Nassau Presbyterian Church Adult Education

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.

(c)2025 Nassau Prebyterian Church. All rights reserved. For permission requests, contact Nassau Presbyterian Church, Princeton, NJ, (609-924-0103, email).

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.

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.

(c)2025 Nassau Prebyterian Church. All rights reserved. For permission requests, contact Nassau Presbyterian Church, Princeton, NJ, (609-924-0103, email).

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

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?

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.

(c)2025 Nassau Prebyterian Church. All rights reserved. For permission requests, contact Nassau Presbyterian Church, Princeton, NJ, (609-924-0103, email).

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?

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.

(c)2025 Nassau Prebyterian Church. All rights reserved. For permission requests, contact Nassau Presbyterian Church, Princeton, NJ, (609-924-0103, email).

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?

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.

(c)2025 Nassau Prebyterian Church. All rights reserved. For permission requests, contact Nassau Presbyterian Church, Princeton, NJ, (609-924-0103, email).

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.

(c)2025 Nassau Prebyterian Church. All rights reserved. For permission requests, contact Nassau Presbyterian Church, Princeton, NJ, (609-924-0103, email).

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.

(c)2025 Nassau Prebyterian Church. All rights reserved. For permission requests, contact Nassau Presbyterian Church, Princeton, NJ, (609-924-0103, email).

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!

(c)2025 Nassau Prebyterian Church. All rights reserved. For permission requests, contact Nassau Presbyterian Church, Princeton, NJ, (609-924-0103, email).

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.

(c)2025 Nassau Prebyterian Church. All rights reserved. For permission requests, contact Nassau Presbyterian Church, Princeton, NJ, (609-924-0103, email).

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.

(c)2025 Nassau Prebyterian Church. All rights reserved. For permission requests, contact Nassau Presbyterian Church, Princeton, NJ, (609-924-0103, email).