Facing Challenge

In November we dig into challenging issues of mental health, refugees, international politics, and peace between people of different faiths.

Sundays, 9:15 a.m, in the Assembly Room unless otherwise noted.

For a look at Adult Education offerings through December, download the brochure: Adult Education Nov Dec 2017 (pdf).

Dealing with Depression and Suicide

Larry Alphs

November 5

Depression and suicide are common mental disorders that have an impact on our ability to function. They severely impact those living with these disorders and their families and friends.  Globally, more than 300 million of God’s people suffer from depression, the leading cause of disability. Explore new insights into understanding and managing these diseases.

Larry Alphs currently works for Janssen Pharmaceuticals and serves as co-moderator of adult education at Nassau.  He is a psychiatrist and neuropharmacologist by training.  For the past twenty-five years he has worked as a clinical scientist in the pharmaceutical industry, doing Phase I-IV work in a variety of disorders including schizophrenia, suicidality, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, epilepsy, neuropathic pain, and traumatic brain injury.

Ongoing through May 13

In-Depth Bible Study: First Corinthians

George Hunsinger

9:15 AM
Maclean House

Class will be held on: November 12 & December 3, break for the Holidays and resume on January 7 (no class January 14)

George Hunsinger returns for the 21st year to lead this verse-by-verse examination of the First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians. Bibles are available for use during the class. Find them on the Deacon Desk by the church kitchen. Class meets next door in Maclean House (Garden Entrance).

November 5, 12, 19; December 3

A Romp through the Bible (Fall: Old Testament)

William R. (Bill) Phillippe

9:30 AM
Niles Chapel

True to the definition of romp, “to play boisterously,” Phillippe will move participants quickly through the 39 books of the Old Testament and do it with a style he believes the writers would approve, even if the some biblical interpreters might not. One reviewer of Phillippe’s book says, “Phillippe’s work will be seen by some as blithe and brash. That’s the best part. He takes us on a tour of what and where and why the Bible happened, and by peeling off the dusty old trappings he brings to light an enchanted story about people, and a God, we’d like to know better.” Copies of the book will be provided free to the first 12 participants.

William R. (Bill) Phillippe, upon retirement, chose to move to Princeton primarily so he could worship and engage at Nassau Presbyterian Church. He is a retired Presbyterian minister and author of A Romp through the Bible, and most recently, The Pastor’s Diary. Bill has served a number of churches as pastor, was a Synod Executive for 10 years, and has served as Acting Executive Director of the General Assembly Mission Council.

Classes in Niles Chapel are not recorded.

Refugees Matter

Deborah Amos

November 12

Deborah Amos of NPR will bring us an update on current refugee resettlement developments, with a focus on the Canadian scene. Deborah is taking a Princeton University class to the province of Manitoba to report on Canada’s private resettlement program, where individual Canadian families sponsor a refugee family until they get established.

Deborah Amos covers the Middle East for NPR News with reports heard on “Morning Edition,” “All Things Considered,” and “Weekend Edition.”

China’s Rise and U.S. Security Interests in Asia

Tom Christensen

November 19

How does the growth of China’s economic, military, and political power pose challenges and opportunities for the United States and its Asian allies and security partners?  Explore the response to North Korea’s nuclear weapons development and China’s maritime disputes with its neighbors.

Thomas J. Christensen is William P. Boswell Professor of World Politics of Peace and War and Director of the China and the World Program at Princeton University. At Princeton he is also faculty director of the Masters of Public Policy Program and the Truman Scholars Program.  From 2006-2008 he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs with responsibility for relations with China, Taiwan, and Mongolia. His research and teaching focus on China’s foreign relations, the international relations of East Asia, and international security.  His most recent book, The China Challenge:  Shaping the Choices of a Rising Power (W.W. Norton, 2015) was an editors’ choice at the New York Times Book Review and was selected as “Book of the Week” on CNN”s Fareed Zakaria GPS.  Before arriving at Princeton in 2003, Professor Christensen taught at Cornell University and MIT. He received his B.A. with honors in History from Haverford College, M.A. in International Relations from the University of Pennsylvania, and Ph.D. in Political Science from Columbia University. He has served on the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee of the National Committee on U.S.-China Relations and as co-editor of the International History and Politics series at Princeton University Press. He is currently the Chair of the Editorial Board of the Nancy B. Tucker and Warren I. Cohen Book Series on the United States in Asia at Columbia University Press.  He is a member of the Academic Advisory Board for the Schwarzman Scholars Program.  Professor Christensen is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a Non-Resident Senior Scholar at the Brookings Institution. In 2002 he was presented with a Distinguished Public Service Award by the United States Department of State.

 This class was not recorded.

Muslims and Christians Working Together in Peacemaking

David Shenk

November 26

In a world where complex conflicts sometimes divide Muslins and Christians and where mutual suspicion can build walls, come and hear several stories of partnerships and meaningful dialogue between Muslims and Christians committed to peacemaking. The goal is to build bridges of loving and respectful connection between Christians and Muslims, while faithfully confessing Christ.

David Shenk spent much of his life as a Mennonite missionary among Muslims in Somalia, Kenya, and the US. He was born in Tanzania to frontier missionary parents. He now continues to travel and teach worldwide about Christian/Muslim dialogue. A prolific writer, his most popular book, originally published in 1980, is A Muslim and a Christian in Dialogue by Badru Kateregga and David W. Shenk.

The digital media files posted on the Nassau Presbyterian Church website are copyrighted by the pastors and presenting lecturers. These works are only for personal and educational use through a digital media player on a personal computer or using a personal digital media device (e.g., iPod). These works may not otherwise be archived or re-posted on the Internet, broadcast in any manner, distributed, transcribed or modified in any way without written permission of the presenting lecturer. The user of the audio file holds no license (of any form – expressed or implied) to any of the content of these files. The same applies to any PowerPoint® presentations.

500 Years of Reformed and Always Reforming

On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed Ninety-Five Theses to the Castle Church door in Wittenberg, Germany, protesting the sale of indulgences. “Here I stand, may God help me, Amen.” Help us celebrate 500 years of reformation by exploring aspects of the reformation and its effect on art and literature.

Sundays, 9:15 a.m, in the Assembly Room unless otherwise noted.

For a look at Adult Education offerings through October, download the brochure: AE Sep-Oct 2017 (pdf).

Art and the Reformation

Holly Borham

October 1

The “image question” was a central one in the Reformation. When Martin Luther and John Calvin critiqued altars, relics, pilgrimages and visual opulence, they struck at the heart of Catholic practice and its system of sacred economy. To what exactly were these reformers objecting, and how did their followers interpret their statements about religious imagery? Did Luther and Calvin free us from superstition, did they unleash ugly, destructive tendencies, or did they invent “art” as we know it today – an aesthetic object which we contemplate, rather than worship? Explore these provocative questions by looking carefully at texts, paintings, prints and sculptures from the sixteenth century in order to evaluate the Reformation’s impact on the arts.

Holly Borham is a PhD candidate in Art and Archaeology at Princeton University. Her research examines art commissioned by Reformed, Lutheran and Catholic patrons in Germany at the turn of the seventeenth century.

Ongoing through May 13

In-Depth Bible Study: First Corinthians

George Hunsinger

9:15 AM
Maclean House

George Hunsinger returns for the 21st year to lead this verse-by-verse examination of the First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians. Bibles are available for use during the class. Find them on the Deacon Desk by the church kitchen. Class meets next door in Maclean House (Garden Entrance).

The 95 Theses – What Are They?

Miles Hopgood

October 8

Come hear about “what started it all,” the document that Martin Luther wrote and attached to the door of the Wittenberg Castle Church, challenging Catholic doctrine, specifically, the practice of selling ‘indulgences’ to wash away sins. This document started a movement that, ultimately, became the foundation for the Protestant Reformation.

Miles Spencer Hopgood is a PhD Candidate in History & Ecumenics at Princeton Theological Seminary. His current research centers on Martin Luther’s interpretation of the Bible, particularly his engagement with the Old Testament. Further interests include medieval and early modern Jewish-Christian relations as well as the modern ecumenical movement. His dissertation focuses on “How Luther Regards Moses: The Lectures on Deuteronomy.”

Selling the Reformation: Media and the Making of Religious Revolution

Alastair Bellany

October 15

Martin Luther was the first heretic of a new media age — the age of the printing press — and the exploitation of media, both new and old, played a crucial role in the dissemination of Protestant theology and polemic. This class explores two case studies of the role of the media in the early Reformation. The first focuses on the use of (sometimes obscene) printed graphic satire by Lutheran propagandists in Germany. The second explores the 1530’s multimedia campaign mounted by Henry VIII’s chief minister, Thomas Cromwell, to convince English audiences of the legitimacy of the new royal supremacy over the Church and to defend the regime’s incremental evangelical reforms of religious life and practice.

Alastair Bellany is Professor of History at Rutgers University, and works on the political and cultural history of Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century Britain. He is the author most recently of The Murder of King James I, co-written with Thomas Cogswell, and published by Yale University Press.

Children’s Health in Malawi

Mphatso Nguluwe

12:15 p.m., Assembly Room
Bagels and coffee provided

Mphatso Nguluwe, International Peacemaker from Malawi, will offer us a picture of her work for the Presbyterian Church (USA). She has implemented initiatives for increasing the quality of life for children living with HIV and preventing parent-to-child transmission of HIV. She also promotes gender equity and equality for boys and girls, works to prevent child trafficking, and serves as a researcher in community development work.

Mphatso Nguluwe serves as Director of the Livingstonia Synod Aids Programme for the Church of Central Africa, Presbyterian. She is a founding member of an initiative aimed at eliminating the cultural practices which put girls at risk of multiple abuses as well as HIV infection. She holds degrees in Midwifery from Queens University of Belfast, Northern Ireland, and in Nursing Education, Administration and Community Nursing Science from the Medical University of Southern Africa.

The Reformation Debates: Who? What? Where?

Miles Hopgood

October 22

Explore debates between Martin Luther and John Eck, and their respective allies, to understand just how significant a challenge Martin Luther was posing to contest years of Catholic teaching. Heidelberg, and Leipzig, Germany, set the stage for what proved to be a dramatic series of confrontations of perspective on: 1) law and the gospel, 2) the fallibility of humankind, and 3) Jesus as sole Head of the Church.

Miles Spencer Hopgood is a PhD Candidate in History & Ecumenics at Princeton Theological Seminary. His current research centers on Martin Luther’s interpretation of the Bible, particularly his engagement with the Old Testament. Further interests include medieval and early modern Jewish-Christian relations as well as the modern ecumenical movement. His dissertation focuses on “How Luther Regards Moses: The Lectures on Deuteronomy.”

Reformation Influence on 16th- and 17th-Century Literature

Russ Leo

October 29

Examine the poet George Herbert’s collection The Temple, a magnificent artistic achievement that reveals the impact of the Reformation on English letters. We will pay particular attention to Herbert’s depictions of Christ through which he attempts to unite diverse congregations in an age marked by division and religious war.

Russ Leo, originally from Rochester, New York, received his PhD from the Program in Literature at Duke University where he studied Reformation poetics and their impact across seventeenth century Europe. Leo came to Princeton University in 2009–first, as a postdoctoral fellow at the Society of Fellows and, after 2012, as an Assistant Professor in the English Department.

Medical Mission Malawi: Saving Lives with Villages in Partnership

Barbara Edwards

12:15 p.m., Assembly Room
Bagels and coffee provided

Barbara Edwards will speak about her trip to Malawi in May with Villages in Partnership’s medical mission group. Hear how twenty-four Americans worked with local Malawians to create four pop-up medical clinics that served over five thousand people in three days.

Barbara Edwards is a general internist with a private practice at The University Medical Center of Princeton at Plainsboro. She is also the Medical
Director of the Bristol-Myers Squibb Community Health Center, which serves over 8000 patients, many uninsured or underinsured. Edwards worked in Liberia, West Africa, in 1988 as a medical student and has always wanted to return to work in Africa. “When Steve Heinzel-Nelson came to speak at Nassau about Villages in Partnership, I knew God was calling me to serve.”

The digital media files posted on the Nassau Presbyterian Church website are copyrighted by the pastors and presenting lecturers. These works are only for personal and educational use through a digital media player on a personal computer or using a personal digital media device (e.g., iPod). These works may not otherwise be archived or re-posted on the Internet, broadcast in any manner, distributed, transcribed or modified in any way without written permission of the presenting lecturer. The user of the audio file holds no license (of any form – expressed or implied) to any of the content of these files. The same applies to any PowerPoint® presentations.

Standing Before God

The Protestant Reformation in the 1500s prompted over 500 years of reform and shaped ministry to God’s people for centuries. Let’s celebrate the past and act in the present.

Sundays, 9:15 a.m, in the Assembly Room unless otherwise noted.

For a look at Adult Education offerings through October, download the brochure: AE Sep-Oct 2017 (pdf).

Young Adults in Ministry: Nassau’s Mission Dollars at Work

Katie McGee and Jonathan Freeman

September 10

Katie and Jonathan have both served God and the church this year as Young Adult Volunteers with the PCUSA. Come and hear their stories about why they chose to do a YAV year, what that meant for their life and work, and how their experience has impacted their plans and their future. The YAV motto is “A lifetime of change” – That’s a lot of promise!

Katie McGee has a degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Alabama. She worked as a Presbyterian Disaster Assistance YAV in the Center at Ferncliff Camp, outside of Little Rock, AR. Thailand and an Elephant Nature Park are in her future, but there’s more.

Jonathan Freeman has a degree in Christian Education from Presbyterian College in Clinton, South Carolina. His YAV site was in Indianapolis, where he focused on interfaith dialogue and service with Habitat for Humanity. He will move one to an internship for the Waddell Fellowship program with the University of Georgia’s Presbyterian Student Center.

Healthcare Headwinds: New Jersey’s Stake in the ACA Fight

Jackie Cornell

September 17

What impact would federal health care changes and the repeal of the Affordable Care Act have on New Jersey’s health, families, state budget and economy? A leader from New Jersey Policy Perspective, which has been on the front lines of the fight to preserve the ACA, will join us to discuss the organization’s analyses of the devastating impact, what New Jersey can do to protect the gains we’ve made, and how you can get involved.

Jackie Cornell, Director of Development & External Affairs, leads NJPP’s fundraising and outreach efforts. Before joining NJPP in August 2017, Jackie served in many leading policy and political roles in New Jersey. She was appointed by President Barack Obama as the regional director of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; has served as Congressman Rush Holt’s political director and outreach director; founded and led New Leaders Council – New Jersey; and has held crucial positions with Obama for America, Organizing for America, New Jersey Citizen Action and Planned Parenthood. She comes to NJPP from the New Jersey Hospital Association, where she worked as the senior director of Federal Relations and Regulatory Affairs.

Passionate about leadership development, Jackie currently serves on the National Programs Committee for the New Leaders Council as well as the on the Advisory Board of the New Jersey chapter. She is also adjunct faculty at The College of New Jersey, teaching courses in women and public policy and feminist advocacy.

Beginning September 17

In-Depth Bible Study: First Corinthians

George Hunsinger

9:15 AM
Maclean House

George Hunsinger returns for the 21st year to lead this verse-by-verse examination of the First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians.In this epistle the Corinthian congregation wrestles with doctrinal and ethical issues in conversation with their “founding pastor,” Paul, and Paul offers compelling good news in his understanding of the cross the resurrection, worship, and life together in Christian community.

Bibles are available for use during the class. Find them on the Deacon Desk by the church kitchen. New members are always welcome. Class meets next door in Maclean House (Garden Entrance).

George Hunsinger is Professor of Systematic Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary and founder of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture.

Old Problems for a New Administration

Sandra Matsen

September 24

Come and examine an overview of important and difficult policy decisions awaiting our new Governor and State Legislature in 2018. Join a discussion of these issues and learn where you can find candidate positions to help you make your choice when you vote on November 7.

Sandra Matsen currently serves as the League of Women Voters of New Jersey legislative agent representing the members’ policy interests in Trenton.  A member of the League since the early 1980s she has held numerous local and state League positions, serving as president from 1999-2003.

The digital media files posted on the Nassau Presbyterian Church website are copyrighted by the pastors and presenting lecturers. These works are only for personal and educational use through a digital media player on a personal computer or using a personal digital media device (e.g., iPod). These works may not otherwise be archived or re-posted on the Internet, broadcast in any manner, distributed, transcribed or modified in any way without written permission of the presenting lecturer. The user of the audio file holds no license (of any form – expressed or implied) to any of the content of these files. The same applies to any PowerPoint® presentations.