On a single block of Nassau Street in the heart of Princeton, New Jersey, a sandstone church with white columns has been the center of Presbyterian worship since 1836. Nassau Presbyterian Church shares the street with the shops of Palmer Square and the walkways of Princeton University, and its congregation of more than two thousand members draws students, faculty, longtime residents, and newcomers into a single sanctuary each Sunday morning. Its building, its music, its cemetery, and its long list of community partnerships make Nassau one of the larger and most rooted Presbyterian congregations in the region.
Sunday Mornings on Nassau Street
Two Sunday morning services are held in the Sanctuary. The 9:15 AM service is offered in person and is livestreamed. The 11:00 AM service is in person only. Between Memorial Day and Labor Day, the two services combine into a single 10:00 AM worship. The sanctuary is open with pew seating in the main floor and balcony, and a bulletin handed out at the door walks each visitor through the order of worship. Coffees and refreshments are served between the two morning services in the Assembly Room, and during the summer the congregation moves out to the front patio.
The service follows a classical Reformed pattern: a call to worship, prayers, congregational singing, scripture readings, a sermon, and a sending. The sacrament of Holy Communion is celebrated on the first Sunday of each month and on additional occasions such as the first Sundays of Advent and Lent. Communion is open to anyone who wishes to participate, and visitors who prefer not to take part may remain in their seats. Children of any age are welcome in the sanctuary; a "Time with Children" early in the 9:15 service offers a brief message before many of the children leave for Church School.
Music is central to worship. The Adult Choir, supported by five professional section leaders, an assistant organist, and a choral librarian, leads the principal musical portions of the service, alongside a pipe organ and additional instruments. Congregational singing draws on the hymnals Glory to God and the psalter Psalms for All Seasons, with hymns and songs from a wide range of traditions: traditional hymns such as "A Mighty Fortress is Our God" and "Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee," gospel songs like "Amazing Grace" and "Blessed Assurance," African songs like "Hallelujah! We Sing Your Praises!" and "Siyahamba," folk-liturgical pieces such as "Gather Us In," and chants from the Taizé community.
A Church Built from Three Congregations
The history of Nassau Presbyterian is the history of four distinct congregations. The first is the First Presbyterian Church of Princeton, founded in 1766. Presbyterians in colonial Princeton had previously traveled to Lawrenceville or Kingston for worship, but after the College of New Jersey, now Princeton University, moved to Princeton in 1756, regular services were held in the Prayer Hall of Nassau Hall. A few years later an agreement with the College allowed the construction of a church building on the site where worship continues today. John Witherspoon, the College's president, served as pastor of First Church for twenty-five years beginning in 1768.
The original building was occupied by British and American soldiers during the Revolution, with the pews stripped for firewood. It burned in 1813 when a sexton accidentally stored live coals in a closet, was rebuilt in eight months, and burned again in 1835 when a skyrocket fired in celebration of Independence Day landed on the roof. The original portion of the present sanctuary was designed and built by Charles Steadman and dedicated in 1836.
The second congregation is Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church, which was formed in 1846 by African American members who had been separated during the sanctuary construction of 1836. Nassau acknowledges this history directly: it was, in the words of church historian Lefferts Loetscher, "earnestly hoped that time and the grace of God will heal such wounds in our church, in our town, and in our nation." Today the two congregations are close partners, joined in a project called Partners in Faith that they describe as a shared journey of reconciliation and witness.
The third is the Second Presbyterian Church, founded in 1847 by eleven members of First Church in response to a need for more seating and more informal worship. It built its own sanctuary at Nassau and Chambers Streets in 1868, was renamed St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in 1965, and became Nassau's companion in the merger that followed.
In 1972 both First Presbyterian and St. Andrew's were without senior ministers. In less than a hundred days in early 1973, the two sessions drafted a plan to dissolve their existing charters and form a new church. The vote was overwhelming: a single new congregation of 2,335 members, with 1,759 from First and 576 from St. Andrew's. On June 24, 1973, a Service of Constitution was held in Alexander Hall to formalize the founding of Nassau Presbyterian Church. The Rev. Dr. Wallace M. Alston, Jr. was called as the first pastor in March 1974, and the Rev. Cynthia Jarvis joined him as associate pastor.
The Chambers Street building was sold to the Nassau Christian Center in 1978, and the proceeds were used to establish the St. Andrew's Mission Fund, dedicated to providing income for basic human needs. A major renovation in 1987 to 1988 added the office wing and modernized the Palmer Square building. With Dr. Alston's departure in 1996, the Rev. Dr. Clarence Ammons served as interim pastor for four years before the Rev. Dr. David A. Davis was called in May 2000.
Music and the Arts
Noel Werner has served as Director of Music since 2006. He holds degrees from Westminster Choir College, Indiana University, and Christian Theological Seminary, and is the immediate past dean of the Central New Jersey Chapter of the American Guild of Organists. Five professional section leaders - soprano, alto, tenor, bass, and assistant organist - support the Adult Choir alongside the chancel choir, and the church hosts the Grace Note Singers, a choir open to adults of all ages including retirees and those who have never sung in a choir before, which sings at Nassau services and at retirement and nursing communities.
Beyond the chancel choir, Nassau has a multi-tiered children's and youth choir program directed by Ingrid Ladendorf. Joyful Noise gathers pre-kindergarten and kindergarten children on Sunday mornings. Carol Choir is for grades 1 and 2, Choir 3·4·5 for grades 3 to 5. Chorale rehearses on Sunday evenings for grades 6 to 8, and Cantorei, the high school choir, prepares music for Christmas Eve, Good Friday, Youth Sunday, and other services throughout the year. The choirs take part in chancel dramas in summer and have collaborated with the American Boychoir, Princeton Pro Musica, and the Trenton Children's Chorus.
Instrumental ensembles expand the music program further. Festival Ringers, the handbell choir, rehearses on Wednesday evenings and plays six to seven times a year. PPQ, the Princeton Presbyterian Quartet, brings together amateur and professional musicians from the congregation and beyond for three or four appearances each year. A wide community of instrumentalists contributes preludes and offertories, and individual musicians are invited to participate at any level.
The Art of Faithfulness ministry extends the same idea beyond music: visual artists, writers, and other creators are invited to explore the connection between creative practice and Christian faith through classes and events throughout the program year.
Children, Youth, and Families
Ingrid Ladendorf serves as Director of Children's & Family Ministry in addition to her role directing children's and youth choirs. The programs run September through May and include Sunday morning Church School, Worship Explorers during the 11:00 service, the Friday evening fellowship group Club 3·4·5 for grades 3 to 5, Vacation Bible School the last week of June, and a parent ministry called Wednesdays at Nassau that runs children's choirs and an In-Choir Bible Study for parents at the same time.
Children attend the first part of the 9:15 service; after Time with Children they are dismissed by grade level to age-appropriate classrooms. Parents pick up children in fourth grade and younger directly from the classroom; older children are released without a parent present. Childcare for infants and children two and younger is offered year-round in Room 09 on the Lower Level. During the 11:00 service, Worship Explorers offers a Montessori-style worship experience for ages four through grade three based on the Young Children and Worship curriculum.
Mark Edwards joined Nassau as Director of Youth Ministries in 2013. The youth ministry, called Nassau's Upper Room, is built around Sunday morning gatherings in a space overlooking the Princeton University campus, Sunday night fellowship, an annual confirmation class, and summer trips that have included home repair in Appalachia, youth advocacy visits to Washington, and outdoor adventures with Young Life's Beyond Malibu program. A monthly newsletter and a closed Facebook group keep youth and parents in contact.
Vacation Bible School runs the last week of June on site. In 2026 the program included registration by debit or credit card through PayPal. The annual MLK Morning of Mission in January brings children and adults together to assemble care bags for HomeFront and Arm in Arm. Both Vacation Bible School and a week-long summer program called PresbyCamp are organized by a committee of about thirty teachers, helpers, and substitutes.
Princeton Presbyterians and the University
Just across the street, Princeton Theological Seminary and Princeton University shape the rhythms of the congregation. The Rev. Dr. Andrew T. Scales serves as Presbyterian Chaplain to Princeton University and Executive Director of the Westminster Foundation. His spouse, the Rev. Len Turner Scales, serves as Nassau's Associate Pastor for Faith Formation, Mission, and Outreach, and as part-time Executive Co-Director of the Westminster Foundation and Presbyterian Chaplain at Princeton.
Their shared ministry with undergraduates and graduate students is known as Princeton Presbyterians. The central weekly gathering is Breaking Bread, a Sunday evening communion service in Niles Chapel during the academic year. Student fellowship, retreats, and mission opportunities round out the program, which also welcomes students from Westminster Choir College and Princeton Theological Seminary. Field Education students from the Seminary serve in Nassau's congregational leadership on an annual basis.
Princeton Theological Seminary is also a mission partner in its own right, and its Farminary, which integrates theological education with regenerative agriculture, has been a focus of recent Adult Education offerings.
Adult Education, Small Groups, and Bible Study
Adult Education at Nassau centers on Sunday morning classes held in the Assembly Room, with recordings available for several months afterward. Recent series have explored Paul's Letter to the Philippians in Lent and, in the fall of 2026, a program called Ways of Seeing that considers art, archaeology, science, and the wider church. The education ministry is led by Len Scales.
Small groups of six to twelve people meet in the fall and during Lent to read a Bible story or a book chapter together, share concerns, and pray for one another. Bible studies are numerous. A Men's Breakfast Bible Study meets Fridays at 7:30 AM in the Assembly Room from September to May. An Early Bird Women's Bible Study meets Fridays at 7:00 AM in members' homes. A Nassau Book Group has been meeting for more than ten years, choosing mostly novels with religious or spiritual themes. Barbara Happer's Walking Group is geared for senior adults, and other fellowship groups meet for shared interests.
Deacons lead grief support through a group called GriefEncounters. The Prayer Chain accepts prayer requests by email and circulates them to a network of intercessors.
Pastoral Care and the Diaconate
Pastoral care at Nassau is organized through the deacons, who are elected by the congregation and ordained for terms of three years. The Diaconate at Nassau is divided into Pastoral Ministries, covering senior adult partnerships, illness and rehabilitation, and bereavement; Practical Ministries, which include the prayer chain, communion preparation, the usher ministry, and the baking ministry; and Specialized Ministries, such as the Justice Projects that partner with Arm in Arm and WorkWell, the Inter-Faith Stitchers, and the Mission Cards and Crafters.
Pastoral care is offered through visitation, prayer, and listening. Communion at home is available for members who cannot attend services in person. The Jewel Leback Deacon Library, in the room to the right of the Sanctuary, holds books on health and well-being, grief and bereavement, prayer and spiritual care, and aging.
A Network of Mission Partners
More than thirty mission partners receive financial and volunteer support from Nassau. The most deeply rooted of these is Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church, joined in the Partners in Faith reconciliation work and in shared projects through Bending the Moral Arc. Hunger-related work is concentrated in a monthly Hunger Offering divided five ways: HomeFront, the Presbyterian Hunger Program, Send Hunger Packing Princeton, the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen, and the Uniting Reformed Church of Stellenbosch in South Africa.
Locally the church is closely tied to Arm in Arm, the food pantry and homelessness prevention program co-founded by Nassau and Trinity Church. Nassau members serve meals monthly at the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen and volunteer at Send Hunger Packing Princeton's free farmers market at the Princeton YMCA. Capital Harmony Works, formerly the Trenton Children's Chorus, was founded in 1989 as an outreach project of Nassau Presbyterian. The Trenton Microloan Collaborative, a partnership between Nassau and Westminster Presbyterian Church in Trenton, supports formerly incarcerated entrepreneurs with zero-interest loans and pro bono services.
Housing and refugee work touches many of these partners. Housing Initiatives of Princeton provides transitional housing and rental assistance. Princeton Community Housing, of which Nassau is a founding member, has built more than 450 affordable rental homes in Princeton since the 1970s. The Refugee Resettlement program has sponsored and welcomed more than a dozen refugee families over the past sixty years, from Bosnia, Burma/Myanmar, Cambodia, Cuba, Hungary, Indonesia, Iraq, Sudan, Syria, and Vietnam. The Neighbor Fund was created in 2025 in response to an ICE operation in Princeton to provide financial support, including for legal expenses, to immigrant neighbors facing urgent needs.
Beyond Mercer County, the church supports The Farminary at Princeton Theological Seminary, Villages in Partnership in Malawi (through the annual VIP Water Walk and Friendship Trips), Cetana Education Foundation in Myanmar, Churches for Middle East Peace, Centurion Ministries, Friends for Health in Haiti, the Presbyterian Office of Public Witness, Young Adult Volunteers, and others. Princeton Presbyterians also partners with UKirk, the PC(USA) collegiate ministry network. The Mass Incarceration Task Force connects Nassau members with mentoring, tutoring, and pen pal programs in New Jersey state prisons. The session's commitment to feeding those in need is summed up in the committee's own line, drawn from John 6: "Like the young child, we offer what we haven and trust that Jesus will multiply our resources until all are fed and creation is repaired."
The YAV (Young Adult Volunteer) program of the Presbyterian Church (USA) sends nineteen- to thirty-year-olds into year-long service in sites across the United States and around the world. Nassau believes so strongly in young adult vocational discernment that it pays up to half of the program cost for its accepted applicants.
Princeton Cemetery
Since 1757, the year after the College of New Jersey moved to Princeton, the congregation that would become Nassau Presbyterian has owned and operated what is now called the Princeton Cemetery. The original one-acre parcel at the intersection of Wiggins and Witherspoon Streets was acquired from Judge Thomas Leonard in 1757 by the College, and additional gifts - including land from Paul Tulane and Moses Taylor Pyne - have brought the present-day cemetery to almost nineteen acres. The oldest surviving monument is that of Aaron Burr Sr., the College's second president.
The cemetery welcomes inquiries for burials in a grave, the columbaria, or the Pardee Memorial Garden. Pardee Memorial Garden, designed by Ford3 Architects, offers environmentally sensitive burial of ashes in biodegradable earthen urns among the historic gravestones. The Princeton Cemetery remains inclusive and non-denominational in character; interment has never been restricted to Nassau Presbyterian members and their families.
Buried in the cemetery are all but four of the deceased presidents of Princeton University and all but one of the deceased presidents of Princeton Theological Seminary. Stephen Grover Cleveland, the twenty-second and twenty-fourth President of the United States, is buried in the Pardee Memorial Garden section. Other names of note include Aaron Burr Jr., Jonathan Edwards, John Witherspoon, John O'Hara, George Gallup, Rex Goreleigh, Paul Tulane, Sylvia Beach, and the violinist and bandleader Donald Lambert. A brochure available at the entrance gates guides visitors to some of the more distinguished graves. A Boy Scout Eagle Scout project in 2015 added QR codes near many of the famous headstones, linking to biographies, photos, and videos.
The cemetery office is at 29 Greenview Avenue and can be reached at 609-924-1369. The cemetery is open daily from dawn to dusk.
Senior Adults
Senior adults at Nassau participate in the full life of the church: Sunday classes, the Adult Education program, small groups, the Walking Group, the Prayer Chain, and the Nassau Book Group. Sunday bus service runs year-round from Windrows in Princeton and Stonebridge at Montgomery, with pickup at 10:00 AM for the 11:00 service; the bus returns after worship. Weekly service is also available from Meadow Lakes Senior Living in East Windsor. During the summer one-service Sundays, pickups shift to 9:00 AM and 9:20 AM.
The Center for Lifelong Learning on Poor Farm Road and the Suzanne Patterson Building on Stockton Street are local resources for older adults and are listed on Nassau's senior adult page.
The Building, Accessibility, and Parking
The 1836 sanctuary is wheelchair accessible from a ramp to the side door from the parking lot. An elevator just inside the entrance goes up to the second floor and down to the Lower Level. Two wheelchairs are available inside the church. Six pews are large enough to accommodate wheelchairs and walkers, and additional spaces near the church on Nassau Street are reserved for those with limited mobility on Sunday morning. Mobile hearing aids connected to the sound system, large-print bulletins, and large-print supplements with hymns and scripture lessons are available on request; ushers are glad to help.
Parking is metered on Nassau Street, and reduced-price Sunday coupons for the Chambers Street garage behind Palmer Square are available through the church office. Parking in the church's own lot is limited; the small lot is reserved for staff and visitors with limited mobility. The office is open Monday through Thursday from 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM; visitors ring the doorbell at the parking lot ramp door.
Becoming a Member
Anyone who wishes to explore membership is welcome at the Inquirers Class, held on three consecutive Sundays each winter. The class is taught by the Membership Committee and covers Growing in Faith, Being Presbyterian, Reformed Worship, Life at Nassau, Worship and the Arts, Small Groups, the Vocation of Membership, Children and Family Ministries, Youth Ministries, Choirs, Mission and Outreach, and Stewardship. Members may join by profession of faith, reaffirmation of faith, or letter of transfer.
Clergy and Staff
The senior pastor is the Rev. Dr. David A. Davis, who has served the congregation since 2000. He earned his Ph.D. in Homiletics from Princeton Theological Seminary and has published two sermon collections, A Kingdom You Can Taste and Lord, Teach Us to Pray. The Transitional Associate Pastor is the Rev. Wendi L. Werner, who has served PC(USA) churches in central New Jersey since 1995 and who is leading the congregation through a mission study in this season of pastoral transition. The Associate Pastor for Faith Formation, Mission, and Outreach is the Rev. Len Turner Scales, who is also part-time Executive Co-Director of the Westminster Foundation and Presbyterian Chaplain at Princeton University. The Rev. Dr. Andrew T. Scales, the other Presbyterian Chaplain at Princeton University and Executive Director of the Westminster Foundation, is a frequent preacher at Nassau. Noel Werner directs the music program. Ingrid Ladendorf directs the children's and family ministry and the children's and youth choirs. Mark Edwards directs the youth ministry. Linda Gilmore is the Business Administrator, Lauren Yeh is the Executive Assistant, Austin Boland-Ferguson is the Coordinator of Communication and Design, Nick Mastalesz is the Sound Engineer, Edie Estrada is the Building Supervisor, and Verny Cano is the Custodian. Session members representing the Classes of 2026, 2027, and 2028 share in the governing of the church, with Anne Kuhn as President of the Corporation.
Beliefs and Way of Life
Nassau is a member congregation of the Presbyterian Church (USA), within the Presbytery of the Coastlands and the Synod of the Northeast. The church's stated mission is that "the people of Nassau Presbyterian Church celebrate and demonstrate God's love through worship and service in Princeton and through our lives and work in the world." The mission statement continues: "Committed to Jesus Christ, our community welcomes the breadth of humanity and the challenge of the Gospel. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, people of all ages can find a place here to seek abundant life and nurture faith. By God's grace in our lives, we engage with the world, yearn to do what is just and fair, encourage what is kind and helpful, and seek to walk humbly before God and alongside our neighbors." Reformed worship, the centrality of the Word and sacraments, and the governance of the church by elders elected by the congregation shape daily life at Nassau.
Pastoral Transition
Pastor Davis has announced his retirement, to be marked by a leave-taking in November 2026. The session is planning for a wider season of transition that includes an annual meeting of the congregation, a coffee hour to welcome the Rev. Wendi L. Werner in her expanded role, and the launch of a mission study led by the Transitional Associate Pastor.