All forms and payments are due by Sunday, June 17. Please bring them to the church office during regular business hours or before worship on a Sunday morning, or mail them to:
Lauren Yeh
Nassau Presbyterian Church
61 Nassau Street
Princeton, NJ 08542
ASP 3 S’s (Sensitivity, Safety, and Stewardship) ASP 3 S’s
Be prepared to sign the ASP Trip Covenant (the whole group signs the same document, text below) – sign at the June 3 meeting or contact Lauren Yeh
Complete ASP Online Registration
Complete ASP Volunteer Statement but do not sign it, VolRegStatement-Group7074 (pdf)
(all the details you need for the online registration are on this form)
Final Payment (contact Lauren Yeh if you are unsure of the amount due)
ASP Covenant Text:
A covenant is a promise or vow made between two parties. In Genesis, God took Abraham outside one night and showed him the stars in the sky. God promised that Abraham’s descendants would be as many as those stars and that from those descendants would come a Savior. We now know that the promise was kept in the Savior of the world, Jesus Christ.
ASP covenants to our groups that we will do everything we can to facilitate a meaningful service opportunity. We will provide a center facility and staff; we will fulfill all the details that must come together to make a significant mission experience for our volunteers. As a part of the faith walk through service, ASP asks volunteers to enter into a covenant with ASP. Volunteers are asked to abide by the “Expectations, Rules, and Regulations” that make communal living and working successful. ASP also asks that volunteers abide by additional rules that may be given at their particular center.
Have each volunteer read the ASP “Expectations, Rules, and Regulations,” the 3 S’s: Sensitivity, Safety, and Stewardship, and the ASP Safety Manual before signing.
Our text from John’s gospel this morning comes from the very first chapter. Here in John, right after John the Baptist comes on the scene, he points to Jesus coming toward him so that his own disciples could see “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” Two of John’s disciples then followed Jesus. They asked Jesus where he was staying and Jesus said, “Come and see.” One of those disciples named Andrew went and found his brother Simon and told him that they found the Messiah. As soon as Jesus saw Simon, he announced that Simon would now be referred to as Cephas, which when translated is Peter. All this naming and calling and looking and seeing continues in the last part of John, chapter 1, which is our reading.
[John 1:43-51 is read]
Jesus found Philip. Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found him about whom Moses… and the prophets wrote.” Nathanial wondered how anything could come out of a podunk, nothing town like Nazareth. Philip said, “Come and see.” When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him he praised him as one of strong character and faith. Nathanael wondered how Jesus knew anything about him at all. Jesus told him, “I saw you.”
Nathanael — in a way that was something more than the Samaritan woman, who said after meeting Jesus at the well, “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done! He cannot be the Messiah, can he?” — Nathanael — in a way more like Mary, who when in the empty tomb turned and said to the Risen Jesus, “Rabbouni” — Nathanael — in a Thomas kind of way after Thomas saw the scarred hands and side, and said, “My Lord and my God!” — Nathanael said, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!”
Jesus responded to Nathanael’s acclamation and told him, “You will see greater things than these.” And with the reference to the angels of God ascending and descending Jesus must have been hearkening back to Jacob, and Jacob’s dream, Jacob’s ladder, the angels ascending and descending. For in that dream, God affirmed to Jacob God’s promise, God’s covenant, God’s intent for greater things. God to Jacob. Jesus to Nathanael. Jesus to Andrew. Jesus to Peter. Jesus to the disciples. Jesus to the church. Jesus to us. “Come and see.”
Of course, the “come and see” in John’s gospel is all about the life, the teaching, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus. John is often understood to be the gospel of signs, the seven signs of Christ’s ministry: miracles, healings, feedings, raising Lazarus from the dead. And the very last verse of John’s Gospel? “There are also many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were written down, I suppose that that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.” Come and see all that he has done.
In the other three gospels, when the devil comes to tempt Jesus in the wilderness, Jesus is taken to see stones that could be turned into bread. Jesus is lifted to the highest point of the temple in the holy city and told to throw himself down. Jesus is taken to a very high mountain to see all the kingdoms of the world.
In John’s gospel, Nathanael, Andrew, Peter, the disciples, the church, the reader, the followers of Jesus are taken to see all that Christ has done. Miracles, healings, feedings. Come and see lives saved, lives transformed, a kingdom unfolding in the hearts and minds and lives of people. Come and see, not mountains and temple tops, but humanity transformed, forgiveness on the loose, wholeness unleashed, abundant life on the rise, servanthood unbound, righteousness afoot, justice rolling down. Greater things. Kingdom-like things. Come and see what God’s people dream about, and work toward, and speak to, and pray for. Come and see God’s people live!
The remarkable part of the “come and see-ness” of John’s gospel is how people-based it is. Jesus and Nathanael. Jesus and the 5,000. Jesus and the paralyzed man by the pool. Jesus and the Samaritan woman. Jesus and the man born blind. Come and see… people. Lives. The “come and see-ness” of John’s gospel, it may not always come with a name, but there is a face. Not just faith-based, it’s face-based.
And the “come and see-ness” of the gospel has an extreme present tense to it. Jesus said to Nathanael early on, “You will see greater things than these.” And he did. He did then see greater things. In real time. The “come and see-ness” of the timeless gospel of Jesus Christ. John the Baptist pointed to him. He pointed to everyone else whose lives were forever touched, forever transformed, forever made whole. The timeless gospel. Greater things in real time.
The “come and see-ness’ of the gospel. It raises the question of the “come and see-ness” of your life and mine, the “come and see-ness” of all who know themselves to be the body of Christ. In real time, who else does Jesus have to point to?
On the morning of the special senate election in Alabama, the editor of Christianity Today penned an essay entitled “The Biggest Loser in the Alabama Election.” The editor of theologically conservative magazine argued right from the beginning that the biggest loser bar none was Christian faith. He wrote, “When it comes to either matters of life and death or personal commitments of the human heart, no one will believe a word we say, perhaps for a generation. Christianity’s integrity is severely tarnished.” The present issue being addressed was how the far evangelical right lined up and endorsed a candidate of questionable background and moral standing pretty much in the name of Christian faith.
The editor went on to criticize quite thoroughly people of faith on all sides whose witness in the political arena falls short of the gospel they proclaim. He writes at end of the editorial:
The way forward is unclear, for to love one’s neighbor in a democratic society means that Christians must participate in the public square to seek the common good. We cannot forsake our political duty, and that duty will lead believers in different directions. It’s just that when we do engage in politics, we so often end up doing and saying things that make us sound and act like we don’t care about the very values we champion. Perhaps the first step is for Christians Left and Right, when they stand up to champion a cause, to stop saying, ‘Thus says the Lord’ and ‘Lord, I thank you that you have not made me like these other Christians,’ but frame their politics with, ‘Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
It seems to me his was a call for the “Come and see-ness” of the gospel of Jesus Christ. People like us, in the sinfulness of our humanity, are more interested in something more akin to comeuppance when it comes to faith and public life. Jesus isn’t interested in comeuppance. He’s calling for “come and see-ness.” Jesus calls us to a “come and see-ness” in the witness of our faith in life public and life private. Jesus calls us to a real-time Christian life worthy of his gospel, of his witness, of his pointing. Where else does he have to point?
On the night before he was murdered, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King delivered his infamous “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech in Memphis. The end of the sermon was unforgettable.
Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land! And so I’m happy, tonight I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man! Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!
Dr. King and his dreams. Dr. King and angels ascending and descending. Dr. King and greater things. Just a bit early in the sermon King tells the story of the letter he received from a young white girl after he had been stabbed in New York City. Reports circulated afterward that if Dr. King had sneezed he would have died from the wound so close to his heart. The 9th-grade girl wrote to him, “I am simply writing to you to tell you I am so happy that you didn’t sneeze.” Dr. King then went on in the speech with a litany of sorts, a riff on how he too was happy he didn’t sneeze.
He was happy he didn’t sneeze because of all that he had seen between 1960 and 1968. He preaches:
If I had sneezed, I wouldn’t have seen when students all over the South started sitting-in at lunch counters… If I had sneezed, I wouldn’t have been around here in 1961, when we decided to take a ride for freedom and ended segregation in inter-state travel… If I had sneezed — if I had sneezed I wouldn’t have been here in 1963, when the black people of Birmingham, Alabama, aroused the conscience of this nation, and brought into being the Civil Rights Bill… If I had sneezed, I wouldn’t have been down in Selma, Alabama, to see the great Movement there… If I had sneezed, I wouldn’t have been in Memphis to see a community rally around those brothers and sisters who are suffering… I’m so happy that I didn’t sneeze.
Maybe the mountaintop for Dr. King, maybe the glory of the coming of the Lord, wasn’t just a spiritual vision, or an out-of-body mystical moment of prayer, or a godly moment of seeing visions and dreaming dreams. Maybe the mountaintop was in the glimpses, in the seeing Christ at work in hearts and minds and lives and people. Hoping against hope in a harsh and brutal world and yet still experiencing the “come and see-ness” of the gospel in the lives of God’s people. Being blessed to see the greater things, to see all that Jesus has done, is doing, in real time. “Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!”
If that editor at Christianity Today is even partly correct, that no one will believe a word we say perhaps for a generation, then Nassau Presbyterian Church, we better be paying more attention to how we live, and how we act, and what the world perceives when they come and see. The face-based part of life in the body of Christ here and now. How you and I together look to seed transformation and allow forgiveness to set us free and crave wholeness for all and commit to abundant life in the power of the Holy Spirit and a selfless servanthood first and righteousness that comes with feet on the ground and hands getting dirty and crying out for and looking for and pointing to the everlasting stream of justice. Come and see how God’s people live!
How they stick up for the most vulnerable, how they never give up working for those the world deems “the least of these,” how they yearn to speak truth in the face of power, how they pray for the sick and care for the dying and sit with the grieving, how they commit even more to teaching children and young people that there is, in fact, a more excellent way. That way of love.
Come and see how God’s people live! How they recommit to use their voice for others who have been too long silenced. How they have to figure out over and over again that, actually, your Christian faith ought a play a role in the jokes you tell and how you refer to other people, and Christian faith does make a difference in every relationship, the most intimate to the most public, relationships at work, relationships on the street, relationships where you have all the power, relationships where you have none. That “love your neighbor” and “turn the other cheek” and “the last shall be first” are not listed as optional in the gospel.
The “come and see-ness” of the gospel of Jesus Christ in real time. Where else does Jesus have to point?
With skilled leaders drawn from Nassau’s congregation and staff, join us in a study of the essential language of our faith that will make this Lenten season one you will not soon forget!
Seeking fellowship and community in a world that has never been more in need of both, Small Groups return to Nassau this Spring with a focus on Kathleen Norris’ Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith.
“When I began attending church again after 20 years away,’’ Norris writes in her preface, ‘’I felt bombarded by the vocabulary of the Christian church. Words such as ‘Christ,’ ‘heresy,’ ‘repentance’ and ‘salvation’ seemed dauntingly abstract to me, even vaguely threatening… For reasons I did not comprehend, church seemed a place I needed to be. But in order to inhabit it, to claim it as mine, I had to rebuild my religious vocabulary. The words had to become real to me, in an existential sense.’’
Praised by The New York Times as “an engaging meditation on the language of faith,” this immensely readable and distinguished book will become the focus of Small Groups as we struggle to develop a deeper, richer sense of God’s grace in our lives.
Sign Up
Sign up in Fellowship beginning Sunday, January 14, or online beginning Tuesday, January 16. Books will be available for purchase in Fellowship on Sunday morning or in the church office during regular business hours for $15. Exact change or a check made out to “Nassau Presbyterian Church” is appreciated.
Mondays, Feb. 5 – Mar. 19, 12:00-1:00 p.m. (Bring Your Own Lunch)
Room 304, Nassau Presbyterian Church
Corrie Berg, leader
Corrie Berg is Director of Children’s and Family Ministries at Nassau Presbyterian Church. Before joining the staff in 2010, Corrie’s volunteer service to the congregation included moderating the Children’s and Family Ministry Committee and serving as a member of the Master Plan Task Force.
John Parker is a writer by trade and a long-time member and current Ruling Elder of Nassau Church. He is grateful for the witness of Nassau Presbyterian Church to the eternal word of God and for the mission of this church to the community and the world.
Thursdays, Feb. 8 – Mar. 22, 9:30-11:00 a.m.
Music Room, Nassau Presbyterian Church
Joyce MacKichan Walker, leader
Joyce MacKichan Walker is Minister of Education and cheerleader and advocate for all things small group! She loves leading because of the opportunity to go deep in a place where all ideas and questions are welcome.
Thursdays, Feb. 8 – Mar. 22, 12:00-1:00 p.m. (Bring Your Own Lunch)
Conference Room, Nassau Presbyterian Church
Len Scales, leader
Len Scales is an adjunct pastor at Nassau Church as a Presbyterian Chaplain with the Westminster Foundation along with her husband Andrew. They enjoy witnessing God’s creativity and grace through their work with undergraduates, graduate students, and young adults in Princeton.
Sundays, Feb. 11 – Mar. 25, 9:15-10:30 a.m. (Childcare Available)
Room 202, Nassau Presbyterian Church
Jacq Lapsley, Leader
Jacq Lapsley has led several small groups at Nassau and loves getting to know people around a shared book. When not teaching at Princeton Seminary she enjoys trips with Nassau youth, singing, and riding bikes with family and friends.
Rich and Lolly O’Brien are members of Nassau’s membership committee and enjoy meeting people across the spectrum of age, ethnicity, and political views. They are avid readers of the news, novels, and poetry. This group will include participants from our partner, Westminster Presbyterian Church, and will conclude with light refreshments.
Sundays, Feb. 11 – Mar. 25, 4:00-5:30 p.m.
Conference Room, Nassau Presbyterian Church
Roz Anderson Flood, leader
Roz Anderson Flood is a Ruling Elder and a member of the Worship and Arts Committee. She is a former member of the Adult Education Committee. She also sings second alto in the Adult Choir. She has led workshops in poetry and participated in many small groups at Nassau.
Sundays, Feb. 11 – Mar. 25, 7:00-8:30 p.m.
Werner Home, Dayton, NJ
Noel & Wendi Werner, leaders
Noel Werner has been the Director of Music at Nassau Presbyterian Church since 2006. He lectures on occasion at Westminster Choir College and Princeton Theological Seminary, and spearheads many cooperative music endeavors in the community.
Wendi Werner has been the solo pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Dayton since 2009, where her work has included a revitalization of mission outreach with a particular focus on serving the needs of the South Brunswick community.
Thursdays, Feb. 8 – Mar. 22, 7:30-9:00 p.m.
Conference Room, Nassau Presbyterian Church
PHOTOGRAPHING GRACE
Ned Walthall, leader
Using Kathleen Norris’ Amazing Grace as a source of inspiration, members of this group will be asked to create photographic works of art that illustrate the working of God’s grace in their lives. In addition to Thursday night meetings, there will be two optional sessions—a trip to the Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia and a visit to the Grounds for Sculpture in Hamilton. Movie night for this session will be a showing of the 2005 Academy Award winning documentary film, Born into Brothels, describing the work of photographer Zana Briski, who taught photography to children living in the red light district of Calcutta with spectacular and life changing results.
No special equipment or skill is required: only imagination.
Ned Walthall has been a member of Nassau Church since 1987. He is a Deacon at Nassau and has led three small groups on the Sacred Art of Photography.
What has happened to democratic reform in Myanmar? In light of what the United Nations has called ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya population in Rakhine state, many are asking what kind of democracy perpetuates violence against its own people. Why does Aung San Suu Kyi seem unwilling, or unable, to oppose the military campaign against the Rohingya? Is it time for the international community to abandon her government, or is there a constructive role we can continue to play?
Lex Rieffel is a nonresident senior fellow in global economy and development at the Brookings Institution. His recent work has focused on the economy of Myanmar during the period of democratic transition. Rieffel has held positions at the Institute of International Finance, the U.S. Treasury Department, and USAID. He served in the Peace Corps and as an officer in the U.S. Navy. Mr. Rieffel is a graduate of Princeton University and the Fletcher School, Tufts University.
RESOURCES:
For the past twelve months, he has been working with a Burmese scholar at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore on a study of options for ASEAN in promoting peace and development in Rakhine State, as ASEAN’s contribution to resolving the Rohingya crisis. The 10-page policy brief can be downloaded here (PDF): Rieffel-Thuzar-ISEAS Perspective2018-3
January 14–15 is Mission Weekend, when we remind ourselves of our Christian commitment to human flourishing in all places. Join us for these opportunities to get involved.
Sunday Morning Mission Fair, Sunday, January 14
Beginning at 10:15 am in the Assembly Room, the Membership Committee will host a Mission Fair in celebration of the ministries, missions, and partnerships of Nassau Church. The Fair is an opportunity to discover our myriad outreach programs and become involved. Join us and enjoy this step in your journey of faith.
Morning of Mission, Monday, January 15
Come and join an effort below as we equip and serve local organizations. All hands are needed and welcome.
Hands-on Projects
From 10:30 am to 12:00 pm at the church we will be making pet blankets for orphaned animals, putting together sack lunches for the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen, assembling Creativity Kits for HomeFront, collecting personal care products for Arm in Arm clients and making calendars for ABC Literacy. Bring donations to the church on Sunday or Monday:
Donation List
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 Crisis Ministry
toothbrushes and toothpaste
shampoo and conditioner
razors and shaving cream
soaps and lotion
feminine products
Community Clean-up
A group will again join our partners at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Trenton in cleaning up parks and removing sidewalk debris from the neighborhood surrounding the Bethany House of Hospitality (BHOH) at 426 Hamilton Ave, Trenton NJ (across the street from Columbus Park).
8-9a Participants arrive, check in and fellowship
9a Participants will leave from BHOH travelling east and west on Hamilton Ave and begin cleaning both sides of the street
12p Participants will return to BHOH for fellowship
1:30p End of the event
Bring your own tools (work gloves, rakes, shovels)
Youth, join the Fellowship Crew and help out at Habitat for Humanity’s ReStore. We’ll leave from and return to Nassau’s parking lot: 8:00 am to 2:00 pm. Don your work clothes and spend the day with reclaimed building materials, donated supplies, and other vintage finds. Lunch provided. Parents, we need drivers for 20 youth! Let Mark Edwards know you’ll be there: , 609-933-7599
A Healing-Racism Initiative of Westminster Presbyterian Church
Sundays, February 4, 11, 18, 12:00-2:30 p.m.
Pat Deeney and Jim Weber, Westminster Presbyterian Church, leaders
Is your heart calling you to:
Explore the concept of biological race?
Uncover the roots of the race concept?
Understand how institutions shape and create race?
Ground your conversation in scripture and the Confession of Belhar?
This three-week gathering will explore the material from the PBS series “Race: the power of an illusion”. Each week will begin with a reading from scripture and the Confession of Belhar before the episode is viewed. Conversations will utilize the PBS study guide for each episode. Participants are asked to maintain confidentiality and to be a nonjudgmental, compassionate, listening presence for others.
For additional information or to RSVP, contact Pat Deeny () or Lauren Yeh at Nassau Church (609-924-0103 x106, ). You may also sign-up online by following this link.
In advance of author Sonia Nazario’s February 1st appearance in Princeton to discuss her best-selling book, about a 17-year-old boy from Honduras who travels to the United States in search of his mother, we invite you to join Pam & Bill Wakefield on Sunday, January 28, at 4 pm in the Conference Room for a discussion of her book Enrique’s Journey. Books are available for purchase in the Church Office for $15, exact change or check would be appreciated. The Princeton Public Library has ordered some extra copies for circulation.
Sonia Nazario won the Pulitzer Prize for her series about Latin American children and the dangers they face while journeying across Mexico to reunite with parents living in the United States. Nazario’s talk will be accompanied by powerful photographs and will cover reasons children migrate from Central America and how those reasons have changed radically in recent years.
Sonai Nazario’s appearance will be the start of the Princeton Migrations series, a community-wide investigation of the theme of migration taking place throughout the region from February through May. Spearheaded by Princeton University Art Museum, the project includes exhibitions, readings, lectures, film screens and performances by more than 20 community partners and a host of campus organizations and departments.
Come work, learn, and serve in the remote villages of Malawi, experiencing what life is like in the villages while making a difference in the life of some of the world’s most vulnerable people. While you pour into the lives of our brothers and sisters see what God pours back into you. The Mission & Outreach Committee of Nassau will pay half the cost of the trip for someone who will then serve on the Villages in Partnership Coordinating Team.
2018 Friendship Trip Dates
March 2-10 Beekeepers and Arborists (and anyone else who is interested)
July 10-18 Friendship Trip (All are welcome)
July 22- Aug. 1 Medical Mission Trip (Medical personnel welcome)
Dear Princeton Community Housing Friends and Neighbors:
We are writing here with an update and ways you can help the displaced residents from the Griggs Farm fire. Please donate securely here to Princeton Community Housing and designate your gift for the “Griggs Farm Fire Relief Fund.” Thank you very much!
UPDATE
Our community suffered a terrible tragedy on Wednesday night, December 27, when a fire ravaged a 24 unit apartment building we own at Griggs Farm. We mourn the loss of one life.
We are immensely grateful to all the first responders, including Princeton fire and rescue personnel, for preventing further tragedy and helping people to safety. We also gratefully acknowledge the municipality of Princeton for its ongoing support and for providing immediate transport and shelter for the victims at the Nassau Inn on Wednesday night.
We have been working closely with the 34 displaced residents to help address their needs. Thank you to Bob Gregory, Director of Emergency Management, and Elisa Neira, Director of Human Services, and others for their assistance and support.
As of Friday, December 29, PCH is providing temporary housing and some meals at a local extended stay hotel for the 24 displaced residents who could not secure temporary housing with friends or relatives. A daily breakfast is provided at the hotel, along with three light dinners per week. In addition, kitchens are available in the suites there, so residents will be able to cook meals.
WAYS TO HELP
The Princeton community has already rallied to our displaced residents’ support in a variety of sincere and spontaneous ways.We are coordinating with community organizations in several efforts for household donations and other fundraising. These include the donation site at Trinity Church (33 Mercer Street in Princeton) for blankets, clothing, shoes, new toiletries, universal gift cards and non-perishable food.
We are profoundly grateful for anything and all that you can do, above and beyond your much appreciated past support, to help our displaced residents, while we work as quickly and efficiently as possible to restore them to their homes.
Princeton has a big heart: we know we can get through this tragedy together, with your support. Many thanks from all of us! – The Trustees and Staff of Princeton Community Housing
Westminster Conservatory at Nassau
Thursday, January 18
Westminster Conservatory at Nassau recitals will resume on Thursday, January 18 at 12:15 p.m. with a presentation of “The House of Life,” by Ralph Vaughan-Williams, a song cycle on poetry of Dante Gabriel Rosetti. The performers, Timothy Urban, baritone and Kathy Shanklin, piano, are members of the Westminster Conservatory teaching faculty. The recital will take place in the Niles Chapel and is open to the public free of charge.
On Thursday, February 15 pianist Erik Allesee will present a solo recital.
