ABSALOM JONES

As a group of African Americans knelt for morning prayers in 1787 at St. George's Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia, the ushers tapped each of them on the shoulder and demanded that they move to the recently completed balcony so as not to mingle with the white members of the church. Outraged, these black members refused to comply and walked out of the church service. Within this group was a former slave that would become the first African American Episcopal Priest in the newly formed United States of America.

Absalom Jones was born a slave in Sussex, Delaware, on November 6th, 1746. As a small child he was a house servant, earning tips which he saved to buy a primer, a spelling book, and a New Testament from which he taught himself to read. In 1762 his family was split apart as his mother, five brothers and sister were all sold to different masters. Jones was taken by his new master from rural Delaware to the urban setting of Philadelphia.

He was set to work in a grocery store but also found time to attend a night school for blacks, operated by Quakers. Jones married in 1770 and by working long hours beyond his assigned tasks as a slave, eventually earned enough money to purchase freedom for his wife and eight years later, in 1784, his own freedom.

Jones was converted to Christianity through a Methodist preacher and began to attend the St. George Methodist Episcopal Church, where he would develop a life long friendship with Richard Allen, another leader in the Philedelphian African American community.

Jones and Allen committed themselves to sharing the Gospel with their persecuted African brothers and sisters throughout the city, and were successful in bringing many of them into membership of the Church. By 1786, Jones was a licensed Methodist lay preacher.

However, as the black members increased, church officials became uncomfortable with the notion of having to interact so closely with the Africans while at worship. To avoid this they constructed an upstairs gallery designated for black worshippers. On the Sunday immediately following its completion, Jones and his companions were no longer allowed to worship at their regular places but were forced to sit in the upstairs gallery. Jones and Allen, after objecting to this humiliating treatment and walking out of the church, organized their own religious community, naming it "The Free African Society." This was the first independent black organization in America.

The Free African Society reached out to serve the spiritual and physical needs of the free and enslaved African population of Philadelphia. The Society encouraged its members to live moral and orderly lives, to support one another in sickness, and to provide for the benefit of widows and fatherless children. It also provided a structure where people of African descent could worship God in an atmosphere of dignity and self-respect. During the Yellow Fever outbreak that struck Philadelphia in 1792, Jones and the members of the Free African Society staid in the city, nursing and burying many of 4,000 people who died during the plague

As numbers in the Free African Society increased, the members felt a need to affiliate with an official religious denomination. The society split into two groups. One following Robert Allen who formed the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church. The other voting to affiliate with the Protestant Episcopal Church, and to have Absalom Jones serve as their pastor.

In 1794, the Diocese of Pennsylvania established the "St. Thomas African Episcopal Church", the first African-American Episcopal parish in the United States and in 1804, Jones was officially ordained as it's priest and pastor.

Jones was a caring and earnest preacher. He denounced slavery and declared that God was a Father who always acted on “behalf of the oppressed and distressed.” Under his leadership, the St. Thomas Church grew to over 500 members during its first year.

Jones main influence, however, was in the gentle and loving manner with which he engaged his congregation and community. His tireless visitations and mild character made him beloved by his own flock and greater Philadelphian society. Deeply concerned with the degradation of Black people and the social and economic conditions which perpetuated it, Jones activism went beyond the walls of the church. He founded and established many schools for blacks, was co-founder of an insurance company, served as a consultant in real estate and was leader of a group of Philadelphians who sent an anti-slavery petition to Congress in 1800.

At the age of 71, after leading his church for 22 years, Jones died on February 13th, 1818 and was buried in the churchyard of St. Thomas. The inscription on his tomb gives testimony to his life and character: "To the memory of the Rev. Absalom Jones, who, born a slave, and becoming possessed of freedom by good conduct, and rendered respectable by a course of virtuous industry, was principally instrumental in founding the African Church of St. Thomas."

In Romans 12:21, the apostle Paul encourages us to "not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good" There are countless examples throughout history of individuals or groups of people, based on ethnic lines, being horribly abused, exploited and oppressed. As Christians how are we to overcome such oppression and evil? The Scriptures tell us it not by focusing on the evil endured but by centering ones life on the Lord Jesus Christ and following His example of doing good.

Absalom Jones modeled how a Christian can overcome even the cruelty and degradation of slavery. His trust in God, his loving character and lifestyle of good and selfless works, accompanied by a wise use of the small opportunities open to him, overcame the evil of his day and allowed Jones to rise to a productive, respected and honored member of his community.

Although submitted to the most hideous injustice of being another man's slave because of the color of his skin, he was enabled to overcome this evil by living a God-centered life of good works. He constantly encouraged his fellow African Americans to imitate the Christian lifestyle he modeled saying they should "arise out of the dust and throw off that servile fear, that the habit of oppression and bondage trained us up in … and in meekness and fear .. desire to walk in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free."

Kiefer, Absalom Jones
Editors, Priest of Brotherly Love: Absalom Jones
Rev. Rufus T. Brome, Absalom Jones: Black Saints
Rev. Archie Rich, Richard Allen & Absalom Jones: Pioneers for Freedom and Justice
Bragg, History of the Afro-American Group of the Episcopal Church