Jenkin Lloyd Jones (minister)
Encyclopedia
Jenkin Lloyd Jones was a Unitarian
minister in the United States. He founded All Souls Unitarian Church in Chicago, Illinois, as well as its community outreach organization, the Abraham Lincoln Centre.http://www.abelink.org/ A radical modernist, he joined the "Unity Men" and stressed a creedless "ethical basis" as the common element for churches. He tried to move Unitarianism away from a Christian focus and became a prominent pacifist at the time of World War I. He was a founder and long-time editor of Unity, a liberal religious weekly magazine.
. He was the seventh of ten children born to Richard Lloyd Jones and Mary Thomas James. In 1844, the family emigrated to the United States and settled in Ixonia, Wisconsin
, supported by Richard's brother, also named Jenkin. After ten years, Richard and his family moved to Spring Green, Wisconsin
.
, Chattanooga
, Lookout Mountain
and Atlanta
. He suffered a broken foot at Missionary Ridge that required him to walk with a cane for the rest of his life. His experiences during the war convinced him that people must find another way to settle their differences. After he was mustered out of the army, Jenk became an outspoken pacifist.
Jenk returned to the family farm in Wisconsin after the war. He soon told his family that he had had a religious experience and decided to study for the ministry. In 1866, he enrolled in the Meadville Theological School in Meadville, Pennsylvania
, a Unitarian institution that later became part of Meadville Lombard Theological School
. Many of his classmates were also veterans of the war, and he soon became a class leader. He examined the implications of the theory of evolution on ideas about God in his commencement paper, "Theological Bearings of Development Theory."
Jenkin and Susan had two children: Mary and Richard Lloyd Jones; Richard became the owner of the Wisconsin State Journal
and then of the Tulsa Tribune
.
in 1870. However, he resigned this position in less than a year because he felt it too limiting. He returned to Wisconsin to become a traveling missionary. As a missionary, he founded churches in Racine, Madison, Baraboo and Whitewater. He also worked with the First Independent Society of Liberal Christians in Janesville
.
In 1875, the WUC hired Jones part-time as Missionary Secretary. He travelled extensively, going as far as California, from then until 1882. His work in this position included helping to find ministers to fill vacant pulpits and attending conferences, installations, ordinations and dedications. In 1876, he was also named Corresponding Secretary of the WUC and liaison to the American Unitarian Association
(AUA). Jones was also one of the founders of Unity, a weekly publication, in 1878. He became editor the following year and held that position for the rest of his life.
The combination of pastoral duties and missionary work caused health problems, so Jones decided to quit his missionary position in 1880. Instead, the WUC made the Missionary Secretary a full-time position. Jones resigned the Janesville pastorate and retained his WUC job. He and his family moved to the new WUC headquarters in Chicago.
In 1886, he directed the building of Unity Chapel In Spring Hill. His nephew, Frank Lloyd Wright
served as a draftsman on this project. Joseph Silsbee was the actual designer.
In 1895, the church bought land for a new building that would house both the church and its related social services. The latter included a gymnasium, classrooms, library and reading rooms. This building was completed in 1905 and named the Abraham Lincoln Centre.
and the subsequent American intervention in the Philippines.
In 1915, Henry Ford sponsored an international conference in Stockholm. He chartered a ship, thereafter known as the Henry Ford Peace Ship, to bring a large delegation of American peace activists to the conference. Jones was one of this delegation. The conference failed to stop the war and was largely discredited in the American press. Support for the war grew until the United States joined the conflict in 1917. The Chicago Peace Society did not speak out against the war, angering Jones to the point of withdrawing his membership.
He continued to publicly oppose the war, both in speaking and writing. In 1918 Chicago's postmaster, citing the Emergency Act of 1917, prohibited the mailing of Unity. Jenk petitioned to have the suspension lifted. This was granted shortly before Jenk's death.
Jenkin Lloyd Jones died September 12, 1918 in Tower Hill, Wisconsin. An obituary listed the cause of death as "shock following an operation." His body was interred in the churchyard of Unity Chapel.
Unitarian Universalism
Unitarian Universalism is a religion characterized by support for a "free and responsible search for truth and meaning". Unitarian Universalists do not share a creed; rather, they are unified by their shared search for spiritual growth and by the understanding that an individual's theology is a...
minister in the United States. He founded All Souls Unitarian Church in Chicago, Illinois, as well as its community outreach organization, the Abraham Lincoln Centre.http://www.abelink.org/ A radical modernist, he joined the "Unity Men" and stressed a creedless "ethical basis" as the common element for churches. He tried to move Unitarianism away from a Christian focus and became a prominent pacifist at the time of World War I. He was a founder and long-time editor of Unity, a liberal religious weekly magazine.
Early life
Jenkin Lloyd Jones was born near Llandysul, a farming town in Cardiganshire, WalesCeredigion
Ceredigion is a county and former kingdom in mid-west Wales. As Cardiganshire , it was created in 1282, and was reconstituted as a county under that name in 1996, reverting to Ceredigion a day later...
. He was the seventh of ten children born to Richard Lloyd Jones and Mary Thomas James. In 1844, the family emigrated to the United States and settled in Ixonia, Wisconsin
Ixonia, Wisconsin
Ixonia is a town in Jefferson County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 2,902 at the 2000 census. The unincorporated communities of Ixonia and Pipersville are located within the town.-History:...
, supported by Richard's brother, also named Jenkin. After ten years, Richard and his family moved to Spring Green, Wisconsin
Spring Green, Wisconsin
Spring Green is a village in Sauk County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,444 at the 2000 census. The village is located within the Town of Spring Green.-Geography:Spring Green is located at ....
.
Civil War service and its influence
Jenkin, often called "Jenk", enlisted in 1862 in the 6th Battery of the Wisconsin Volunteer Army. His military service included the battles of Vicksburg, Missionary RidgeBattle of Missionary Ridge
The Battle of Missionary Ridge was fought November 25, 1863, as part of the Chattanooga Campaign of the American Civil War. Following the Union victory in the Battle of Lookout Mountain on November 24, Union forces under Maj. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant assaulted Missionary Ridge and defeated the...
, Chattanooga
Chattanooga Campaign
The Chattanooga Campaign was a series of maneuvers and battles in October and November 1863, during the American Civil War. Following the defeat of Maj. Gen. William S. Rosecrans's Union Army of the Cumberland at the Battle of Chickamauga in September, the Confederate Army of Tennessee under Gen...
, Lookout Mountain
Battle of Lookout Mountain
The Battle of Lookout Mountain was fought November 24, 1863, as part of the Chattanooga Campaign of the American Civil War. Union forces under Maj. Gen. Joseph Hooker assaulted Lookout Mountain, Chattanooga, Tennessee, and defeated Confederate forces commanded by Maj. Gen. Carter L. Stevenson....
and Atlanta
Battle of Atlanta
The Battle of Atlanta was a battle of the Atlanta Campaign fought during the American Civil War on July 22, 1864, just southeast of Atlanta, Georgia. Continuing their summer campaign to seize the important rail and supply center of Atlanta, Union forces commanded by William T. Sherman overwhelmed...
. He suffered a broken foot at Missionary Ridge that required him to walk with a cane for the rest of his life. His experiences during the war convinced him that people must find another way to settle their differences. After he was mustered out of the army, Jenk became an outspoken pacifist.
Jenk returned to the family farm in Wisconsin after the war. He soon told his family that he had had a religious experience and decided to study for the ministry. In 1866, he enrolled in the Meadville Theological School in Meadville, Pennsylvania
Meadville, Pennsylvania
Meadville is a city in and the county seat of Crawford County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city is generally considered part of the Pittsburgh Tri-State and is within 40 miles of Erie, Pennsylvania. It was the first permanent settlement in northwest Pennsylvania...
, a Unitarian institution that later became part of Meadville Lombard Theological School
Meadville Lombard Theological School
The Meadville Lombard Theological School, located in Chicago, is a Unitarian Universalist seminary.It is a result of a merger in the 1930s between a Unitarian and a Universalist institution...
. Many of his classmates were also veterans of the war, and he soon became a class leader. He examined the implications of the theory of evolution on ideas about God in his commencement paper, "Theological Bearings of Development Theory."
Marriage and family
Jones met Susan Charlotte Barber during his time in Meadville. Susan Barber was born May 15, 1832 in New York as the eldest daughter of English immigrants, John Barber and Susan Cartwright. The Cartwrights were Unitarians and had moved to Meadville seeking a like-minded community. Susan studied informally at the theological school while working as secretary to the school's founder, Harm Jan Huidekoper, and his son, Professor Frederic Huidekoper. They married after his graduation in 1870 and spent their honeymoon in Cleveland, Ohio at the annual meeting of the Western Unitarian Conference (WUC). Then the couple returned to Spring Green, where Jenk's mother died soon after.Jenkin and Susan had two children: Mary and Richard Lloyd Jones; Richard became the owner of the Wisconsin State Journal
Wisconsin State Journal
The Wisconsin State Journal is a daily newspaper published in Madison, Wisconsin by Lee Enterprises. The newspaper, the second largest in Wisconsin, is primarily distributed in a 19 county region in south-central Wisconsin...
and then of the Tulsa Tribune
Tulsa Tribune
The Tulsa Tribune was an afternoon daily newspaper published in Tulsa, Oklahoma from 1919 to 1992. Owned and run by three generations of the Jones family, the Tribune closed in 1992 after the termination of its joint operating agreement with the morning Tulsa World.-Antecedents:In 1895, a group of...
.
Missionary work
Jones became the minister of the Liberal Christian Church in Winnetka, IllinoisWinnetka, Illinois
Winnetka is an affluent North Shore village located approximately north of downtown Chicago in Cook County, Illinois. Winnetka was featured on the list of America's 25 top-earning towns and "one of the best places to live" by CNN Money in 2011...
in 1870. However, he resigned this position in less than a year because he felt it too limiting. He returned to Wisconsin to become a traveling missionary. As a missionary, he founded churches in Racine, Madison, Baraboo and Whitewater. He also worked with the First Independent Society of Liberal Christians in Janesville
Janesville, Wisconsin
Janesville is a city in southern Wisconsin, United States. It is the county seat of Rock County and the principal municipality of the Janesville, Wisconsin Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 62,998.-History:...
.
In 1875, the WUC hired Jones part-time as Missionary Secretary. He travelled extensively, going as far as California, from then until 1882. His work in this position included helping to find ministers to fill vacant pulpits and attending conferences, installations, ordinations and dedications. In 1876, he was also named Corresponding Secretary of the WUC and liaison to the American Unitarian Association
American Unitarian Association
The American Unitarian Association was a religious denomination in the United States and Canada, formed by associated Unitarian congregations in 1825. In 1961, it merged with the Universalist Church of America to form the Unitarian Universalist Association.According to Mortimer Rowe, the Secretary...
(AUA). Jones was also one of the founders of Unity, a weekly publication, in 1878. He became editor the following year and held that position for the rest of his life.
The combination of pastoral duties and missionary work caused health problems, so Jones decided to quit his missionary position in 1880. Instead, the WUC made the Missionary Secretary a full-time position. Jones resigned the Janesville pastorate and retained his WUC job. He and his family moved to the new WUC headquarters in Chicago.
In 1886, he directed the building of Unity Chapel In Spring Hill. His nephew, Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright
Frank Lloyd Wright was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 structures and completed 500 works. Wright believed in designing structures which were in harmony with humanity and its environment, a philosophy he called organic architecture...
served as a draftsman on this project. Joseph Silsbee was the actual designer.
All Souls Church (Chicago)
The Jones family travelled to Wales in 1882, where Jenk preached and met with family members and other Unitarians. After they returned to Chicago, he met with a dozen members of the nearly defunct Fourth Unitarian Church. By the following year, he had led its reorganization as All Souls Church. In 1884, he resigned his position with the WUC to serve the rest of his life as minister of All Souls.In 1895, the church bought land for a new building that would house both the church and its related social services. The latter included a gymnasium, classrooms, library and reading rooms. This building was completed in 1905 and named the Abraham Lincoln Centre.
Peace advocacy
At the turn of the twentieth century, most Unitarians were peace advocates. Although Jenkin Lloyd Jones had served in the Civil War and believed that the ending of slavery was a positive outcome, he also believed that war was a bad thing. This caused him to preach openly against the Spanish-American WarSpanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
and the subsequent American intervention in the Philippines.
In 1915, Henry Ford sponsored an international conference in Stockholm. He chartered a ship, thereafter known as the Henry Ford Peace Ship, to bring a large delegation of American peace activists to the conference. Jones was one of this delegation. The conference failed to stop the war and was largely discredited in the American press. Support for the war grew until the United States joined the conflict in 1917. The Chicago Peace Society did not speak out against the war, angering Jones to the point of withdrawing his membership.
He continued to publicly oppose the war, both in speaking and writing. In 1918 Chicago's postmaster, citing the Emergency Act of 1917, prohibited the mailing of Unity. Jenk petitioned to have the suspension lifted. This was granted shortly before Jenk's death.
Death of Susan and remarriage
Susan Lloyd Barber's health began to decline in the mid 1890s. She suffered from hearing loss and severe headaches, which prevented her from participating in Jenk's work. Susan died of appendicitis in 1911.Remarriage and Death of Jenkin Lloyd Jones
In 1915, Jenkin married Mrs. Edith Lackersteen, a long-time co-worker at the Abraham Lincoln Centre.Jenkin Lloyd Jones died September 12, 1918 in Tower Hill, Wisconsin. An obituary listed the cause of death as "shock following an operation." His body was interred in the churchyard of Unity Chapel.