wfn.org | NCCCUSA's Mac Charles Jones Dies

[CAROL_FOUKE.parti@ecunet.org]

National Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A.
Contact: Carol J. Fouke, NCC News, 212-870-2252
Internet: carol_fouke.parti@ecunet.org

NCC3/7/97 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

THE REV. DR. MAC CHARLES JONES, 47, DIES SUDDENLY
MARCH 6
Prominent African American Minister Led National
Council of Churches National Ministries,
Including Racial Justice Work and Response to Arson
Attacks on Churches

 NEW YORK, N.Y., March 7 ---- The Rev. Dr. Mac
Charles Jones, 47, a globally prominent African
American minister and one of the National Council of
Churches' two Deputy General Secretaries, died
suddenly last night (March 6) of an embolism (blood
clot) in Irving Health Care System, Irving, Texas
(suburban Dallas).

 An ordained minister in the National Baptist
Convention of America, Inc., and member of the World
Council of Churches Central Committee, Dr. Jones had
served concurrently as the National Council of
Churches' Associate for Racial Justice and as Pastor
of St. Stephen Baptist Church, Kansas City, Mo.,
since 1995 (having served St. Stephen since 1984).

 The NCC's Executive Board last November elected
him to the position of NCC Deputy General Secretary
for National Ministries, and he had just taken up
those new responsibilities on in the NCC's New York
headquarters on March 3.

He played a leading role in the National
Council of Churches' response to the arson attacks
on houses of worship, especially African American
churches in the Southeast.  Dr. Jones knew
personally many pastors of the burned churches,
having spent many days visiting the affected
congregations and communities.

He accompanied the 38 pastors who traveled to
Washington, D.C., June 9-10, 1996, to meet with
President Clinton, Attorney General Janet Reno and
Treasury Secretary Robert E. Rubin to call for help
in stopping the epidemic of burnings and to bring
those responsible to justice - meetings that also
helped bring the epidemic to widespread public
attention.

Dr. Jones also was well-known for his work with
youth, especially with gangs.  He was instrumental
in convening the summit on urban violence ("Gang
Summit") in 1993 in Kansas City.

 "In a tragic, sudden moment the Rev. Dr. Mac
Charles Jones has passed from us and we are deeply
stricken," said the Rev. Dr. Joan Brown Campbell,
NCC General Secretary.  "His coming just this week
to his post of senior leadership as Deputy General
Secretary and Director of National Ministries made
us confident as we looked ahead.  His ministry was
to be to the whole nation.  The loss is enormous."
(Dr. Campbell's full statement follows.)

 Said the NCC's President, United Methodist
Bishop Melvin G. Talbert of Sacramento, Calif., "The
unexpected death of Dr. Mac Charles Jones is a great
shock to the ecumenical community.  He spent his
life advocating justice for all.  His stalwart
leadership in addressing the burned churches issue
was unmatched.  He will be sorely missed.  Our
prayers go out to his family in this time of
sorrow."

 Dr. Jones had just arrived (the afternoon of
March 6) at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport from New York,
where he was to change planes and continue on to El
Paso for a meeting of the NCC's Racial Justice
Working Group.  He collapsed at the airport and was
taken to Irving Health Care System, where he
responded well to treatment.  Doctors concluded that
he had not had a heart attack.  He was kept for
overnight observation and made several phone calls.

 But then he took a turn for the worse, and died
at approximately 10 p.m. (Central Time) March 6 of
an embolism (blood clot), according to NCC Associate
General Secretary for Public Policy and Washington
Office Director, the Rev. Dr. Albert Pennybacker,
who was in contact with the doctor who treated Dr.
Jones.

 Dr. Jones' many leadership positions included
his membership on the World Council of Churches
Central Committee, the WCC's Unit II Commission,
Black Church Liaison Committee and of the WCC
Advisory Group on Urban Rural Mission, all as an
official delegate from his denomination.  Commented
the Rev. Dr. Konrad Raiser, WCC General Secretary,
Geneva, Switzerland, "Mac Charles Jones has been in
a unique way the interpreter of the witness of the
Historic African-American Churches for the wider
ecumenical movement."  (Dr. Raiser's full statement
follows.)

 Said Jean S. Stromberg, Executive Director of
the WCC's U.S. Office, "I was shocked and dismayed
to hear of his sudden death.  Mac was an eloquent
voice of conscience and reason in so many World
Council of Churches meetings at which we both were
present.  He enhanced the vital presence of historic
African American churches in the WCC, especially
through his leadership in the Black Church Liaison
Committee.

 "Most recently, in the Conference on World
Mission and Evangelism in Salvador, Brazil, he
called upon the delegates to be aware of the racial
and cultural biases that continue to exist within
our own ecumenical family," she said.  "But his
admonitions, often uttered with a prophetic echo,
were always spoken in love - and, when it was
appropriate, with a disarming sense of humor."

 Born Jan. 7, 1950, Dr. Jones earned his A.A.
from Phoenix College, Phoenix, Ariz.; A.B. degree in
communications from Lincoln University in Jefferson
City, Mo., and his M.A. from Northern Illinois
University, DeKalb.  He earned his M.Div. from
Virginia Union Theological Seminary in Richmond,
Va., and pursued graduate study at Emory University,
Atlanta, Ga., and earned his Doctor of Ministry from
United Theological Seminary, Dayton, Ohio, as a
Proctor Fellow.

 Before going to St. Stephen Baptist Church in
Kansas City, Dr. Jones held pastorates at First
Baptist Church, LaGrange, Ga., and New Hope Baptist
Church, Franklin, Va.  He was Co-Director of the
Education for Leadership in the Black Church Program
at the School of Theology, Virginia Union
University.

 He was active in his denomination (National
Baptist Convention of America, Inc.), serving as
Chairman of the Social Justice Commission, Official
Delegate to the World Council of Churches, Lecturer
and Guest Preacher.  He also served as President and
Member of the Board of the Center for Democratic
Renewal, Chairman of the Entrepreneurial Assistance
Corporation and Board of Directors, and was a Board
Member of the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference and the NAACP.

 His many responsibilities involved extensive
travel in the United States as well as to Latin
America, Africa, Asia, Europe, Australia and the
Middle East.

 Dr. Jones' survivors include his wife, Janella;
his mother, brother, sister and two children.
Funeral arrangements are being handled by the
Lawrence A. Jones and Sons, 1800 E. Linwood Blvd.,
Kansas City, Mo.

 Dr. Jones will lie in state on Tuesday, March
11, from 1 p.m. until 8 p.m. at the Lawrence A. Jones
and Sons Funeral Chapel in Kansas City, Mo.  His
memorial service will be held Wednesday, March 12,
at 2 p.m. at the St. Stephen Baptist Church, 1414
Truman Road, Kansas City, Mo.

A National Council of Churches delegation, led
by Dr. Campbell, plans to attend the services.  A
memorial service will be held later in New York
City.

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