Amazing Grace: A Vocabulary of Faith
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.
Available Small Groups
Groups meet weekly for seven weeks unless otherwise noted. The small groups with spaces available are listed below.
Complete catalogue: 2018 Lent Small Groups (pdf)
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.
Wednesdays, Feb. 7 – Mar. 21, 7:30-9:00 p.m.
Seminar Room 1060, Princeton Theological Seminary Library (25 Library Place, Princeton)
John Parker, leader
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.
Sundays, Feb. 18 – Mar. 18, 3:00-5:00 p.m. (Five Weeks)
O’Brien Home, Trenton
Lolly & Rich O’Brien, leaders
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.