Nassau’s Mission & Outreach Committee invests in partnerships to demonstrate God’s love through service and engagement with the world. Like the young child in John 6, we offer what we haven and trust that Jesus will multiply our resources until all are fed and creation is repaired.
Interfaith Stitchers for Peace
Latin American Legal Defense and Education Fund
Trenton Microloan Collaborative
Westminster Presbyterian Church, Trenton
Arm in Arm
Formerly the Crisis Ministry of Mercer County. Founded and cosponsored by Nassau Presbyterian and Trinity churches of Princeton and supported by the community, Arm in Arm helps to meet basic needs for food and housing and to ensure long-term stability for low-income people in Mercer County. One of the largest pantry programs in the area, it provides nutritious food and nutrition education to alleviate food insecurity and promote health. Located at Nassau Church and at two sites in Trenton, Arm in Arm also provides emergency financial assistance to prevent homelessness and workforce development services to help people gain employment. Volunteers assist in the food pantry, in the homelessness prevention and workforce development programs and in community outreach.
Website: arminarm.org
Arm in Arm Office (609-396-9355 x36, email)
Camp Johnsonburg
In 1959, Johnsonburg Presbyterian Center was established to provide experiential Christian education in support of the Presbyterian Church in New Jersey. Johnsonburg today is a place where city kids meet country kids, where black and white discover common ground, where the rich and poor of means and spirit are valued equally, and where each is encouraged to take another vital step toward realizing oneness in Christ.
Website: www.campjburg.org
Capital Harmony Works
Trenton Children’s Chorus and Trenton Music Makers joined forces in 2022 to form Capital Harmony Works. Trenton Children’s Chorus (TCC) is an award-winning nonprofit whose mission is to empower the academic, social, and spiritual lives of children through artistry in music.
Under the direction of Marcia Wood and the late Sue Ellen Page, TCC was founded in 1989 as a volunteer-run outreach project of Nassau Presbyterian Church in Princeton. TCC offers music education, drumming instruction, performance opportunities, academic support, leadership training, summer enrichment, SAT prep, and college scholarships. The most tangible impact of participation in TCC is that 100% of choristers who stay with the program through high school, graduate and go on to college.
TCC also offers music appreciation classes to 60 preschoolers at Young Scholars Institute; operates a satellite choir open to all Trenton public high school students; and in partnership with HomeFront, TCC established a monthly Trenton Youth Drum Circle with homeless children at HomeFront hosting TCC youth for dinner and drumming in their home-away-from-home.
TCC has performed at the White House for President and Mrs. Obama, the United Nations, National Cathedral, the inauguration of Governor Chris Christie, and for corporate, community, church, and private events.
Website: www.capitalharmony.works
Centurion
Centurion is an investigative agency with no religious affiliation. Since its founding in 1980, as of the end of 2014, it has freed 67 innocent people who together had spent over 1,200 years in prison. Centurion works through a network of attorneys and forensic experts throughout the U.S. and Canada. It also relies on a dedicated group of volunteers from the Princeton community who help to identify and develop cases.
Website: www.centurion.org
Cetana Education Foundation
Founded by longtime Nassau member Lois Dickason Young and her family more than 30 years ago, Cetana provides educational opportunities for the youth of Myanmar/Burma. The organization’s original focus was on providing scholarships to Myanmar students for study abroad, but it expanded over the years to include English-language learning centers, teacher-training, and other initiatives. Dozens of Nassau members have traveled to Myanmar on educational trips led by Lois and other board members. Since the military coup of February 1, 2021 and subsequent political turmoil, Cetana has refocused its mission by providing financial help to young people who wish to pursue teaching careers and undertake post-baccalaureate study abroad. Cetana has been a mission partner since 2015. For more information, contact Sue Jennings (email).
Website: www.cetana.org
Churches for Middle East Peace
Nassau Church has long worked for both Israeli security and Palestinian justice, through denominational activities and organizations supportive of the peace process. We sponsored an overture to the 2006 General Assembly that called for the financial support of intercommunity peacemaking groups in the region, including Mar Elias Educational Institutions, the Oasis of Peace and the Parents Circle.
Website: www.cmep.org
Contact Lina Genovesi (email) for more information.
Friends for Health in Haiti
Seven hundred miles off the coast of the richest country in the world lies the most impoverished nation in the hemisphere – Haiti. Its 8 million inhabitants have the worst health status of all countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. Friends for Health in Haiti is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization registered in Wisconsin. Its mission is to improve the health status of the people of Haiti, through high-quality health care, provided in a caring, compassionate and respectful manner, as a means of demonstrating God’s love in this world and as a reflection of faith in Jesus Christ. FHH was founded and is directed by Dr. Catherine Wolf, a daughter of Kingston Presbyterian Church. In January 2012 seven members of Nassau Church joined with seven others in the presbytery to travel to Haiti to work with Dr. Katie Wolf Dr. Wolf is building a medical mission in the hills above Jeremie, Haiti, in a small rural mountain village named, Gatinaeu. The vision for Sant de Sante de Gatineau (Health Center of Gatineau) is to develop a primary care clinic and maternity center. We continue to be in touch with the Kingston Presbyterian Church and look forward to sharing information about future trips to FHH.
Website: friendsforhealthinhaiti.org
Housing Initiatives of Princeton
HIP helps low-income working families and individuals in and around Princeton avoid homelessness. While providing transitional housing and temporary rental assistance, HIP equips families with tools for self-sufficiency, acting as a bridge between homelessness and hope. HIP is a 501(c) (3) nonprofit and all-volunteer organization. For more information, or to make a tax-deductible contribution, visit
Website: www.housinginitiativesofprinceton.org
www.facebook.com/housinginitiativesofprinceton
Hospital Chaplaincy
The Department of Religious Ministries with Princeton Health provides spiritual and emotional support to patients, families, and staff at Princeton Medical Center, Princeton House Behavioral Health, and Princeton Hospice. They have also developed a leading Clinical Pastoral Education program for those training for ministry.
Website: www.princetonhcs.org/care-services/pastoral-care
HomeWorks Trenton
Since 2016, HomeWorks has invested in the lives of young women in Trenton with a week-day after-school residential program. There are four main components: dormitory living and meals, round-trip transportation to school, academic enrichment, and identity-driven leadership.
Website: www.homeworkstrenton.org
Hunger Offering
The monthly Hunger Offering of Nassau Presbyterian Church is a designated special offering whose purpose is to alleviate hunger directly in our neighborhood, community and around the world. This offering is currently divided evenly among five organizations:
HomeFront. HomeFront’s mission is to end homelessness in Central New Jersey. Our contributions are used to help keep the HomeFront food pantry stocked and to help underwrite the cost of meals served to residents of the Family Preservation Center in Ewing.
Presbyterian Hunger Program. Complementing the work of local congregations, the mission of the Presbyterian Hunger Program (PHP) is to alleviate hunger and eliminate its causes. We recognize hunger as an extremely complex phenomenon with economic, political, environmental and social causes, and we work to address the “root causes” that keep people hungry and impoverished.
Send Hunger Packing Princeton. SHUPP provides weekend food to children in the Princeton Regional School population who qualify for free or subsidized school lunches during the week. SHUPP works in partnership with the Princeton Human Services Commission, Mercer Street Friends and the Princeton Regional School District.
Trenton Area Soup Kitchen. TASK responds to the needs of people in the Trenton area by providing meals to the hungry; offering services to encourage self-sufficiency and improve quality of life; Informing the wider community of the needs of the hungry; and advocating for resources to meet these needs.
Uniting Reformed Church of Stellenbosch, South Africa. Our contributions support three programs: one feeds about 200 poor children during school vacations; a second manages 13 soup kitchens; a third battles the combination of poverty, hunger and drug abuse among teenagers and children.
Immigration Initiatives
Members of Nassau Church who share a concern for immigrants carry out a variety of support activities and advocate for broad-based immigration reform. The two groups below provide support services to our immigrant neighbors. Reach out the contacts provided to get involved or learn more. For other questions about immigration advocacy and service, contact Bill Wakefield.
Bill Wakefield (email)
Love Your Neighbor, Welcome the Stranger, Help Your Neighbor
This group connects volunteers to people in need, identified by the Princeton Clergy Association, Princeton Human Services, the Latin American Legal Defense and Education Fund, and the Neighborhood Sanctuary Alliance.
Volunteers are needed in a number of areas:
- Legal aid
- Notary public services
- Support for people under deportation orders and their families
- ESL instruction
- Issuance of Community Identification Cards
- Transportation for people without driver’s licenses
- Support for frightened children
- Monitor ICE operations in case of a raid
- Friendship
If you want to help, please contact Frances Slade and indicate your areas of interest and skills.
Frances Slade (email)
Sanctuary
If a person or family is actually and directly threatened with detention or deportation, the Session may take action to offer sanctuary in the church. In that eventuality, volunteers will be needed to provide a more intensive level of support, including:
- Being on site or on call at night when the church is closed
- Providing transportation for family members who are free to go to work, school, doctors appointments, etc.
- Shopping for food and other basic needs
- Liaison with LALDEF, a lawyer, or others who are providing other support
- Going to immigration court with them to show support
If you would want to help, please contact Maureen Llort or Frank Llort.
Maureen Llort (email)
Frank Llort (email)
PC(USA) Mission Co-Workers
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) works with partner churches and organizations in more than 100 countries and has appointed mission personnel to serve in more than 50 countries. Nassau Church has long sponsored international mission workers through its Shared Mission Giving to PC(USA), with approximately one-half of such funds now supporting mission individuals and/or families, including Rev. Jonathan Seitz and Emily Seitz (Taiwan Theological College, Taiwan) and Rev. Dr. Karla Ann Koll (Latin American Biblical University, Guatemala).
Website: www.presbyterianmission.org/ministries/mission-connections
Rev. Dr. Karla Ann Koll (email)
Rev. Dr. Jonathan Seitz (email)
Interfaith Stitchers for Peace
We are dedicated to crafting hope, healing, and peace one stitch at a time and are non-violent revolutionaries united in a compassionate fight for hope, healing, and peace for all, no exceptions. Christian, Jewish, and Muslim houses of worship take turns hosting our meetings, including Nassau. We are a Peace Pod of www.knitting4peace.org. All are welcome to join.
Juanell Boyd (email)
Latin American Legal Defense and Education Fund Inc.
From an office at 669 Chambers Street in Trenton, LALDEF assists families with a wide range of needs: filing tax returns, obtaining American citizenship, seeking redress when victimized, and complying with legal processes. LALDEF also distributes the Mercer County Area Community ID Card, available to any resident and honored by municipal agencies, health-care providers and local businesses. In Princeton, the card is available at the Princeton Public Library on Thursdays from 12PM – 2PM and 5PM – 7PM, and on the first Sunday of each month from 2PM – 4PM.
Website: www.laldef.org
LALDEF Office (609-688-0881, email)
Mass Incarceration Task Force
The devastating effects of mass incarceration (over-incarceration) can be addressed on several fronts:
- Pre-incarceration: providing tutoring and mentoring for children and teens to help them avoid getting caught up in crime and jail time.
- Incarceration: writing letters through our pen pal program or providing tutoring for men and women in prison so they can increase their chances of succeeding upon release from prison.
- Post-incarceration: helping men and women through tutoring or mentoring upon their release from prison.
The Mass Incarceration Task Force (MITF) helps NPC members connect with organizations already involved in these areas. Learn more on the MITF page below.
MITF (link)
Anne Kuhn (email)
Patti Daley (email)
Paul Robeson House
Witherspoon Street Presbyterian, a historically African-American church, and other local organizations and houses of worship, are developing Paul Robeson House, 110 Witherspoon Street, Princeton, as a community center. The Rev. William Drew Robeson, a former slave, lived at the house while he served as pastor of Witherspoon Church for more than two decades. His son, Paul, was born there in 1898 and became a brilliant scholar, an All-American athlete, extraordinary actor and singer, and passionate advocate for human rights. As a community center consistent with Robeson’s life and ideals, PRH promotes dialog and reconciliation among people of diverse ethnic and racial backgrounds and supports research and analysis relevant to human rights and constructive relations among nations. Space is provided for people in transitional phases of their lives. Nassau Church provides financial support in recognition of 250 years of Presbyterians working together in Princeton, and Nassau members are included on the PRH Board of Directors. For more information about the house, see the video on YouTube.
Website: thepaulrobesonhouseofprinceotn.org
Ben Colbert, Chair of the PRH Board of Directors (email)
Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church (609-924-1666)
Princeton Community Housing
Nassau Church is a founding member and long-time supporter of Princeton Community Housing, a nonprofit developer and property manager of affordable rental housing in Princeton. Since the 1970s, PCH has built more than 450 homes for families and seniors in Elm Court, Griggs Farm, Harriet Bryan House and Princeton Community Village.
Website: www.princetoncommunityhousing.org
See our testimonial celebrating PCH’s 50 anniversary..
Tom Charles (email)
Princeton Presbyterians
Princeton Presbyterians is the ministry of Westminster Foundation at Princeton, a non-profit organization committed to the faithful discipleship of undergraduate and graduate students in Princeton.
Website: www.princetonpresbys.org
Len Scales (email)
Andrew Scales (email)
Princeton Theological Seminary
The Seminary is a vital neighbor who prepares people for ministry in the Church and the world. Nassau is grateful to partner with the Seminary in welcoming Field Education students as a part of our congregational leadership on an annual basis.
Website: www.ptsem.edu
Refugee Resettlement
Over the past 60 years, Nassau Presbyterian Church has sponsored and welcomed 12 refugee families from such countries as Bosnia, Burma/Myanmar, Cambodia, Cuba, Hungary, Indonesia, Iraq, Sudan, Syria, and Vietnam. The congregation helps families find housing and medical care; enrolls children in school and serves as their advocates; supports the adults with ESL tutoring and job searches; provides modest help with start-up expenses; and assists in getting governmental assistance benefits to which refugees are legally entitled.
Refugee Resettlement
Program contacts, a refugee resettlement guide, and related information are available via through the link above.
Trenton Area Soup Kitchen
TASK responds to the needs of people in the Trenton area by providing meals to the hungry; offering services to encourage self-sufficiency and improve quality of life; Informing the wider community of the needs of the hungry; and advocating for resources to meet these needs.
TASK Monthly Volunteers: Nassau Presbyterian helps serve meals at the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen (TASK, 72 Escher St, Trenton) on the 3rd Tuesday of every month from 10 AM–1pm. The shift requires volunteers to be on their feet and active. More information is available on the TASK website (trentonsoupkitchen.org). Please contact Karen Brown email if you can help.
Trenton Microloan Collaborative
The Trenton Microloan Collaborative is a partnership between Nassau Presbyterian Church and Westminster Presbyterian Church, Trenton. The mission of the Trenton Microloan Collaborative is to support formerly incarcerated entrepreneurs in the Trenton area.
- We support them with zero interest loans or pro bono accounting services or other needs that emerge as we walk alongside them after they have been approved as a loan recipient. They need to already have been in business for 2 years.
- A microloan is a small loan – $2,000 or less – for a microbusiness. A microbusiness, which is most businesses in the U.S., is 5 employees or fewer.
- Building a business is challenging for anyone. But it’s especially challenging for those who have a criminal record and are attempting to reintegrate into society, perhaps even for the first time.
As the Trenton Microloan Collaborative, we are seeking to be a witness to God’s transforming love in our local neighborhoods, in our local economy. We’re looking for donations, for pro bono business support, and for referrals of applicants.
Website: https://www.trentonmicroloan.org
Trenton Microloan Collaborative co-chairs:
Pastor Karen Hernandez-Granzen (email), Westminster Presbyterian Church
Jacque Howard (email), Westminster Presbyterian Church
Jonathan Shenk (email), Nassau Presbyterian Church
UKirk Collegiate Ministries
UKirk is the network of PC(USA) campus ministries across the country. UKirk connects, resources, and amplifies the work of campus ministry within the denomination and beyond. Princeton Presbyterians is one of the over 200 network-connected ministries.
Website: ukirk.org
Villages in Partnership
Villages in Partnership (VIP) became a mission partner in the fall of 2015. VIP is located in Malawi Africa. Joyce MacKichan Walker, Mission staff, visited Malawi in 2015 and in 2016 Stephanie Patterson visited the villages Nassau supports. The annual Water Walk in the spring welcomes walkers of all ages, and some of Nassau’s church school classes raise money for families in Malawi to purchase and raise animals.
Website: villagesinpartnership.org
Westminster Presbyterian Church, Trenton
Nassau Presbyterian Church recognizes our profound historical relationship to both the churches and the community of Trenton, even though our respective members and programs have only occasionally intersected. But now all that is changing. Fueled by funds for mission and outreach (raised as part of Nassau’s 2012 capital campaign), we have launched a more vigorous, long-term reciprocal ministry with Westminster Presbyterian Church of Trenton.
This initiative is designed to enable the members of Nassau Church to engage in a wide range of joint ministries with the members of Westminster Church. In the course of pursuing these ministries together, we anticipate that all concerned will deepen their understanding of, and empathy for, the challenges both communities face that deprive individuals and families of their capacity to thrive as children of God.
If you have interest in expanding your personal mission by being part of the evolution and success of this ministry, please contact either the Rev. Ms. Patti Daley (email) or the Rev. Ms. Karen Hernandez-Granzen (email).
Website: www.wpctrenton.org
Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church, Princeton
WSPC is the historically African American Presbyterian congregation in Princeton and is an important beacon of welcome and justice in the community. “The First Presbyterian Church of Colour in Princeton” was formed in 1836 following the dismissal of free and enslaved persons from the roles of First Presbyterian Church (now Nassau). Reconciliation between the two congregations is ongoing, and Nassau is grateful for the partnership in Bending the Moral Arc and mission in Princeton.
Next Week at Witherspoon (link)
Website: www.witherspoonchurch.org
Woman, Cradle of Abundance
Woman, Cradle of Abundance supports work in the Democratic Republic of Congo to eradicate poverty and empower women and girls.
Website: www.womancradleofabundance.org
WorkWell Partnership
With offices in Lawrenceville and a training center in Trenton, WorkWell offers returning citizens job skills, dignity and hope. Volunteers share time and resources to help individuals navigating the difficult road from prison to employment. Our Nassau member, Jeanette Tanous, is Executive Director.
To volunteer contact Bina Indelicato
Website: www.workwellpartnership.org
Young Adult Volunteer Program of the Presbyterian Church (USA)
The Young Adult Volunteer (YAV) program is a one year service opportunity for young adults from 19 to 30 years. YAVs live in intentional Christian community, deepening and developing their faith while serving alongside partners in sites across the United States and around the world. YAVs serve for one academic year, August to July, as they explore God’s calling in their lives. They are exposed to some of the hardest problems in the world – poverty, violence and reconciliation, and sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ – while living and reflecting with other volunteers on the meaning and motivation of their Christian faith. The whole cost for year year is $4,000 for a domestic placement and $5,000 for an international placement. Nassau believes so strongly in the gifts of young adults and vocational discernment that it pays up to half of those costs for applicants accepted by YAV.