02/02/2022
The Rev. Jehu Jones (1786–1852) was the first Lutheran Pastor of African Descent in North America.
Jones was born into slavery in South Carolina. After his Father purchased the family's freedom, Jehu answered the call to ministry. This path eventually led him to Philadelphia, where he founded the first Lutheran church in North America for persons of African descent.
Along the way, Jehu was jailed in Charleston for entering the city as a free Black man. Because even though he was free and his father owned a hotel in town, he was breaking the law by traveling alone as a Black man.
On considering Philadelphia for his ministry, Jones spoke with the pastor of the largest English-speaking church in the city. The pastor discouraged him from the Lutheran ministry, warning him that the Lutherans would hate him because of the color of his skin.
Jones was not deterred and received approval to found a church for Black Lutherans in Philadelphia. Charged with raising the funds for this building, he traveled around the area doing more than fund-raising - he also planted and founded communities of Black Lutherans in Gettysburg, Chambersburg, and other locations. In total, Jones founded at least 4 congregations during this time.
After founding the congregation of St. Paul's in Philadelphia, including building its facility, Jones remained on as the Pastor of the congregation. The Synod of Pennsylvania, which had given Rev. Jones the ministry of being a missionary to this community, repeatedly failed to fund the ministry - including the mortgage and construction loans on the church building.
In 1838 there were anti-abolitionist riots in Philadephia that turned into violence against the Free Black community of the city. During this same year, the building of St Paul's was claimed for payment of past debts. The community remained together - a congregation without a building. Jones remained their Pastor for the next dozen years.
With the conversation about race, slavery, and freedom more heated than ever before, the Lutheran Synod (denomination) abandoned the Rev. Jehu Jones in 1849. They denounced his ministry as unapproved by the wider church, and officially censured him. Over the course of his ministry as a missionary of the Synod, he did not receive a salary from the wider church, but only what little his congregation of formerly enslaved persons and free Blacks could give him.
At the end of his life, the Rev. Jehu Jones was denounced by the church he had faithfully and tirelessly served. It was not until 1995 that his contribution to the Lutheran Church in this country was recognized and celebrated.
May we remember the story of Pastor Jehu Jones and so many others who have been unrecognized for too long.
(The icon is one I commissioned from Mary Button, an incredibly talented artist and seminarian. You can order a print of the icon here: https://www.marybutton.com/shop-1/icon-of-the-rev-jehu-jones)
