Feast Day of Absalom Jones
February 13, 2019
The Episcopal Publication Lesser Feasts and Fasts tells us that Absalom Jones was born in 1746 as a house slave in Delaware. After being sold at the age of sixteen to a store owner in Philadelphia, he attended night school for Blacks run by Quakers. At the age of twenty, he married and bought his wife her freedom.
Over twenty years later, Jones bought his own freedom and began serving as a lay minister for the Black membership at St. George’s Methodist Episcopal Church. Under the leadership of Jones and his friend Richard Allen, the Black membership grew significantly. This distressed the vestry who decided to segregate the blacks into an upstairs gallery.
During a Sunday service, the ushers attempted to move the Black membership to the upper gallery. Led by Jones and Allen, the Black membership walked toward the back of the church and kept right on walking out of the church building.
In 1787, both Jones and Allen become the overseers of the newly formed Free African Society who raised money to benefit those in need. In 1792, the Society began construction on a new church which was dedicated on July 17, 1794. The African Church applied for membership in the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania. 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. He was widely known as the “Black Bishop of the Episcopal Church.”
The Episcopal publication does not, however, tell us why it took almost 10 years for Jones to be ordained priest. The publication also does not tell us why it took 200 years for the Episcopal Church to recognize Absalom Jones on the liturgical calendar.
I imagine it took over 200 years for the Episcopal Church to forget that it too was a part of the system of injustice that did not give African-Americans equal rights in the church. Jones’ ordination in the Episcopal Church was delayed because it was a condition under which St. Thomas could be admitted into the Diocese of Pennsylvania. Another condition stipulated that neither priest nor lay leader could serve as a delegate to the annual diocesan convention.
In my own conversations relating to racial injustice, I’ve observed the problem is not simply in what is said but also in what is not said. A vast majority of history is told by those who hold the power. As is human nature, we will tell that history in a way that is most favorable us. It was not until I was a fully grown adult that I began to hear the minority stories of not only Black Americans but also Native Americans. The whole truth is much more troubling than what I remember learning in school.
One of the things I admire most about the Old Testament scriptures is that the writers do not water down much of anything. The history of the people of Israel doesn’t leave out anything. It includes everything - the good, the bad, and the ugly.
As I read these ancient scriptures, I am reminded of the core truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ –a truth captured in a Camp McDowell song. Jesus loves me when I’m good. Jesus loves me when I’m bad. In the end, the story our faith is not defined by us mortals but by a God whose property is always to have mercy. Or as the letter to the Galatians says, “you who want to be justified by the law have cut yourselves off from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.”
As a people who proclaim a faith rooted in the grace of God in Christ, we have no reason to conceal a part of the truth to make ourselves look better. In fact, we have every reason to know and hear and share the entire truth. Because only when the whole truth - the good, the bad, and the ugly - is brought to light, can God truly begin the work of redemption in us and through us by the grace of Christ Jesus.
On the cross, Jesus brings this truth to light. Jesus shows us that the history of our sins is more destructive than we could have ever imagined. Jesus also shows us a love and mercy that we can hardly fathom. On the cross, as Jesus looks upon those who put him there, he speaks God’s ultimate truth, “Father forgive them.”
May God’s promise of mercy help us not only tell the whole truth but also more willing to hear the whole truth. And may our journey of faith be less about making ourselves look good and more about trusting in a God who redeems all of history – even the worst of our history. And then and only then can we learn to live into Jesus' command to love others as Christ loves us.
From Lesser Feasts and Fasts, 2018
Jones was born on November 6, 1746, in a house slave 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 slave, 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, thefirst 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 warnedthe 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.
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