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Advent

#MissionMonday – Welcome Home Initiative

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The Mission & Outreach Committee thought it important to include the Welcome Home Initiative in the Alternative Gift options this year. We are grateful for the ongoing work of Nassau’s Mass Incarceration Task Force and their connections that help us support neighbors in need as they reenter society.

Donations can be made through Nassau’s Alternative Gifts program by selecting the “Welcome Home” fund here.

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Below is a letter introducing the Welcome Home Initiative from the New Jersey Prison Justice Watch.

Dear friends,

Those of us belonging to a faith community, regardless of our denomination, are often deeply involved in justice ministries.  And in this tradition of seeking justice in the world, we are hopeful that you can support this important Welcome Home Initiative.

This initiative is being organized by the Re-Entry committee of NJ Prison Justice Watch (formerly known as NJ-CAIC). NJ-PJW is a coalition of social justice organizations, faith groups, and importantly, people with lived experience within the criminal justice system, all working together to transform how we “do justice” in our state.

Right now, NJ-PJW is working to build a responsive Welcome Home Initiative. As a result of the Public Health Emergency Credit legislation, which provides credits against time remaining on certain sentences due to the risks of CoVid in our prisons, we are anticipating up to 2,000 men and women will be released in early November, with rolling releases so long as there is a public health emergency declaration in place.

All too often, people are released with little more than a bus ticket, but lacking basic access to food, clothes, phones, toiletries, and even shelter. Needs may vary and range from needing basic clothing, to store gift cards for purchasing toiletries and other essentials, to needing rides to medical and employment appointments.

Everyone can make a difference —  Can you help? 

If you would like to donate money, our partner, American Reentry Initiative (Tax-ID: 84-1792638), is accepting them through this secure PayPal Link. Alternatively, you can mail a check to the American Reentry Initiative at P.O. Box 248, New Brunswick, NJ 08901, attention: Briane Peters, include “Welcome Home” in the memo line.

We are also seeking “In-Kind” (toiletries, food, clothes/shoes, masks) and “Time” (phone banking, peer support, transportation) donations. Please fill out the Welcome Home Donation Google Form and we will be in touch.

THANK YOU! Your generosity is so appreciated!  Please feel free to contact Susan MacDonnell,  member of NJ-PJW’s Reentry Committee with any questions.

 

Advent Devotionals—Call for Writers

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Would you consider writing a meditation for our Advent season daily devotional series (Nov. 29- Dec 25)? These messages of faith and encouragement have become a meaningful tradition for our congregation, and for many beyond the Nassau community. We will share these messages through a daily email, and later, when the season is complete, as a PDF that can be downloaded from our website.

Participating is not difficult — here’s how:

Each writer will be provided a choice of texts and guidelines for writing. Because this is a dated resource, it is important that writers meet their deadlines. Choose one or two verses meaningful to you to write a short reflection on, and include a sentence prayer to close your reflection. It can be in any literary form: Prose, poem, haiku, dialogue, etc.

It need not be complicated; simply from your heart. Examples of our recent devotionals can be found here.

We invite you to be part of this meaningful event with our Nassau Church community and friends during Advent 2020.

To sign up, please email Karen Barrows.

Adult Education – December 2019

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Sundays, 9:30 a.m., in the Assembly Room
unless otherwise noted

Download the December 2019 Brochure (pdf)
for more details and speaker bios

December 1 | Shane Berg

The Politics of the Incarnation

Join us for an exploration of the political themes woven in Luke’s story of the birth of Jesus. We’ll discuss how the Gospel writer boldly asserts the relevance of Jesus’ birth within the Roman Empire, and what this narrative means for our own attempt to live faithfully in a complex world.

December 8 | Joyce Irwin

O Come, O Come Emmanuel

So many Advent themes, so few Sundays in Advent! This Sunday, join us as we discuss timeless Advent hymns. Come to learn not only about the variety of thematic material in the poetry but also the stylistic variety of music from different historical eras.

Weekly | In-Depth Bible Study with George Hunsinger

Colossians

Sundays, 9:15 a.m. (December 8 & 15 only)
Maclean House (Garden Entrance)

George Hunsinger continues with a verse-by verse examination of the Letter to the Colossians.

December 15 | Maria LoBiondo

The Story of the Other Wise Man

First read as a holiday sermon, Presbyterian minister Henry Van Dyke’s parable imagining a fourth Magi’s lifelong search for the King of Kings remains one of his most popular works. Storyteller Maria LoBiondo will share her version of “The Other Wise Man,” as well as a brief history of the author, who was educated at Princeton University and Princeton Theological Seminary and called Princeton home.

December 22 | Dale Allison

The Infancy Narratives of Matthew and Luke

The infancy narratives of Matthew and Luke are very, very different, and they have no parallels elsewhere in the New Testament. Why is this the case? What is distinctive of each narrative? How much history might lie behind them—behind the visit of the magi, the star of Bethlehem, the virgin birth, and so on? And how might we go about interpreting the infancy narratives for ourselves today?