Chester Jones tapped for head of church agency on race
9/28/1998 NOTE: A head-and-shoulders photograph is available with this story.
ARLINGTON, Va. (UMNS) - The Rev. Chester R. Jones of Pine Bluff, Ark., will soon have a job in the nation's capital some five years after his sister, former surgeon general Joycelyn Elders, resigned upon orders from the White House.
Jones, 55, was named by the United Methodist Commission on Religion and Race to become its general secretary, or chief executive, effective Jan. 1. His election, like his sister's, must be approved by another body, but rancorous hearings are not expected.
During the last week of October, the denomination's General Council on Ministries (GCOM), which is charged with general oversight of the church's program agencies, will vote on whether to elect Jones when it considers the annual nominations of the other general secretaries. Without fail, GCOM has accepted the nominees of such church agencies since it received the power to do so in 1972.
"I see an opportunity for me to help the church toward a greater understanding and commitment to its efforts to dismantle racism in the church, so that we can become 'one church' in our lifetime," Jones said in a written comment. "This is a great challenge, but I am totally committed to doing all that I can to help meet the challenge."
Jones is superintendent of the church's Pine Bluff District. When he takes office at the beginning of the year, he will become only the third general secretary in the commission's 30-year history. He will succeed Barbara Ricks Thompson, who retires Oct. 2 after 13 years in the agency's top spot, and the Rev. Woodie W. White, who was elected bishop from that position in 1984 and currently leads the Indiana Area.
The denomination created the Commission on Religion and Race in 1968, when the Methodist Church's racially defined Central Jurisdiction was dissolved as part of the merger with the Evangelical United Brethren Church. The commission was established to oversee the integration of the former Central Jurisdiction into the broader geographic jurisdictions during the merger. Since then, it has monitored the denomination's efforts at eliminating racism in its institutions.
Jones has been a district superintendent since 1993. Previously, he was minister of the Hunter United Methodist Church in Little Rock, Ark., and R.E. Jones United Methodist Church in Louisville, Ky. He was a field representative of the National Division of the denomination's Board of Global Ministries for four years in the 1980s. Earlier, he was a student pastor in New Jersey and Kansas.
In addition to 25 years of ministry, Jones has written or edited four books - three of them about his outspoken sister - and other materials. He wrote Dancing With the Bear, a biography of Elders, the first African American surgeon general; Dancing with Little Teddy, a book for children about Elders' faith; and Each One Wins One, a resource book on evangelism to be published later this year. He also edited Here I Stand, a collection of Elders' speeches. He has written articles on the plight of black farmers and the death penalty for Engage Social Action, now called Christian Social Action, the magazine of the United Methodist Board of Church and Society.
Jones has completed course work for a doctorate at Drew University. He earned his master of divinity degree at Gammon Theological Seminary in Atlanta and a bachelor's degree at Baker University.
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