Pastor: Dr. Stephen Jones
Dr. Stephen Jones began as the pastor of Second Baptist Church of Greater St. Louis on August 15, 2007, following a year-long search by the church. For Dr. Jones, returning to Missouri is a homecoming. A native of central Missouri, he has served churches on both coasts, most recently as the pastor of Seattle First Baptist Church.
Dr. Jones has preached at conferences across the nation as well as in Haiti, El Salvador, Nicaragua, South Africa, Singapore, the Philippines, Canada and Myanmar. He and his family spent two 3-month sabbaticals at the close of apartheid in South Africa and during the Marcos rule in the Philippines. Dr. Jones preached twice at the national biennial gatherings of the American Baptist Churches in the USA in 2003 and 1989 and designed the denomination’s biennial worship services in 1977.
Dr. Jones earned his bachelor’s degree from William Jewell College; his master’s degree from Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School and his Doctor of Ministry degree from United Theological Seminary of Dayton.
The author of five books, his most recently published book, Peaceteacher, Jesus’ Way of Shalom, was released in June of 2007. Jones writes, “There is no English word that better describes the essence of who Jesus was and what he taught...Shalom has to do with living God’s way with others, with society and with the created order...Shalom is, simply put, the way God wants us to live together.” "Peaceteacher is available from this website through Second Baptist Church for $13, or from the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America at orders@bpfna.org (704/521-6051).
In 1997, Jones published Rabbi Jesus, Learning from the Master Teacher, published by Smyth and Helwys, www.helwys.com
An earlier book, Faith Shaping, Youth and the Experience of Faith, published by Judson Press, is available at www.JudsonPress.com.
Two other books are out of print, Transforming Discipleship in the Inclusive Church and Reaching Youth Today: Heirs to the Whirlwind.
Currently, Dr. Jones is the president of the Board of Directors of the Baptist Peace Fellowship of North America, a four-nation coalition committed to justice and peacemaking. He also serves on the Board of Trustees of the American Baptist Seminary of the West.
Recently, Dr. Jones served as the president of the Church Council of Greater Seattle and the leader of the Religious Coalition for Equality in Washington State. Most recently, he led the Council’s interfaith work. In 2005, Jones received the Equality Award from the Human Rights Campaign of the Pacific Northwest. Earlier, he received two awards for work on racial justice from African American organizations in Philadelphia. In leaving Seattle, the Duwamish tribal council presented Jones a symbolic glass sculpted salmon as an expression of thanks for his work of solidarity with the tribe. The great-granddaughter of Chief Seattle made the presentation to Dr. Jones.
Jones has served liberal American Baptist congregations in Seattle, Detroit, Philadelphia, Dayton and Boulder prior to coming to St. Louis.
Jones is married to Janice Eberhart Jones and they have two young adult children living in Detroit.
Click here to read some recent sermons preached by Dr. Jones at Second Baptist.
Click here for "There's a Better Way than Biblical Literalism" by Dr. Jones.
Posted by Timothy R. Butler on Feb 22, 2008 at 19:15:31 | Article Path: Home: About: Staff: Pastor: Dr. Stephen Jones
