Breaking Bread Worship sending Student Chaplain Jon Rodriquez to his call at Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church and thanking Nicole Busacca for her first year as a Student Chaplain with Princeton Presbyterians.
We are so grateful for a community that faced this unimaginable year with unrelenting joy!
As undergraduate students returned to campus for the Spring semester, we continued to practice physical distancing and social solidarity. Regular programming like Breaking Bread Worship remained on zoom. A gift of our virtual world is the ability to stay connected with young alums, students, and friends of the ministry who moved outside the Princeton area during the pandemic. At our last weekly worship service of the academic year, we blessed and sent 6 graduating seniors from Princeton University and a recent PhD graduate of Boston University. We also gave thanks for our zoom friends—those in NYC, Iowa, Minnesota, California, Pittsburgh—who have continued to invest their time and love in the community via our virtual worship. We will miss their faces as we are hopeful to return to in-person worship in the fall.
This year we also had the opportunity to celebrate the ordination of Westminster Foundation Board Member Lydia Tembo, and to walk alongside Jon Ort ‘21 as he discerned a call to Yale Divinity School. Hear more of their stories (available beginning May 22) as a part of an interview series recorded for Nassau Presbyterians’ Adult Education. We are so grateful for Trina Swanson ‘20, Jonathan Wang ‘21, Becca Bedell ‘17, Lafayette Matthews ‘17, and Slats Toole ‘16 (PTsem) who generously shared a part of their stories as a part of the “On Life’s Journey” series. Read more and watch for yourself here.
Though we have primarily gathered online this year, the Chaplains have had the chance to return to frequent pastoral conversations via in-person walks and coffee meetings. We also celebrated Mr. Rogers’ Day with an outdoor care package extravaganza. Read more in the article published in the Presbyterian News Service here, and see photos below.
The benefits of access to virtual and in-person connections were highlighted during the Annual Easter Worship & Feast. Over 40 friends joined for worship together on zoom, and a feast followed. With a dozen participants remaining on zoom with their feasts supplied by Grubhub gift cards and about 40 friends stopping by Nassau Presbyterian’s parking lot to pick up individually packaged meals to take with them and gather in small groups on the lawn.
Through the challenges, grief, and anxiety of this year, God’s love and provision remained steadfast. Though our programming had to pivot, Princeton Presbyterians continued in our motto—”do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly” (Micah 6:8).
Help honor our graduating students and continue the ministry of Princeton Presbyterians by giving to our $2021 for the Class of 2021 campaign. Whether a gift of $20.21 or $2021, every bit of support is appreciated! Give here.
