Charles Price Jones Sr. (December 9, 1865 – January 19, 1949) was an American religious leader and

hymnist A hymnwriter (or hymn writer, hymnist, hymnodist, hymnographer, etc.) is someone who writes the text, music, or both of hymns. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, the composition of hymns dates back to before the time of David, who composed many of ...

. He was the founder of the

Church of Christ (Holiness) U.S.A. The Church of Christ (Holiness) U.S.A. is a Holiness body of Christians headquartered in Jackson, Mississippi. In 2010, there were 14,000 members in 154 churches. History The Church of Christ (Holiness) U.S.A. shares a common early history wi ...

Life

Jones was born in

Floyd County, Georgia Floyd County is a county located in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 98,584. The county seat is Rome. Floyd County comprises the Rome, GA metropolitan statistical area. ...

. He became a

missionary A missionary is a member of a Religious denomination, religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Tho ...

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...

preacher A preacher is a person who delivers sermons or homilies on religious topics to an assembly of people. Less common are preachers who preach on the street, or those whose message is not necessarily religious, but who preach components such as a ...

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson, officially the City of Jackson, is the Capital city, capital of and the List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city is also one of two county seats of Hinds County, Mississippi, ...

, where he met

Charles Harrison Mason Bishop Charles Harrison Mason Sr. (September 8, 1866 – November 17, 1961) was an American Holiness–Pentecostal pastor and minister. He was the founder and first Senior Bishop of the Church of God in Christ, based in Memphis, Tennessee. It d ...

in 1895. In 1896, Jones, Mason, and two other preachers held a

faith healing Faith healing is the practice of prayer and gestures (such as laying on of hands) that are believed by some to elicit divine intervention in spiritual and physical healing, especially the Christian practice. Believers assert that the healing ...

revival in Jackson. The theory of

entire sanctification Christian perfection is the name given to theological concepts within some sects of Christianity that purport to describe a process of achieving spiritual maturity or perfection. The ultimate goal of this process is union with God characterized by ...

as taught by the Wesleyan-Holiness movement was not accepted by Baptists congregation, as Baptist hold to a progressive sanctification. In 1897, Jones and Mason left their congregations and adopted the views of the Wesleyans. They started their own church, first preaching in supporters' homes and eventually in a former gin house. Jones is the author of over 1000

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' ...

s. Some of his known hymns which are still sung around the world are ''Deeper, Deeper''; ''I Will Make the Darkness Light''; ''Come Unto Me''; ''Where Shall I Be''; ''I'm Happy With Jesus Alone''; and ''Jesus Only''. He pastored churches in

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage ...

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

, and

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. In 1907, there was a separation with Charles Mason and other ministers who returned from the

Azusa Street Revival The Azusa Street Revival was a historic series of revival meetings that took place in Los Angeles, California. It was led by William J. Seymour, an African-American preacher. The revival began on April 9, 1906, and continued until roughly 1915. O ...

in Los Angeles led by William Joseph Seymour over the biblical interpretation of

speaking in tongues Speaking in tongues, also known as glossolalia, is a practice in which people utter words or speech-like sounds, often thought by believers to be languages unknown to the speaker. One definition used by linguists is the fluid vocalizing of sp ...

as an evidence of the baptism in the

Holy Spirit In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is the divine force, quality, and influence of God over the Universe or over his creatures. In Nicene Christianity, the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is the third person of the Trinity. In Islam, the Holy Spirit acts as ...

. Mason carried the church name and approximately half of its congregation into Pentecostalism. In 1909, the Christian Women Willing Workers (CWWW), now the United Christian Women's Ministries (UCWM) was established upon the recommendation of Sis. Maria Williams. Jones made his first trip to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

in 1915 to conduct a revival for Bishop William A. Washington and helped him organize and incorporate the Bethel Church of Christ (Holiness) U.S.A. In 1915, Elder Charles Mason, who became Bishop Charles Mason, incorporated the Church of God in Christ which he founded. Conflicts caused the holiness movement to separate into many denominations. It was first called 'the movement', and later Church of God, Church of Christ, Church of God in Christ, and Church of Christ (Holiness) U.S.A. In 1916, Bishop Jones wife Fannie Brown died in Little Rock, Arkansas. He moved to Los Angeles in 1917 and organized Christ Temple Church of Christ (Holiness) U.S.A. in an upstairs hall at Washington and Central. Jones married Pearl E. Reed on January 4, 1918, to this union three sons were born, Charles Price Jones Jr., Vance Reed Jones and Samuel Sherman Jones. In 1921, the first property bought for Christ Temple was on 37th and Naomi. Then in 1926, a church and parsonage was purchased for $18,000 on the corner of 54th and Hooper. In 1922 the church created a council of Bishops in the national convocation and he was chosen to be the first Senior Bishop. He actively maintained the spiritual leadership and operated as Senior Bishop of the church until he fell ill in 1943 and underwent major surgery. Because of his declining health, he attended his last convention in 1944 in Chicago, Illinois, where he was elected Senior Bishop and President Emeritus of the National Convention for life. Jones died in Los Angeles on January 19, 1949: his homegoing service was held at Christ Temple Church (54th and Hooper) on January 25, 1949, at 1:00pm. He is buried with his wife Pearl, who died on August 13, 1972, at Evergreen Cemetery, Los Angeles. He was succeeded by Bishop Major Rudd Conic who in 1967 relocated Christ Temple Church to its current location on 54th and 10th Ave.

References

External links

Charles Price Jones biography
at BlackHistoryReview.com

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Charles Price Sr. 1865 births 1949 deaths American bishops African-American Christian clergy American Christian clergy People from Floyd County, Georgia Churches of God Christians Burials at Evergreen Cemetery, Los Angeles 20th-century African-American people