Beloved Camden pastor J.A. Jones, 81, says farewell

Retiring after 40 years of shepherding the First Nazarene Baptist Church in Camden, the Rev. John "J.A." Jones, 81, stood in the pulpit as pastor for the last time Sunday, swaying gently while the 20-voice gospel choir and four-piece band welcomed him with "Jesus Is the Light of the World."

Smiling at Sister Alva Williams, who played the organ and sang the solos, and at the 400 people in the pews, Jones reminded his congregation how much he loved the old hymns because his background was Pentecostal. He nodded at the musicians. "They cooked, didn't they?" he said, earning the first of several standing ovations.

Jones was thanked for his leadership in building First Nazarene's large, bright church in 2007 -- pale lavender walls; purple-cushioned, natural wood pews; large screens that live-broadcast the service – after the congregation outgrew its old building, two blocks away on South Eighth Street in the city's Centerville neighborhood.

The Rev. Dyheim Watson, who succeeds Jones after serving as his assistant pastor for four years, said, "The bishop may be stepping down, but he's still the bishop."

Jones said, "I want to set the record straight. Nobody's throwing me out. Nobody's kicking me out. I think the love is still there."

The crowd rose as one to tell him that was true. Jones said someone had asked him where he intended to go in retirement. He replied playfully that he was staying at First Nazarene because "I got nowhere else to go."

Before he passed the ceremonial gavel to his successor, he raised it and pantomimed hitting Pastor Watson on the head. The two pastors shared a smile. Then Jones noticed that the emotion of the moment was getting to Watson. He put an arm around the younger pastor's shoulders and told the congregation, "I'm giving him some time to get himself together."

Jones' retirement plans include writing about his scripture-centered life as a pastor, which began in the 1970s when he felt what he calls "the divine pull."

"I felt the call, as we say in church," he said. "I'm talking in spiritual terms now. It's an inner pull that you know you can't resist any longer. I knew what it was, but I don't think any man wants to stand up and say that he speaks for God. That's an awesome task.

"I always tell young men, 'If you think you've been called, and you can stay out of it, then stay out of it. If you can't stay out of it, then you know you've been called.'"

After pastoring at two rural churches in Virginia, Jones came to First Nazarene in 1976 -- and stayed.

"I'm a biblical-based preacher," he said. "I think that has been my success: staying with the biblical text and letting the Bible do its own work."

Jones said that when he started preaching around 1970, he went to see his mentor, Dr. Earl L. Harrison of Shiloh Baptist Church in Washington, for a reality check.

"I asked him, was I too biblical?" Jones said. "He said, 'John, Socrates may run one or two Sundays a year. But Jesus is guaranteed to run every Sunday. Biblical preaching is the most effective, and we all can't do it. It's a gift from God."

Jones took those words to heart. "People would rather drink from a running stream than a stagnant pond," he said. "I tried to stay relevant all these years. I realize it's a changing paradigm, a changing landscape, but the biblical text should stay the same. The Word never changes."

He smiled and said, "The reason the Lord had 12 disciples is because one man can't tell it all. So for 40 years, I just told my part. I'm just hoping that when I stand before the Lord, he's pleased."

He used Acts 20:20-26, Paul's farewell to the Ephesian elders, as his goodbye sermon. Afterward, he told his congregation: "And now I commit you to the will of God. And when it's all over, we will meet each other in heaven."

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