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The Liberty Bell
³
July/August 2007
From the New
Pastor, Jeff Jones
“Hello Liberty Grove. I’m ex-
cited to be here. I thought I would
take this first newsletter article to
introduce myself and my family to you and to
let you know that I’m very glad to join up
with you in our spiritual journey of faith and
in our following Jesus Christ as our true leader
and guide.
My philosophy of ministry is pretty simple,
actually. Henry Nouwen said it long before I
knew he had, but I found the reminder when I
was packing to move to Liberty Grove. All my
efforts in ministry are to bring the message of
God’s love to everyone and to help us respond
out of gratitude to that love, by going about
our lives doing what God would want us to
do. I see my ministry as a way to experience
Communion with God, since we are asked to
love God with all our heart, soul, mind and
strength.
The next effort in my ministry is to help
grow a Community of God’s people, know-
ing that the second great commandment is to
love one another, as Jesus has loved us. All of
this leads naturally to Compassion for the
world. We need to do all we can to share the
love of Jesus with others and to make a differ-
ence in the real world by getting involved in
loving others.. So it all can be simply stated,
Communion with God, Community with one
another, and Compassion for our neighbor-
hood and the world.
Now for some actual details. I was born in
Baltimore in 1951. My parents moved to Bel-
gium and then to the Congo as missionaries
until 1962. We lived in Four Cor-
ners for my Junior High years. My
father, Kenneth S. Jones, became
the pastor at Faith Church in Rock-
ville, so we moved there and I
graduated from Woodward High
School. I went on to Western
Maryland College (Now Mc Daniel) and
graduated with a degree in Sociology. I at-
tended the same seminary that Richard Hogue
did, Candler School of Theology at Emory
University in Atlanta Ga. While I was there I
was a youth pastor. This is my sixth appoint-
ment since graduating 31 years ago. Two of
my previous congregations went into building
projects while I was there.
Elaine and I have been married for eight
and a half years. Elaine is a property manager
for a local developer. She was born in Wash-
ington, DC and grew up in Rockville. We have
a Cairn Terrier named Barkley. We are going
to be grandparents in July or August this year
and are looking forward to that. Andy and
Maggie have been married since 2004. Andy
works in website design and graphics for the
Dept. of Education in Washington DC.
Maggie teaches French and Spanish in High
School. KC, his younger brother, is in New
York, pursuing an acting career. He has done
cartoon voices, commercials, books on tape,
and is currently producing a play he wrote
about the characters in the Wizard of OZ.
I’ll tell you more of my story in sermons
and in future issues of the Liberty Bell. I
wanted to thank you for your kind welcome
and begin the process of our sharing together
in the life that God has given us. It’s an honor
to be the pastor of such a dynamic and faithful
congregation. Blessings on all of you.”
Jeff Jones
Preach
er
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