Jones, Charles Miles, 1906-1993

Charles Miles Jones, Christian minister and social justice activist, spent the majority of his ecclesiastical career in Chapel Hill, N.C., at the head of the Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church and then as the first minister of the Community Church.

From the description of Charles Miles Jones papers, 1924-1990s. WorldCat record id: 57345643

Charles Miles Jones, a Christian minister and social justice activist, was born 8 January 1906 in Nashville, Tenn. He studied at Maryville College near Knoxville, Tenn., 1924-1927, and at Columbia University in New York for one summer, but did not complete his undergraduate degree. He then spent just over a year running a cafe in Texas with his father.

In 1929, Jones entered Union Theological Seminary in Richmond, Va., planning to pursue a career in church choir work. By the time of his graduation in 1932, he had decided to become a minister instead. Shortly before relocating to lead the Presbyterian church in Gordonsville, Va., he married Dorcas McKinney on 21 November 1932. They would later adopt a daughter, Mary, and have two more daughters, Bettie Miles, or Beppie, and Virginia, also called Pooh.

Jones pastored churches in Keswick, Va., and Brevard, N.C., before taking over the ministry of the Chapel Hill Presbyterian Church in Chapel Hill, N.C., in 1941. Although Jones was generally a popular figure, his social justice-focused sermons, welcoming of African Americans to services and meetings, and de-emphasizing of certain elements of Presbyterian doctrine created rifts in the congregation. A 1945 petition for his removal was turned down by the elders. Jones's direct involvement in civil rights activities further polarized his parishioners and other members of the Chapel Hill community. Most notably, Jones played a pivotal role in the Chapel Hill leg of the 1947 Journey of Reconciliation (also known as the first Freedom Ride ), a journey by an interracial group committed to testing the 1946 United States Supreme Court's decision in Morgan versus Commonwealth of Virginia that said that state laws relating to segregation on interstate buses were unconstitutional. In 1952, another petition to the regional governing body of the church brought an investigation and subsequent repeated demands that Jones resign, which he did in 1953.

That year, Jones and a number of supporters formed the Community Church in Chapel Hill with a stated focus on unity in Christian essentials, liberty in non-essentials, and charity in all things. His activism on behalf of causes such as desegregation of local businesses and labor rights, and against opponents like the Ku Klux Klan intensified during the 1950s and 1960s, both individually and as a member of groups including the Fellowship of Southern Churchmen.

After 14 years heading the Community Church, Charles Jones retired from the ministry in 1967, returning to the restaurant business until 1974. He died 6 April 1993.

From the guide to the Charles Miles Jones Papers, 1924-1990s, (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Southern Historical Collection.)