News

Voorhees remembers Absalom Jones

February 5, 2010

In celebration of Absalom Jones, the first black Episcopal priest in the United States and founder of the African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas, Voorhees College will host Absalom Jones Day on Tuesday, Feb. 9 at 5:30 p.m. in St. Philip’s Episcopal Chapel on campus.  

The speaker for the event will be The Very Reverend Robert C. Wright, the current rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, which is the oldest black Episcopal Church in Georgia.  

Wright formerly served at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City, where he was Canon Pastor and Vicar. He is a graduate of Virginia Theological Seminary, Cambridge University and the Harvard Summer Leadership Institute.  

Upon graduating from high school, Wright joined the U.S. Navy and became a helicopter crew-chief and search and rescue diver. After five years of service, he enrolled at Howard University where he received a degree in U. S. history and political science.

Wright has also worked for the Children’s Defense Fund and two mayors of Washington, D.C. as a child advocate.  

The Right Reverend Mark Lawrence, Bishop of the Diocese of South Carolina, will be the Celebrant of the “Mass of Thanksgiving” for the Life and Ministry of Father Absalom Jones.    

For more information, please contact Dr. Ira Johnson, chaplain, at 803-780-1264 or ijohnson@voorhees.edu.