Dear Friends in Christ,

Yesterday the Church marked the life and ministry of the Rev'd Absalom Jones, the first Black priest in The Episcopal Church. His hagiography from Lesser Feasts and Fasts is below.

Jones came up in the Sunday Forum two weeks ago in our conversation about Saint Luke's Church here in New Haven. Just as Black parishioners founded Saint Lukes after not being welcoed in White spaces, so Absalom Jones and his colleague and friend Richard Allen started their own Black congregations in Philadelphia.

At the time I mentioned that Jones is particularly noted not only for his courageousness in securing his own and his family's freedom and for his abolitionist work but also for his community engagement as a pastor and leader in Philadelphia; here's the rest of that story.

When the Yellow Fever epidemic of 1793 struck Philadelphia, while

many Whites fled the city, Jones and his fellow cleric Richard Allen

and other Black Philadelphians ministered to the Black and White

communties alike, burying the dead and nursing those impacted by

the disease.

No good deed goes unpunished. While many were grateful for

Jones's care, one Mathew Carey, a publisher in Philadelphia, wrote

a pamphlet accusing Jones, Allen, and others of profiting from the

misery of White Philadelphians in their ministry of care. Jones

countered with his own pamphlet, and eventually the Mayor of

Philadelphia recognized Jones and Allen's contributions to the

community of Philadelphia.

The African Episcopal Church of Saint Thomas that Jones founded

is still a thriving community in Philadelphia, and noteably New

Haven's own Edward Bouchet (graduate of The Hopkins School

and the first Black PhD recipient from Yale University) served as

Clerk of its vestry.

Jones's ministry and public contributions stand tall in their own right, but the fact that he suceeded in offering his life and ministry in the face of intense racism and oppression is even more impressive. His life is a testament to good in the face of evil--of hope, resilience,

and endurance to the end in the name of Christ.

His is an example we need in our own day as we stand up against racism and oppression and fight for the rights of all of God's children.

Blessed Absalom Jones, pray for us.

Yours in the love of God in Christ,

1810 portrait of the Rev'd Absalom Jones by Raphaelle Peale,

from the collection of the Delaware Art Museum

FEBRUARY 13: ABSALOM JONES, Priest, 1818

Absalom Jones was born on November 6, 1746, an enslaved person in a house in

Delaware. He taught himself to read out of the New Testament, among other books. When

sixteen, he was sold to a store owner in Philadelphia. There he attended a night school for

blacks, operated by Quakers. At twenty, he married another enslaved person and

purchased her freedom with his earnings.

Jones bought his own freedom in 1784. At St. George's Methodist Episcopal Church, he

served as lay minister for its black membership. The active evangelism of Jones and that

of his friend, Richard Allen, greatly increased black membership at St. George's. The

alarmed vestry decided to segregate blacks into an upstairs gallery, without notifying

them. During a Sunday service when ushers attempted to remove them, the blacks

indignantly walked out as a body.

In 1787, black Christians organized the Free African Society, the first organized Afro-

American society, and Absalom Jones and Richard Allen were elected overseers.

Members of the Society paid monthly dues for the benefit of those in need. The Society

established communication with similar black groups in other cities. In 1792, the Society

began to build a church, which was dedicated on July 17th, 1794.

The African Church applied for membership in the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania on

the following conditions: 1. that they be received as an organized body; 2. that they have

control over their local affairs; 3. that Absalom Jones be licensed as layreader, and, if

qualified, be ordained as minister. In October 1794 it was admitted as St. Thomas African

Episcopal Church. Bishop White ordained Jones as deacon in 1795 and as priest on

September 21, 1802.

Jones was an earnest preacher. He denounced slavery, and warned the oppressors to

"clean their hands of slaves." To him, God was the Father, who always acted on "behalf of

the oppressed and distressed." But it was his constant visiting and mild manner that made

him beloved by his own flock and by the community. St. Thomas Church, Philadelphia,

grew to over 500 members during its first year. Known as "the Black Bishop of the

Episcopal Church," Jones was an example of persistent faith in God and in the church as

God's instrument.

Jones died on February 13th, 1818, in Philadelphia.

--Lesser Feasts & Fasts