“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself”
Luke 10:27
“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”
Nassau Church Mission Statement
Central to our yearning to demonstrate God’s love and to love our neighbors is a concern for one another’s health and the commitment to keep one another safe. As we move forward in faith together and begin returning to the sanctuary for worship, we shall by God’s grace and in the power of the Holy Spirit, covenant with one another when we gather.
We will honor our collective goal glorifying Jesus Christ, loving each other and taking all steps we can to keep each other safe. To do that, we will
- Refrain from attending worship in person if experiencing a cough, fever, or other COVID symptoms, or if we have had contact with a person with a COVID diagnosis or COVID symptoms
- Listen to each member’s concerns and needs for safety and health and work for the full inclusion of all attending.
- When we gather for worship in person, we will:
- Wear masks and maintain physical distancing
- Refrain from any physical contact, support those who request further distance, and help remind those who struggle to keep distance
- Enjoy conversation and fellowship outside rather than linger in the sanctuary
With our participation in worship in person, we will support the theological conviction that our worship life represents the breadth of our faith community. To do that, we will
- Welcome families with children who are not able to get a vaccine
- Welcome others yet unvaccinated
- Welcome any members who may not have access to online registration
- Honor our community commitment to protocols in a way that allows ushers and staff to offer hospitality and direction rather than serve as rule or vaccination enforcers.
As we worship together in person we shall seek to be creative and safe regarding all liturgical elements of worship. To do that, we will
- Allow family groups to be closer than physically distant
- Limit communal singing except when invited by worship leaders
- Resist the urge to pass the peace or greet one another even with a fist or elbow bump
- Continue to have some elements of worship pre-recorded to allow broad participation of leadership
- Commit to all in-person worship leaders, musicians, and choir members being vaccinated.
- Understand and support adaptations to liturgical practice that best enable our hybrid worship of in-person and livestream.
As in all aspects of our life together, we seek to glorify God and honor Jesus Christ in all that we and do. Thanks be to God.
