The stage is dark, but we will get to see a live performance of Conor MacPherson’s “The Weir” put on by the Irish Repertory Theatre and discuss it together. We will start with a Meet and Greet on July 3, with introductions and catch up. July 10 and 17, those who would like to read the play aloud together will meet. During the week of July 20, you can choose from several evenings or a matinee to watch the production. We will share our reactions on July 31. Feel free to drop in or drop out as we go along.
[ezcol_1half]There is a cost of approximately $10 to download “The Weir” on your Kindle or Nook or purchase a paperback. [/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end] Labyrinth Books (Princeton)
Amazon
Barnes & Noble [/ezcol_1half_end]
[ezcol_1half]There is no charge for the virtual performance, but the theater is requesting a $25 donation.[/ezcol_1half] [ezcol_1half_end]Irish Rep – The Weir[/ezcol_1half_end]
Marcia Wood and her husband Warren have been members of Nassau for 45 years, where they raised their two children, Lauren and Joshua. The Irish Rep in NYC is a favorite off-Broadway theatre of theirs.
No Reservations
Anne Thomsen Lord and Errol Lord, Fridays July 10 – August 4, 5:00-6:00 p.m.
Register Here
Join Anne and Errol this summer to talk food and travel–Anthony Bourdain style. We’ll watch episodes of Bourdain’s food and travelogue, No Reservations on our own time and discuss our observations together on Fridays.
Join Anne and Errol this summer to talk food and travel–Anthony Bourdain style. We’ll watch episodes of Bourdain’s food and travelogue, No Reservations on our own time and discuss our observations together on Fridays.
Errol Lord is an associate professor of philosophy at UPenn. Last fall he wrote about Anthony Bourdain as an enthusiast and strives to be one himself.
Anne Thomsen Lord is not an enthusiast but excites easily at many subjects–especially matters of the heart. Normally she lifeguards the early shift at the Princeton YMCA. Anne and Errol have four children, ages 7-12.
Nassau/Witherspoon Partnership
Bending the Moral Arc: Contemporary Conversations on Race & Justice with Friends from Witherspoon Street & Nassau
Join us for courageous conversations co-led by members of the Witherspoon-Nassau Partnership Team. To ground our conversations, there will be homework before each gathering to read, listen to, or watch. Most of the homework will take about an hour. The conversation on July 23 will draw from the full-length documentary 13th (available on Netflix and YouTube).
Denyse Leslie & Len Scales, Thursdays, July 9 – 30, Noon–1PM
This group has 4 spaces for Witherspoon members
Barbara Flythe & Pam Wakefield, Thursdays, July 9 – 30, 7–8:30PM
This group is FULL
Group Numbers:
Cap of 8 participants, 4 from each congregation for each small group.
#MissionMonday: Centurion
Seeking freedom for the innocent in prison
[ezcol_1third]Founded by Nassau elder Jim McClosky, Centurion has been working since 1983 to free the wrongfully convicted from prison.
Centurion receives an average of 1,500 requests for help each year and is currently developing over 150 cases. Support from donors including the congregation at Nassau Presbyterian Church, enables Centurion to investigate claims of innocence, pursue exonerations, and provide post-release support services. [/ezcol_1third] [ezcol_2third_end][/ezcol_2third_end]
To learn more: Centurion
Follow #MissionMonday on our social media platforms to hear about how, with your help, Nassau Presbyterian Church is supporting others in our town, our state, and across the world.
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