Known as the “Black Bishop of the Episcopal Church,” Absalom Jones’s feast day is February 13. Following tradition, numerous Episcopal churches and dioceses are holding commemorative services. The Cathedral Church of St. Paul in Boston announced that our diocese’s celebration would be held at 4pm on February 14, 2026, with the Rt. Rev. Julia E. Whitworth presiding and the Rev. Canon Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas preaching.

Before his ordination as the first black Episcopal priest, Absalom Jones co-founded, with Richard Allen, the Free African Society in 1787. The Society was a secular institution and one of the first organizations to offer religious, moral, and financial support to Black Americans. Jones and Allen worked with Dr. Benjamin Rush, physician and abolitionist, to care for the many who caught yellow fever in the epidemic of 1793. They also co-authored a pamphlet (1794) that defended the crucial nursing and burial work of the Black community in the face of criticism by white pamphleteer Michael Carey. Carey claimed that blacks could not contract yellow fever and minimized blacks’ contributions to social welfare during the epidemic.

Another of the Society’s efforts involved working with other black groups to establish a black independent church in Philadelphia. Jones and Allen were enlisted (and they in turn engaged Benjamin Rush); by 1792, work was underway. The African Church of Philadelphia (later named the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas) ultimately decided to affiliate with the Episcopal Church, and Allen (as a Methodist) withdrew from the project. Absalom Jones served the church as lay reader and deacon until his ordination in 1802. For more on his life and ministry, see the Episcopal Diocese of Philadelphia’s tribute to Blessed Absalom Jones.

-Mary Beth Clack, Mary Blocher, Cindy Coldren, Pat Krol, Liz Levin