Nassau Presbyterian Church Adult Education

Journeys of Faith: Nassau's "Golden Girls" (April 26, 2026)

Nassau Presbyterian Church — Sun, 26 Apr 2026 11:00:00 +0000

Conversations with Mary Bess Clark, Doodie Meyer, Nancy Prince, and Carol Wehrheim

Sarah Berliner is a junior at West Windsor Plainsboro High School South. She enjoys playing field hockey and lacrosse. An active member at Nassau, Sarah participates in youth Fellowship, singing in Cantorei, helping with Carol Choir, and is on the Youth Ministry Committee.

View the video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/nKtwbAsN08Y

Each January, our meaningful tradition of intergenerational education brings together Middle School, High School, and Adults of all ages to share in food, fellowship, and the stories of God at work in our community. Over light breakfast and good conversation, we listen for the ways faith is lived, deepened, and discovered across generations.

This year’s speakers offer a remarkable range of voices from within our own congregation—voices shaped by ministry, creativity, and leadership.

Objects of God's Grace

Nassau Presbyterian Church — Sun, 19 Apr 2026 11:00:00 +0000

Why has still life endured for centuries, from ancient ruins to modern photography? Join photographer Ned Walthall as he explores how this often-overlooked art form speaks to the essentials of human life—food, beauty, growth, and death—and reveals glimpses of God’s grace in the ordinary. We will explore objects of God’s grace as they are represented in still life painting and photography.

Link to online gallery: https://bit.ly/41Dyuxo

Ned Walthall is a photographer based in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. He holds an MFA from the Institute of Art and Design at New England College and has exhibited his work in galleries and photography centers across the United States and internationally. His work can be viewed at nedwalthall.com and on Instagram @walthallphotography, and has been featured in Lenscratch, including his post-pandemic series on Grand Central Terminal.

Responding to Need with Dignity

Nassau Presbyterian Church — Sun, 12 Apr 2026 11:00:00 +0000

What does it look like to respond to need in our own community with dignity and hope? Join us as Maureen Hunt, Executive Director of Arm In Arm, shares how this vital local organization is addressing food insecurity, housing challenges, and economic hardship in Mercer County. Through stories and insight from her leadership, we will explore how we are called to serve our neighbors and participate in this work together.

Maureen Hunt is Executive Director of Arm In Arm, where she previously served as Chief Development Officer and has been part of the organization’s leadership team for five years. With more than 15 years of experience in nonprofit human services, including work with Covenant House and Bonnie Brae, she is deeply committed to strengthening communities and ensuring that all neighbors have access to food, housing, and support.

For Such a Time as This: Christian Existence in our Current State of Emergency

Nassau Presbyterian Church — Sun, 29 Mar 2026 11:00:00 +0000

How do we live faithfully amid rising authroitarianism and the erorsion of democratic culture? Hanna Reichel draws on scripture and historical examples to explore spiritual grounding, communal discernment, and Christian courage in challenging times.

Hanna Reichel is the Charles Hodge Professor of Systematic Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary. A ruling elder in the PC(USA), Reichel also serves on the Theology Working Group of the World Communion of Reformed Churches. For Such a Time as This: An Emergency Devotional is their first book for a wider audience.

Christianity, Modernity, and the Karen People of Burma

Nassau Presbyterian Church — Sun, 15 Feb 2026 16:00:00 +0000

Karen Christians have creatively shaped their ethnic identity on their own terms—contextualizing the Christian faith within their particular cultural setting and using religion to strengthen their collective status. In 1828, the Karen were an agrarian, nonliterate people living in upland villages. By the turn of the twentieth century, they had become a literate and partly urban community deeply engaged in education, the military, commerce, and politics. The embrace of Christianity both accompanied and reinforced the development of a distinct Karen ethnic identity.

Pum Za Mang is Associate Professor of World Christianity at Myanmar Institute of Theology. He earned his M.A. from Princeton Theological Seminary and his Ph.D. from Luther Seminary. He has published widely—contributing book chapters, journal articles, and reviews in Asia, Europe, and North America. His research focuses on Burmese Christianity, and he is currently a visiting scholar at Princeton Theological Seminary.

Faith In Action: The Danish Church

Nassau Presbyterian Church — Sun, 08 Feb 2026 15:52:00 +0000

Today Denmark is often described as one of the happiest countries in the world, with a robust economy, universal health care, and tuition-free universities that even provide stipends for students. Yet Denmark’s churches are now strikingly empty. What happened? Is the church simply asleep, or is it hiding in plain sight? Ed Madsen explores the story of the Danish church across three centuries and what it reveals about faith and cultural life today.

Ed Madsen, a 30-year member of Nassau, has assembled a book inspired by a bundle of his parents’ letters—preserved for half a century under his grandfather’s thatched roof in Denmark. He has written for various Christian publications, has been published in The Bridge, the journal of the Danish American Heritage Society, and has crafted new lyrics for two Danish hymns.

Understanding the Miracle Stories in the Gospel

Nassau Presbyterian Church — Sun, 01 Feb 2026 15:23:13 +0000

Was Jesus an actual historical person, or a literary figure? What sources offer evidence that he lived—and why is Elaine Pagels persuaded by that evidence? From there, we explore how to understand the Gospel miracle stories: walking on water, healings, raising the dead, and, above all, the two miracles Christians have wrestled with for centuries—the virgin birth and the resurrection. How might we read these stories today with both faith and critical insight?

Elaine Pagels is the Harrington Spear Paine Foundation Professor of Religion Emerita at Princeton University, and a widely respected scholar of early Christianity. Her groundbreaking research — especially on the texts of the Nag Hammadi Library — has helped reveal the diversity of early Christian beliefs and challenged long-held assumptions about Christian origins. Her best-known works include The Gnostic Gospels (National Book Award winner), The Origin of Satan, and Why Religion? A Personal Story. Since stepping down in September 2024 after over four decades on the Princeton faculty, she continues to write, lecture, and contribute to the public conversation about faith, history, and meaning.

Journeys of Faith: Christianne Bessières Lane

Nassau Presbyterian Church — Sun, 18 Jan 2026 16:00:00 +0000

Christianne is a mom, wife, and musician. She with her flutist husband, John, has been a member of Nassau Presbyterian Church since 2003, and sang in the Adult Choir for several years before the gifts of her two children. Now that her children are in school, she gratefully uses her gifts to create more music to serve God and beautify the world. Christianne has developed a musical and spiritual practice of creating rounds or canonic settings of biblical and other religious texts.

This year’s speakers offer a remarkable range of voices from within our own congregation—voices shaped by ministry, creativity, and leadership.

Journeys of Faith: Dave Davis

Nassau Presbyterian Church — Sun, 11 Jan 2026 16:00:00 +0000

Dave Davis is the senior pastor of Nassau Presbyterian Church, where he has served since 2000. He earned his Ph.D. in Homiletics from Princeton Theological Seminary and taught there for several years as a visiting lecturer. His scholarship focuses on preaching as a corporate act and the active role of the listener. Before coming to Princeton, he served for fourteen years as pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Blackwood, New Jersey.

Dave is the author of A Kingdom You Can Taste and Lord, Teach Us to Pray and has served on the boards of the Presbyterian Foundation and the Princeton YMCA. He has preached widely in the U.S. and internationally, including in South Africa and Scotland, as well as at the Calvin Symposium for Worship and on the campuses of Harvard and Duke.

This year’s speakers offer a remarkable range of voices from within our own congregation—voices shaped by ministry, creativity, and leadership.

Come for the breakfast snack, stay for the wisdom, humor, creativity, and witness of your fellow Nassau pilgrims. All are welcome as we begin a new year listening for God’s faithfulness among us.

Journeys of Faith: Felipe Paz

Nassau Presbyterian Church — Sun, 04 Jan 2026 15:24:10 +0000

FELIPE PAZ: Revolutionary prone human being, enthusiastic, curious and passionate. Seeks to make everyday a day worth living and the lives of those around better. Traveler of cultures and traditions. Loves to climb, ski, snowboard and put theology into practice. Fútbol is life!

This year’s speakers offer a remarkable range of voices from within our own congregation—voices shaped by ministry, creativity, and leadership.

Come for the breakfast snack, stay for the wisdom, humor, creativity, and witness of your fellow Nassau pilgrims. All are welcome as we begin a new year listening for God’s faithfulness among us.

Stories of Gratitude and Blessings

Nassau Presbyterian Church — Sun, 21 Dec 2025 16:00:00 +0000

As we come to the final days before Christmas, Maria LoBiondo will share tales from the oral tradition that highlight the themes of humility, compassion, and joy found in Mary’s song/prayer in Luke’s gospel, the Magnificat. Come hear tales that reinforce our connections to people around the world and to each other, and offer possibilities for reflection on the deeper meaning of how we welcome the Divine in our lives.

Storyteller Maria LoBiondo delights in sharing the old tales — myths, folk and wonder tales — as well as literary tales with listeners of all ages. She believes these stories create a world of their own as they unfold in the telling, connecting us with previous generations and with each other today.

Her engaging style and lively expressions have enchanted listeners for more than 30 years, including congregation members at Nassau Presbyterian, where she has told folk tales, interpretations of Tolstoy’s works, and Henry van Dyke’s classic, “The Other Wise Man.”

Maria’s approach is shaped by the belief that stories—whether ancient or contemporary, simple or profound—carry the power to form us, guide us, and bring us closer to one another and to God. Her Advent storytelling tradition, in particular, has become a beloved part of Nassau’s seasonal rhythm, offering the congregation a chance to enter the mystery and joy of Christ’s coming through the beauty of story.

Between Promise and Arrival: An Advent Poetry Workshop

Nassau Presbyterian Church — Sun, 30 Nov 2025 16:56:00 +0000

Advent invites us to dwell in the tension between promise and fulfillment, waiting and arrival. In this session of Adult Education, we’ll read and discuss poems that echo the spiritual practice of waiting — from poets who find holiness in uncertainty, patience, and hope. Through shared reflection and conversation, together we will look at how poetry can shape our Advent imagination and open us to God’s quiet presence in the meantime.

Thais Carter is the Director for Strategic Initiatives at Princeton Theological Seminary and Associate Director of Iron Sharpening Iron, an executive leadership program serving women across the US and Canada. She serves on the Adult Education Committee for Nassau Presbyterian Church; is the current board president for the Westminster Foundation, the nonprofit that supports Princeton Presbyterians; and is a board member for LitWorld, a nonprofit focused on literacy and social-emotional learning initiatives for children and women. Her love of poetry emerged from her training with the Civic Reflection Initiative and the ways this form of expression enabled meaningful discourse across difference.

Virginia Kerr is a Princeton attorney, a member of Nassau’s Adult Education Committee, and a member of the Steering Committee of Nassau’s Mass Incarceration Task Force. She has loved poetry from a very early age and still has fond memories of her sixth grade teacher’s reading of Millay’s The Ballad of the Harp Weaver. As a volunteer for Nassau’s ABC Prison Literacy, she taught poetry classes at New Jersey State Prison and the Mercer County Correctional Facility. In recent years, she has included poetry in story sessions she facilitated at FCI Fairton for the non-profit People & Stories, Gente y Cuentos. She has a B.A. from Bryn Mawr College, with a minor in English Literature, an M.A. in the Teaching of English from Teachers College, Columbia University, and a J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania School of Law.

Conversations that Bridge Divides

Nassau Presbyterian Church — Sun, 23 Nov 2025 17:07:00 +0000

The call to follow Christ includes engaging one another with honesty, respect, and courage. In our final session, Lauren Herb Davis will help us explore how to have difficult but faithful conversations that bridge divides in our church and society.

What Kind of Christian? Evangelicalism, Christian Nationalism, and Faith in Public Life

Today, evangelicals face deep reckonings with their past and present role in American democracy. Where do we find ourselves now, and what might faithful Christian engagement look like in the years ahead?

Lauren Herb Davis recently taught systemic thinking in public policy at Princeton University and has worked with the RAND Corporation. Raised Presbyterian in Georgia and educated at a conservative Southern Baptist college, she brings a lifetime of experience navigating faith and politically sensitive conversations. Her work focuses on strengthening support systems in the U.S., and she is passionate about bridging divides through faith and policy.

In the Ashes of Evangelical Empires

Nassau Presbyterian Church — Sun, 16 Nov 2025 14:30:00 +0000

Heath Carter, Assoc. Prof. of American Christianity at Princeton Theological Seminary.

What Kind of Christian? Evangelicalism, Christian Nationalism, and Faith in Public Life

Associate Professor of American Christianity at Princeton Theological Seminary, Heath Carter writes and teaches on the intersections of Christianity, politics, and social movements. He is the author of Union Made: Working People and the Rise of Social Christianity in Chicago and co-editor of several volumes on Christianity and U.S. democracy.

The Year(s) of the Evangelical

Nassau Presbyterian Church — Sun, 09 Nov 2025 16:00:00 +0000

Heath Carter, Assoc. Prof. of American Christianity at Princeton Theological Seminary.

What Kind of Christian? Evangelicalism, Christian Nationalism, and Faith in Public Life

In the late 20th century, evangelicals emerged as a powerful cultural and political force. From pop culture to presidential politics, their influence was undeniable. How did this movement gain such prominence — and at what cost?

Social Gospels and Smaller Tents

Nassau Presbyterian Church — Sun, 02 Nov 2025 16:00:00 +0000

Heath Carter, Assoc. Prof. of American Christianity at Princeton Theological Seminary.

What Kind of Christian? Evangelicalism, Christian Nationalism, and Faith in Public Life

In the early 20th century, many evangelicals championed a broad vision of reform, while others narrowed the faith into a smaller tent of like-minded believers. What can we learn from these competing visions of community and transformation?

Stories from the Camino de Santiago

Nassau Presbyterian Church — Sun, 19 Oct 2025 16:34:00 +0000

In July 2025, a group of Nassau’s youth and adults traveled to Spain to walk the Camino de Santiago, a medieval Christian pilgrimage route leading to the Cathedral of St. James. Along the way they encountered challenge and joy, as well as deepened community and faith. In this class, Nassau’s Camino pilgrims will share reflections, stories, and images from their journey, inviting us to consider how pilgrimage can shape our own journey of faith.

Suffering with Christ in a World of Plenty

Nassau Presbyterian Church — Sun, 12 Oct 2025 04:05:00 +0000

Liz Heinzel-Nelson is the Founder and Executive Director of Villages in Partnership (VIP).

The Apostle Paul speaks of sharing in Christ’s sufferings, yet in our culture of abundance this can feel distant and abstract. What does Christian suffering look like when we live in a world overflowing with material wealth, educational opportunity, and advanced medical care? Through the ministry of Villages in Partnership in rural Malawi, we will reflect on how God is at work in communities where daily hardship and deep joy in Christ coexist. Their witness can challenge and inspire us toward a deeper discipleship—one that longs for a world where everyone has enough.

Thinking Environmentally with Presbyterian Young Adults

Nassau Presbyterian Church — Sun, 05 Oct 2025 18:20:00 +0000

Emma Marshall works as the young adult organizer with Presbyterians for Earth Care.

Care of creation is a vital and activating issue for many, especially for millennials and Gen Z who are emerging into adulthood in a world marked by seeming scarcity, natural disasters, and uncertain futures. Presbyterians for Earth Care (a grassroots organization of the PC(USA)) has been working with Presbyterians ages 18–35 to develop a deeper understanding of what environmental activism looks like, now and in the future. Join us as we explore some of these frameworks for creation care and environmental justice — and begin to develop your own environmental narrative of faith, at any age!

Living Words: Exploring our New Chancel Texts Part 2: The New Biblical Texts in the Chancel

Nassau Presbyterian Church — Sun, 28 Sep 2025 18:00:00 +0000

Unfortunately we only recorded the last half of the class. So sorry!

“Do justice, love kindness, walk humbly with your God”
“Love YHWH your God with all your heart…”
“I was hungry and you gave me food…”
“God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God…”

These four verses, now part of our sanctuary’s visual witness, invite us to lives shaped by justice, compassion, and wholehearted devotion. Join Eric Barreto, Andrew Scales, and Carol Wehrheim for a moderated panel exploring the meaning and context of these texts and how they shape our shared life of faith.

Living Words: Exploring our New Chancel Texts Part 1: The Art and Architecture of the Sanctuary

Nassau Presbyterian Church — Sun, 21 Sep 2025 18:00:00 +0000

Carol Fagundus and Kim Kleasen will guide us through the visual transformation of the chancel and apse. Drawing from Nassau’s sanctuary history and artistic vision, this session will explore how design, architecture, and sacred art work together to support a space of welcome, beauty, and meaning.

What Can Photography Teach Us about Faith?

Nassau Presbyterian Church — Sun, 14 Sep 2025 18:00:00 +0000

What can photography teach us about faith? It seems like an odd question. Faith, after all, is often about things unseen, is it not? After appearing to Thomas, Jesus said “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” “We look not to the things that are seen,” Paul writes, “but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” Join us to view the work of some of the great twentieth-century photographers, and ask ourselves, how can what we see in these photographs stimulate and enliven our faith?

On the Nature of Deadheads: Adventures in Amateur Exegesis

Nassau Presbyterian Church — Sun, 07 Sep 2025 18:00:00 +0000

What can a community of devoted Grateful Dead fans teach us about early Christianity? Join the author to explore insights from the new book Deadhead and Christians, drawing surprising parallels between the Deadhead movement and the earliest decades of the Jesus movement—beyond just long hair and sandals.

It Is Possible: A Future without Nuclear Weapons

Nassau Presbyterian Church — Tue, 17 Jun 2025 00:30:00 +0000

Nuclear Disarmament: Seeking God's Peace

Monday, June 16, 7-8:30PM, Assembly Room

Join Ward Hayes Wilson, author of It Is Possible: A Future Without Nuclear Weapons, for a presentation and conversation. A conference at Nassau Presbyterian in 1980 shaped Ward's interest in nuclear disarmament, and his work is engaging him in new ways with the denomination today. Ward is currently partnering with Presbyteries on an overture for consideration at the 227th General Assembly. Light supper provided. Hosted by the Adult Education Committee.