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Paul Jones, Bishop, 1941 — Conscience, Courage, and Peace
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” — Matthew 5:9
The Church remembers Paul Jones, Bishop and Peace Advocate, a man whose Christian convictions eventually cost him the office he had been called to serve.
Paul Jones was born in 1880 in the rectory of St. Stephen’s Church in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. After graduating from Yale University and the Episcopal Theological School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, he answered a call to missionary service in Utah. In 1914, he became Bishop of the Missionary District of Utah, just as the world was entering the terrible conflict of World War I.
Jones worked faithfully to strengthen the Church’s mission and institutions. Yet as the war continued, he became increasingly convinced that participation in war was incompatible with the teachings of Jesus Christ. In 1917, he stated publicly that “war is unchristian.” Those words brought fierce criticism and eventually an investigation by the House of Bishops.
The commission rejected his position and recommended that he resign. Under great pressure, Jones stepped down as Bishop of Utah in 1918.
Yet he did not abandon the Church, nor did he abandon the convictions of his conscience. In his farewell, he wrote, “Where I serve the Church is of small importance, so long as I can make my life count in the cause of Christ.”
There is something deeply challenging in those words.
Most of us would like faithfulness to Christ and acceptance by others to go together. We would prefer that following Jesus never cost us a friendship, a position, a reputation, or a place of influence. But the Gospel never promises us that kind of discipleship.
Paul Jones reminds us that Christian conscience must ultimately answer to Christ.
That does not mean that every Christian will reach the same conclusion on every difficult moral question. Faithful Christians have disagreed about war throughout the history of the Church. But Jones forces us to ask whether our convictions are truly shaped by the Gospel or merely by what is popular, patriotic, convenient, or expected of us.
There is also something deeply Anglican in his witness. He remained within the Church even after the Church had wounded him. He did not respond with bitterness or abandon his vocation. Instead, he continued working for peace, reconciliation, and the freedom of Christian conscience.
He understood that ministry was not ultimately about holding an office. It was about making his life count “in the cause of Christ.”
That is a question worth carrying with us today.
Reflection
Where I serve Christ may change. The position I hold may change. The approval of others may come and go. But the call to follow Jesus remains.
Paul Jones challenges us to examine the relationship between our faith and our conscience. Am I willing to follow Christ when doing so is unpopular? Do I listen carefully to Christians who reach difficult conclusions different from my own? And when conflict comes, can I hold firmly to conviction without surrendering gentleness, charity, and love?
Peacemaking is more than avoiding conflict. It is the difficult work of reconciliation, truth-telling, mercy, and refusing to let hatred have the final word.
On this September 4, we give thanks for Bishop Paul Jones and for all those who have reminded the Church that faithfulness sometimes carries a cost. May God give us courage to follow Christ wherever he leads—and grace to do so without bitterness toward those who disagree with us.
Prayer
Almighty God, you called your servant Paul Jones to serve your Church and to bear witness to the peace of your kingdom.
Give us courage to follow Jesus Christ when the way is difficult, wisdom to discern what faithfulness requires, and humility to listen to those whose consciences lead them differently from our own.
Make us instruments of your peace. Where there is hatred, teach us to love; where there is division, make us agents of reconciliation; and where fear silences the truth, give us courage to speak with both conviction and grace.
Help us to remember that position and recognition are temporary, but our calling to serve Christ endures.
May our lives, like that of Paul Jones, count in the cause of Christ.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord, the Prince of Peace. Amen.
