Absalom Jones Feast Day Service at St. John the Evangelist: Feb. 11
Absalom Jones Feast Day
Sunday, February 11, 3 p.m. | St. John the Evangelist, St. Paul
Co-presented by Holy Trinity & St. John’s
Holy Trinity and St. John the Evangelist Episcopal Churches invite you to join in a celebration of the Feast of Absalom Jones at St. John the Evangelist, 60 N. Kent Street, St. Paul. The Rev. Jeckonia Okoth, Missioner for Multicultural Ministries, will celebrate, with the Rev. Craig Lemming, Associate Rector at St. John’s, preaching.
A reception featuring sweet potato pie and other goodies will follow the service.
Absalom Jones was born enslaved to a wealthy Anglican planter in 1746 in Delaware. Following unsuccessful attempts to buy his freedom as a young adult, he was granted manumission in 1784. Jones became an active lay leader and preacher in the Methodist and Episcopal Churches. He went on to become the first person of African descent to be ordained priest in the Anglican Church, by Bishop William White in 1802. 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 13, 1818.