Nassau Presbyterian Church
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The Nassau Presbyterian Church is located at 61 Nassau Street in the Borough of Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The church operates the Princeton Cemetery. The current pastor is The Reverend Dr. David A. Davis.
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[edit] First church
The Presbyterians of central New Jersey had two places of worship in either Lawrenceville, New Jersey or Kingston, New Jersey. In 1756 the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) opened in Princeton and services were held in Nassau Hall. 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 openend in 1766. John Witherspoon, the President of the College, began his 25 years tenure as pastor of First Church in 1768.
[edit] Witherspoon Church and Second Church
As time progressed, divisions within the church occurred and the church spun off two local Presbyterian Churches. During church renovations, the African American members worshipped separately and founded the Witherspoon Presbyterian Church in the 1840's. Later that same decade the Second Presbyterian Church was chartered as disagreements within the church had developed. Efforts to merge the three congregations back into one were attempted at various times over the years including an effort led by Woodrow Wilson.
[edit] 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 church is part of the national Presbyterian Church USA.
