Jones, Absalom
1746-1818 · Contribution: 1792-1802
Episcopal priest
First African American ordained as a priest in the Episcopal Church; founded the first Black Episcopal congregation in the United States
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Quick facts
- Born
- 1746, Sussex County, Delaware
- Active since
- 1792
- Category
- Religious & Spiritual Leadership
- Best known for
- First African American ordained a priest in the Episcopal Church
Impact on the world
Jones opened the Episcopal priesthood to Black Americans and, with Richard Allen, built the mutual-aid and congregational institutions, and nursed Philadelphia's sick during the 1793 yellow fever epidemic, that anchored free Black life in the early republic.
Sources
- National Archives
1 more sources and references are available to members.
Related visionaries
Allen, Richard
1760-1831
Founded the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the first independent Black religious denomination in the United States; became its first bishop
Crummell, Alexander
1819-1898
Became one of the first Black Americans ordained an Episcopal priest, founded St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C. — the first independent Black Episcopal congregation in the city — and in 1897 co-founded the American Negro Academy, the first major organization supporting Black scholarship in America
Harris, Barbara Clementine
1930-2020
Became the first woman consecrated a bishop in the 500-year history of the worldwide Anglican Communion when she was ordained suffragan bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts in 1989, breaking a barrier that had stood across the Communion's more than 165 member countries
Haynes, Lemuel
1753-1833
Became the first Black American ordained by a mainstream Protestant denomination when the Congregational church ordained him in 1785, and went on to lead a mostly white Vermont congregation for 30 years while authoring some of the earliest antislavery writings by an African American author