Community service trip to Parramos, Guatemala
This year's trip to Parramos is scheduled for Friday, July 4 - Sunday, July 13. For more information and to see photos from last year's trip, click here.

Anti Torture Advocacy Group

The Anti-torture Advocacy Group has been meeting this fall to consider how best to respond to our growing awareness of the use of torture in today's world. Come join us as we: a) keep ourselves and the congregation abreast of U.S. policy regarding the treatment of detainees and the collection of intelligence, b) learn about the historical and international aspects of the question and c) advocate for humane and morally acceptable standards. To join us or for more information, contact Bob Duncan (609-452-2477, robtdunc@aol.com) or Ted Vial (609-759-3306, tavial@bellatlantic.net).  

For information about membership in the National Religious Campaign Against Torture and the session proposal follow this link

Follow this link for the statement of conscience Torture is a Moral Issue

Church Family Mission Trips

Nassau’s third annual Family Mission Trip took place July 21-27, 2007. We have photos of children, youth and adults sharing in mission with Tyrand Ecumenical Ministry in West Virginia under the leadership of Nancy Mikoski, Christian Education Consultant at Nassau.

The fourth annual Church Family Mission Trip will be to Chambersburg, PA and Elkins, WVA. The trips are scheduled for July of 2008. Click here for (more information).

Partner Program of Churches for Middle East Peace

(CMEP) is a coalition of public policy offices of Christian churches and agencies, including the Presbyterian Church (USA). CMEP began its work in 1984 out of the conviction that the policy perspectives and long Middle East experience of its member bodies should be more widely known in the public policy arena. CMEP therefore seeks to maintain an on-going dialogue with Congress, the Administration and the diplomatic community, to advance such concerns, assessments, and advocacy positions. CMEP has initiated a Partner Program to build direct relationships with key Christian organizations and congregations nationwide in an effort to strengthen their ecumenical voice and advocacy work. Nassau Church is the first Presbyterian congregation to have joined this program.

Israeli-Palestinian Issues

Problems and Possibilities in the Israeli/Palestinian Conflict:
Archbishop Elias Chacour speaks on Thursday, October 11 at 7:00 p.m.
His Eminence, Melkite Archbishop of Akko, Haifa, Nazareth and all Galilee, is the author of Blood Brothers  & We Belong to the Land. A Nobel Peace Prize nominee, Israel’s “Man of the Year”, 2000 and recipient of 2001 Niwano Peace Prize. Sponsored by Pilgrims Of Ibillin, www.pilgrimsofibillin.org

Our focus on the Israeli-Palestinian issue has continued through the fall with adult education classes, mission volunteer activities, and a newly approved partner program.

At its October 2005 meeting, Nassau’s participation in the Partner Program of Churches for Middle East Peace, a PC(USA) sponsored organization in Washington, DC that recommends public policies relative to the Israeli-Palestinian situation. Tom Charles, a co-chair of the Mission Committee, serves as the volunteer coordinator for CMEP’s activities here in New Jersey. If you have any questions concerning CMEP or its partner program, please check out the CMEP website (www.cmep.org) or call Tom.

Session Adopts Immigration Resolution

The Session of Nassau Presbyterian Church calls upon the members of our congregation to engage faithfully in study and dialogue related to the impact of our Christian faith on current opinions and policies related to world events. Read the full resolution here or read the introduction. The Princeton Packet has reported on this resolution.

Immigration Reform Study

In the summer and fall of 2004 the Princeton area experienced a series of dawn raids of private Latino homes and daytime raids of Latino workplaces by U.S. immigration officers. Undocumented immigrants were arrested, detained, and deported. These dehumanizing raids and detentions, the trauma suffered by the affected families and the disruptions of local businesses generated a sudden interest in U.S. immigration policy and its implementation. It was in this context that the newly formed Issues Advocacy Working Group of Nassau Church’s Mission Committee took on immigration reform as a topic for study and advocacy.

An invitation in Generations and on Nassau’s web site in January 2005 brought together about a dozen members of the Nassau community to begin a study of U.S. immigration policy, its history, its implementation and its economic and human impact. This Immigration Reform Advocacy Group comprised of newcomers to Princeton, long-time Nassau members, and members of the Session and/or its Mission Committee.

To learn about immigration issues, the group met weekly for several months?and communicated almost daily by e-mail?scouring newspapers and the Internet to assemble a library of information and opinion. We examined the actions and publications of the PC(USA) General Assembly and other faith-based organizations for their unique insights, and we studied a number of legislative proposals for forming present immigration policy.

The group shared its findings -- and opinions -- and promoted discussion within Nassau and in the wider Princeton community. At a March breakfast, PC(USA) Moderator Rick Ufford-Chase spoke about his 18+ years of mission work along the U.S./Mexican border. Through April and May, we presented informational displays at Communiversity, at Sunday morning coffee hours, and on our Great Wall. We cosponsored adult education classes in May, featuring Princeton University Professor Douglas Massey, Princeton immigration lawyer Ryan Lilienthal, and Nassau Session member Bob Wells, tree and landscape contractor and employer of immigrants. And in September we presented an Information & Discussion Forum for the congregation.

Finally, to balance policy study with human reality, the group has worked to support Jay Davila and her three children. Their husband and father Edy was detained in August 2004 and deported to Guatemala in early 2005. Assistance has included a Mission Committee mortgage assistance grant and generous private donations of children’s clothing and of funds for child daycare. On November 19, we cosponsored (with Main Street Catering and the Latin American Legal Defense and Education Fund) a reception, fundraiser, and silent auction that raised over $2000 to assist in Edy’s legal return to his family.

This group continues its work in 2006. We invite interested members of the Nassau community to join us. In addition, Congress appears ready to consider immigration reform legislation early in 2006. We urge all Nassau members to learn the facts and to urge our representatives to adopt thorough, just, and humane policy reform.

For more information, contact Bill Wakefield (609-924-1736, WakeConsult@aol.com) or Bob Duncan (609-452-2477, robtdunc@aol.com).