Father George W. Jones: Mission Priest

By Dan Hardison

In 1929, a teacher at St. Andrew’s school in Sewanee, Tennessee took an interest in a little mission church not far from there in the small mountain community of Sherwood. After being ordained, he requested to be allowed to serve at the mission on a permanent bases. But the Episcopal diocese of Tennessee, in the early days of the depression, could not supply money for the mission. The priest was allowed to go to Sherwood, unaided by the diocese, provided he could find support elsewhere. In 1932, Epiphany Mission received its first priest-in-charge, Father George W. Jones.

George William Jones was born at Birdsville Plantation, Millen, Georgia, on April 4, 1888. Birdsville Plantation had been in his family since 1784 and remains so today. He was the son of George W. and Mattie Anderson Jones, and he also had a sister. He attended the University School for Boys at Stone Mountain, Georgia and the University of Georgia in Athens.

In 1913, he went to work at Anson Dodge Episcopal Home for boys in St. Simon’s, Georgia. After 10 years, he then went to Christ School in Arden, North Carolina – also a boys home. It was in North Carolina that he began preparing for the priesthood, but it would be later while teaching at St. Andrews school that he was ordained.

“Father Jones arrived in Sherwood in his old Model T Ford, with his cassock, and a change of clothes”. Members of the Mission provided a salary of $360 a year. To support the Mission and its work, Father Jones solicited the help of “The Greater Congregation” – a group that consisted of friends and supporters from across the country. He also began publishing “The Booklet”, a report of the Mission activities and the needs of the people. It is said that, “once, a good Bishop pointed a finger toward the priest's face and – as his eyes twinkled with humor and love – said, ‘Father, you are the most subtle beggar I have ever known.’ ”

Father Jones provided much more than just spiritual guidance for the people of the valley. He also provided for the needs of the poor and the sick – often driving the sick to Sewanee or Chattanooga for care. In the words of one visitor: “A mission putting religion into action in the way our Lord did, caring for bodies and souls at the same time. A church which is a real part of the life of its people, not just a place they go to sometime.”

Father Jones established the Mission Distribution Center, affectionately known as “Flossie’s”, for the distribution of clothes and goods donated by the Greater Congregation. He set up the Mission House for parochial purposes that included a library that was used as a public library. He built St. David’s Gym, a gymnasium used as a recreation center for the people of Sherwood. And, he oversaw the building of the Mission Garden.

Beginning in 1938, and over the course of several years, Father Jones guided the boys of the mission in the building of a 16,000 square foot walled garden complete with an open-air chapel. The boys built the garden (including the casting of the blocks and bricks) and then the youths became the gardeners tending to the garden day to day. In a 1948 letter Father Jones wrote, “In closing I will tell you a small secret. I am terribly proud of St. David’s and all the Mission’s activities, but excluding the Mission church and its altars, of all there is of Epiphany Mission, the Garden is my first love.” Visitors from across the country would come to Sherwood to visit the small stone church and its garden.

In 1950, Father Jones was named “First Citizen” of Sherwood and was selected to represent the community at the celebration for the presentation of the badge from the World War II British destroyer HMS Sherwood – presented as a token of good will between England and this country.

On March 2, 1952, Father Jones baptized his 1,018th soul. He had been in failing health for several years and on March 18, 1952 he held his last mass. During the mass, he was taken ill and was carried to the hospital in Sewanee. He was later transferred to Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville where he died on May 4. Epiphany Mission had lost the only priest they had known. Father Jones was much loved and respected by the people of the valley and he is still fondly remembered to this day.

Father Jones deeply loved Epiphany Mission, Sherwood, and the people of the valley. In referring to Epiphany Mission, he once wrote, “It is my roots, my life, my being. I am the Mission. The Mission, it is I.” And so it was here among those that he had laid to rest, that he chose to be buried. Father Jones was laid to rest in Mt. View Cemetery in Sherwood.