Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Absalom Jones Celebration Feb. 22

The Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the Union of Black Episcopalians will hold its annual Absalom Jones Day Celebration on Sunday, February 22 at Tabernacle Christian Church (2500 East Washington Street, Suffolk), hosted by St. Mark's, Suffolk. The celebration starts at 4 p.m. and will be followed by light refreshments. The Very Rev. Phoebe Roaf, rector of St. Philip's, Richmond, will preach.

Absalom Jones was an African-American abolitionist and clergyman. He was the first African-American ordained as a priest in the Episcopal Church in the United States in 1804. He was born into slavery in 1746 and achieved his own freedom in 1784. Absalom taught himself to read out of the New Testament, among other books.

The Very Rev. Phoebe Roaf, the rector of St. Philip's Episcopal Church in Richmond, will preach. Roaf is a graduate of Virginia Theological Seminary and is the first African-American woman to be ordained as an Episcopal priest in the Diocese of Louisiana. She is the first woman to serve as rector of St. Philip's in its 150 year history.  

Please join us in the Festival Eucharist and Celebration.