Dr. William A. Jones, Jr.
A native of Lexington, KY, and the son and grandson of Baptist ministers, Dr. Jones was born February 24, 1934, in Louisville, KY, to Mary E. Jones and the Reverend Dr. William A. Jones, Sr. A graduate of the University of Kentucky and Crozer Theological Seminary, Dr. Jones held an earned doctorate from Colgate Rochester Divinity School and completed special studies at the University of Lagos (Nigeria) and the University of Ghana at Legon.
A staunch Christian activist, Dr. Jones was for many years a leader in the struggle for human rights and economic justice. As a student at Crozer, he teamed up with Leon Sullivan and was active in the Opportunities Industrialization Center (OIC). In 1962 and 1963, he was involved in the construction industry struggle against Downstate Hospital and in the late 60s, he worked with Operation Breadbasket, heading the New York Office and eventually opening up doors for jobs and racial equality in the bread, bottling and other industries. He served as the first chair of the New York Chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, founded by Dr. Martin Luther King.
As chair, one of his major undertakings was the fight against A & P, then a national grocery store chain whose policies discriminated against Black people. Dr. Jones led
thousands of people in a boycott against the chain store, which temporarily shut down stores and ultimately led to jobs for people of color in that grocery store chain and other places of business. He was the first Black chairman of the Board of Kings County Hospital.
Dr. Jones' first pastorate was the First Baptist Church (Paschal), Philadelphia, PA, where he served for three years, beginning in July 1959. Pastor of Bethany Baptist Church since September 1962, he led his congregation in the construction of a Neo-Gothic edifice, completed in October 1967. Bethany conducts a multi-faceted program with a full time staff of 27 persons. Committed to the principle that the Church should be free of any and all external loyalties, Bethany has never sought nor accepted funds from outside sources. The total program is conducted under the sole auspices of the Church. Included in the outreach ministries under the pastorate of Dr. Jones was a national radio and television ministry, which brought thousands of "television members" to the congregation each week to hear the magnificent voice of Dr. Jones preach the gospel.
A former president of the Progressive National Baptist Convention and founder of the National Black Pastors' Conference, Dr. Jones also served as national chairman of S.C.L.C.'s Operation Breadbasket and as a member of the General Council of the Baptist World Alliance. He was a Martin Luther King Fellow.
Recipient of many honors, he received the New York Urban League's prestigious Frederick Douglas Award in 1972. Last year, he was recognized as a "Living Legend" by the Honorable Virginia C. Fields, former Manhattan Borough President. Commissioned a Kentucky Colonel in 1976, he was listed in Who's Who in America and was cited as "The Dean of New York's Great Preachers" by the New York Daily News. He held honorary doctorates from Benedict College, Simmons University, Cumberland College, Shaw University and Campbell University. In May 1993, he received an honorary Doctor of Humanities Degree from his alma mater, the University of Kentucky. In December 1996, he was awarded the Doctor of Literature Degree by Evangelical Reformed School of Theology, Toledo, OH. In January 2006, the Simmons College of Kentucky (Louisville), which was co-founded by Rev. Henry Wise Jones, Dr. Jones' grandfather, honored him by naming the college's School of Theology, "The William Augustus Jones, Jr. School of Preaching".
Dr. Jones preached on every continent and continued to be in great demand as a preacher throughout America and in other lands. Among the preaching platforms where he stood to preach are St. Patrick's Cathedral (New York, New York), the Australian Pastors' Conference (Melbourne, Australia), The First All-Asian Baptist Congress (Hyderabad, India), The Caribbean Baptist Fellowship (Hamilton, Bermuda), The Baptist World Congress (Keynote Speaker - Toronto, Canada), The International Congress on Preaching (The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland) and innumerable gatherings (denominational and ecumenical) across America.
He served as visiting professor at Colgate Rochester Divinity School, Wesley Theological Seminary, Princeton Theological Seminary, Union Theological Seminary and United Theological Seminary. His published writings include: The Black Church Looks at the Bicentennial, God In The Ghetto, Responsible Preaching, The African-American Church: Past, Present, and Future and When God Says, "Let Me Alone." He was a contributor to "A Reader's Companion to Crossing the Threshold of Hope", a Protestant response to the Pastoral Writings of Pope John Paul II.
Dr. Jones was diagnosed with kidney failure in 1995. Over the next 20 years he pressed forward despite his illness, twice receiving kidney transplants from his children, William Augustus, III and Elsa Elizabeth. Even in illness, Dr. Jones continued to be sought after by churches, colleges, universities and other civic and social institutions.
On September 18, 2005, after serving 43 years, Dr. Jones retired as Pastor Emeritus of Bethany Baptist Church. Reflecting upon his union with Bethany, Dr. Jones said, “Ours has been a journey marked by accomplishment upon accomplishment…. We have sought to minister to the totality of human need. Without a dime of outside funding, we have remained free to raise the voice of prophetic protest against structured sin and institutionalized iniquity while fulfilling the primary mandate to ‘preach the Gospel to every creature’. Thanks Bethany for giving me freedom to think and speak the dream…. Blessings be yours always.”
After putting up a long and courageous fight for the Lord and for his health, William Augustus Jones, Jr. died Saturday, February 4, 2006, at his Brooklyn home with his family surrounding him He was 71.