We will continue to update this page as we find out about community needs and resources. If you know of one that is not listed here, please forward to .
Your church staff continues to make necessary plans this week regarding public health concerns. It is a rapidly changing landscape and we are responding, planning, and sharing decisions with the Session. We are in communication with local government and very aware of the plans announced this week by the University and the Seminary.
Because of our deep concern for the well-being of our church and community, beginning today, Wednesday March 11, 2020 we will be cancelling all programming, events, and activities. We are taking a Lenten Sabbatical and possibly beyond to ensure we are doing all we can to keep COVID-19 / Coronavirus from spreading.
This includes the cancellation of all scheduled meetings, rehearsals, and Sunday worship. March 15th’s Youth Sunday will be rescheduled at a future date. Lenten Small Groups and communion dinners will not be held, but we will work with the leaders to meet by creative means. Arm In Arm already has a plan in place for getting food to those who need it.
Each week we will update the congregation as to our plans and any changes to what is listed above. Please check the church website and your email for these updates. For this Sunday, we will post a filmed service brought to you by the staff.
As we continue on this Lenten journey unlike any other, please remember to check on neighbors, friends, and church members. Communication, support, and reassurance are ultimately important.
You can reach our staff members through their emails and office phones and we will keep our emergency cell phone on each and every day. If needed, please call the cell phone at 1-609-613-1077.
We will continue to review and adapt on a day to day basis.
With grace and peace and prayers,
David A. Davis
Rev. David A. Davis
March 6, 2020
To the Nassau Presbyterian Church Family,
We would like to assure you that your church staff has been discussing plans and making preparations in light of the rapid spread of the COVID-19 virus. Our resources have included the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the State of New Jersey Department of Health, and the Presbyterian Church (USA). We are also reaching out to health care professionals in the congregation. Our commitment to you is to make responsible decisions without fueling fear and misinformation.
Please find the items below for your information, safety and health.
Please remember to make responsible choices for your own health and the health of those around you. If you do not feel well, please do not come to worship and church activities. If you choose to be extra careful and refrain from gathering in groups and crowds, please know your church supports you.
Church staff have created a handout on self-care and prevention with information from all the resources mentioned. It is available on Sunday and on our website.
Extra bottles of sanitizer and bleach wipes will be available throughout the building and in classrooms. Remember, this is not a substitute for thoroughly washing hands with soap and hot water.
Extra time and care will be taken in cleaning knobs, bars, and surfaces throughout the building.
Lenten small group communion and Lenten home dinner communion will NOT be celebrated by intinction. Our traditional Presbyterian small cups or small glasses will be provided along with other materials.
We are paying close attention to the directions of the State of New Jersey Department of Health while monitoring Princeton University, Princeton Theological Seminary and local schools. We are prepared to cancel all activity at 61 Nassau Street if necessary. If that action is required, sermons, music, prayers, and other worship resources will be prerecorded and available on our website.
Ongoing discussions are being held to provide pastoral care for any who may be facing extended time in their home. We are also in touch with our area hospitals about clergy visitation, or restriction.
If you have any questions, please be in touch with any member of the staff and let us continue to prayer for the sick, medical and public officials, and all the vulnerable who live in fear.
You are invited to help us care for our planet by donating reusable bags to Arm in Arm! In an effort to better steward our resources and to protect the environment, we would like to reduce plastic waste by using reusable bags in our food pantries. We truly appreciate all of your donations and we are very humbled by your continual generosity in partnering with us to continue serving our community’s needs and also caring for our planet. Please stop by our Nassau pantry located at 61 Nassau St. Our 123 E. Hanover pantry or our Hudson pantry located at 48 Hudson St. to donate your reusable bags!
Wednesday Lent Services
Each Wednesday in Lent, Witherspoon Street Church will be worshipping in the sanctuary at 124 Witherspoon St, Princeton from 12:00-12:45. All are welcome.
Choral Evening Service – Saturday, April 4, 5:00PM
Part II of Messiah by G.F. Handel will be presented by Nassau Church’s Adult Choir, featuring soloists Maria Palombo, Marissa Chalker, George Somerville, Jacob Keleman, and Elem Eley, with orchestra under the direction of Noel Werner. There will be an offering supporting the Appalachian Service Project, and the service will be followed by a reception.
In Lent and Easter we observe the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. We examine our discipleship, scrutinize our Christian journeys, and acknowledge our need for repentance, mercy, and forgiveness.
Join us in worship and community this season.
Throughout Lent
Small Groups Offering fellowship and community, Small Groups are studying The Shape of Salvation in Luke. Learn more and find a group.
Lenten Devotional Don’t miss our church-wide, daily Lenten Devotional. Members and friends of the church have written meditations on Scripture to accompany us through the season of Lent. Read it here.
Lenten Home Dinners
“Come to the table of grace. Come to the table of love. Come to the table of peace.” You are invited to a Lenten Home Dinner with Communion. These casual, welcoming groups are a lovely practice for this season of Lent. Extend the table and expand your fellowship this Lent. Learn more and sign up.
Easter Memorials We remember and honor our loved ones by giving towards the Easter Sunday tulip display and brass ensemble. You can pick up an Easter Donation Card from the church office or email Sarah Finbow by April 5, 2020.
Sundays, 9:30 a.m., in the Assembly Room unless otherwise noted
Come explore the Shape of Salvation in the Gospel of Luke this Lent. In Luke’s narrative, Jesus preaches salvation for all who believe in him. But what does salvation mean? Is it only a future hope or possibly a present reality? What are Jesus’ followers saved from? And what are they (and we) saved to?
Join us each Sunday morning as Eric Barreto leads us through the Gospel of Luke, examining not only the Biblical and historical context of Luke’s narrative of Jesus’ life and ministry but also its timely and timeless impact on our lives today.
Be linked in for Lent: each week small groups will study the same texts from a more personal and contemplative point of view, and Pastor Davis will preach them in Worship.
Download the Lent 2020 Brochure (pdf)
for more details and speaker bios
March 1 | Eric Barreto
Luke 1:5-25
Promise Fulfilled: Jesus saves us from hopelessness to hope.
On Palm Sunday, April 5, we will take up a special offering “One Great Hour of Sharing.”
Sharing God’s Love with Our Neighbors-In-Need
in a world of disaster, hunger, and oppression
Millions of people lack access to sustainable food sources, clean water, sanitation, education, and opportunity.
The three programs supported by One Great Hour of Sharing – Presbyterian Disaster Assistance, the Presbyterian Hunger Program, and Self-Development of People – all work in different ways to serve individuals and communities in need. From initial disaster response to ongoing community development, their work fits together to provide people with safety, sustenance, and hope.
Presbyterian Disaster Assistance Restorers of Streets to Live In
Works alongside communities as they recover and find hope after the devastation of natural or human-caused disasters
Presbyterian Hunger Program Share your Bread with the Hungry
Takes action to alleviate hunger and the systemic causes of poverty so all may be fed
Self-Development of People Loose the Bonds of Injustice
Invests in communities responding to their experiences of racism, oppression, poverty and injustice and educates Presbyterians about the impact of these societal ills
One Great Hour of Sharing lets us come together to open our doors — as well as our hearts — to share the love of Christ through our ministries of justice, compassion, and joy.
Text SHARING to 56512 to receive a link to resources to learn more about how your gift to One Great Hour of Sharing makes a difference, or visit www.pcusa.org/oghs
Questions? Contact us at 502-569-5047 or email
PC(USA) Special Offerings
100 Witherspoon Street, Louisville, KY 40202
TOGETHER, WE BECOME THE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD.
Before a hunger emergency struck Somalia, Hawo Abdi and her husband were successful herders near their country’s border with Kenya.However, two years of intensive drought parched the land to the point that they could no longer raise the camels, cattle, sheep and goats that supported them. As her family faced economic ruin, Abdi’s husband died. She was two months pregnant with the couple’s fifth child. Desperate to feed her children, Abdi felt she had no choice but to make the two-day journey to a camp for internally displaced persons to ensure the safety of her four young children and unborn child. Against the background of Somalia’s civil war, the journey was fraught with danger, including the possibility of attack from armed groups and assault. “We had nothing to take with us, and we had to beg for water,” she says. Abdi’s mission to bring her children to a safe refuge was successful. Now she and her children receive a monthly allocation of rice, beans, cooking oil and sugar that One Great Hour of Sharing gifts help provide. While their day-to-day life remains difficult, Abdi and her children, including her new baby, are safe and nourished. “The food aid has improved the living conditions of my family,” she says. “I was able to feed my starving children.”Sadly, Abdi’s story is not unique. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 5.4 million people in Somalia are food insecure, and another 2.6 million people are displaced. The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) partners with Kaalmo Relief and Development to provide food aid to people in the camp. “We are very grateful for your contribution,” says Mohamed Ahmed Iriri,
Kaalmo’s director. “It will help us a lot in fighting the hunger and poverty affecting our people in Somalia.”One Great Hour of Sharing gifts are helping to address famine and extreme hunger through PC(USA) partners in other countries, including Northern Nigeria, South Sudan and Yemen. These partners help with emergency food assistance and address the underlying causes of hunger and homelessness for the millions of people struggling to maintain their very existence.In Isaiah 58, the prophet calls us to be “repairers of the breach, restorers of streets to live in,” to care for the hungry, the weak and the vulnerable. Through One Great Hour of Sharing, we extend shelter to those who have no place to stay, food to those who are hungry and compassion to those who have pain—be it physical, emotional or spiritual. Together, we become the household of God; and all are welcome. Won’t you join us with a gift to One Great Hour of Sharing? Because when we all do a little, it adds up to a lot.
Let us pray,
God of refuge, gather us into your household. Under your roof, let us meet together at your table of grace to be fed with good food. Grant us the dream of your world where all are fed, all are housed and all have the dignity you granted from the beginning. May our gifts begin to build this dream. Amen.
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