The Nassau Presbyterian Church is a historic congregation located at 61 Nassau Street in

Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...

, United States. It has been the home of many important figures in the history of

Presbyterianism Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

in the United States as a result of its proximity to

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

and the

Princeton Theological Seminary Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a private school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1812 under the auspices of Archibald Alexander, the General Assembly of ...

. The church operates the

Princeton Cemetery Princeton Cemetery is located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. It is owned by the Nassau Presbyterian Church. John F. Hageman in his 1878 history of Princeton, New Jersey refers to the cemetery as "The Westminster Abbey of the United Stat ...

and is a contributing property to the Princeton Historic District. The current pastor is The Reverend Dr. David A. Davis.

History

First Church

The Presbyterians of central

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

had two places of worship in either Lawrenceville or Kingston. In 1756 the College of New Jersey (now

) opened in Princeton and services were held in

Nassau Hall Nassau Hall, colloquially known as Old Nassau, is the oldest building at Princeton University in Princeton, Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. In 1783 it served as the United States Capitol building for four months. At the time it was built ...

. A few years later funds were collected to build a church to serve the growing population of students and teachers. The newly constructed First Presbyterian Church of Princeton opened in 1766.

John Witherspoon John Witherspoon (February 5, 1723 – November 15, 1794) was a Scottish-American Presbyterian minister, educator, farmer, slaveholder, and a Founding Father of the United States. Witherspoon embraced the concepts of Scottish common sense reali ...

, the President of the College, began his 25 years tenure as pastor of First Church in 1768.

Witherspoon Church and Second Church

As time progressed, divisions within the church occurred and the church spun off two local Presbyterian Churches. After the building burned down in 1835 church notes indicate that African-American members were encouraged to leave the congregation leading to the founding of Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church. Later that same decade the Second Presbyterian Church was chartered by those who sought a less formal worship style and desired different pastoral leadership. Efforts to merge the three congregations back into one were attempted at various times over the years including an effort led by

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

Nassau Presbyterian Church

In the early 1970s, First Church and St. Andrews (the new name of Second Church) were without installed pastors. The churches decided to merge but were concerned about one church absorbing the other. The decision was made to create a new church out of the two (the Witherspoon Church was invited to the merger but declined) and Nassau Presbyterian Church was chartered in 1973. The initial congregation had 2,335 members with 1,759 and 576 coming from First and St. Andrew's, respectively. The former building of St. Andrews was sold in 1978 to a new church plant of the

Assemblies of God The Assemblies of God (AG), officially the World Assemblies of God Fellowship, is a group of over 144 autonomous self-governing national groupings of churches that together form the world's largest Pentecostal denomination."Assemblies of God". ...

, the

Nassau Christian Center The Nassau Christian Center is an Assemblies of God church in Princeton, New Jersey located at 26 Nassau Street. It is housed in an historic church building built in 1868 that was once home to Princeton's Second Presbyterian Church, later known ...

. The church is part of the national

Presbyterian Church USA The Presbyterian Church (USA), abbreviated PC(USA), is a mainline Protestant denomination in the United States. It is the largest Presbyterian denomination in the US, and known for its liberal stance on doctrine and its ordaining of women and ...

Notable ministers and members

Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. Cleveland is the only president in American ...

*Reverend Jonathan Edwards *

* Charles Hodge * A.A. Hodge *

James McCosh James McCosh (April 1, 1811 – November 16, 1894) was a philosopher of the Scottish School of Common Sense. He was president of Princeton University 1868–88. Biography McCosh was born into a Covenanting family in Ayrshire, a ...

Joseph Ruggles Wilson Joseph Ruggles Wilson Sr. (February 28, 1822 – January 21, 1903) was a prominent Presbyterian theologian and father of President Woodrow Wilson, ''Nashville Banner'' editor Joseph Ruggles Wilson Jr., and Anne E. Wilson Howe. In 1861, as pastor o ...

John Gresham Machen John Gresham Machen (; 1881–1937) was an American Presbyterian New Testament scholar and educator in the early 20th century. He was the Professor of New Testament at Princeton Seminary between 1906 and 1929, and led a revolt against modernist ...

Charles R. Erdman, Sr. Charles Rosenbury Erdman Sr. (1866-1960) was an American Presbyterian minister and professor of theology at Princeton Theological Seminary. Early life and education Erdman was born on July 20, 1866 in Fayetteville, New York to William J. Erdman, ...

Bill Bradley William Warren Bradley (born July 28, 1943) is an American politician and former professional basketball player. He served three terms as a Democratic U.S. senator from New Jersey (1979–1997). He ran for the Democratic Party's nomination f ...

References

External links

Nassau Presbyterian Church
{{Princeton, New Jersey, state=collapsed Presbyterian churches in New Jersey Presbyterian Church (USA) churches Churches in Princeton, New Jersey Charles Steadman Buildings Historic district contributing properties in Mercer County, New Jersey Presidential churches in the United States