Jeffrey D. Jones

In June 2015 I retired as Associate Professor of Ministerial Leadership and Director of Ministry Studies at Andover Newton Theological School, where I taught in the areas of ministerial leadership and congregational life. In previous lives I've been the pastor of First Baptist Church in Plymouth, MA and served as a pastor and interim pastor in New Jersey and New York and as a national staff member of the American Baptist Churches, USA, focusing in youth ministry and discipleship. I've written a number of books over the years, the most recent being "Facing Decline, Finding Hope: New Possibilities for Faithful Churches," which was published in February 2015. Other books include "Traveling Together: A Guide for Disciple-Forming Congregations," "Parenting with Love and Laughter: Finding God in Family Life," and "Heart, Mind and Strength: Theory and Practice for Congregational Leadership." These titles pretty much some up the interests I have both personally and professionally. Right now I'm trying to get my head together around the future of the church, based in a belief I have that the current way of doing church is no longer theologically or financially viable and because of this as many as 80% of the churches that exist won't be around in 20 years. That is pessimistic and scary for some. For me it is realistic and reason for hope. Over the past few years I've had innumerable discussions about this with my good friend, Dave Fredrickson, who is an Episcopal priest. I've talked and taught together, teaching a couple of courses at Andover Newton. It's all come together in another book. "Being Church in a Liminal Time: Remembering, Letting Go, Resurrecting" is scheduled for release in September. It's available for pre-order on Amazon. You can read more about it on the book's page. I live in Sarasota, FL with my wife, Judy, who is a fiber artist. We have two grown sons, Chris, an economist, who lives Boston and Ben, a financial planning consultant, who lives in Sarasota, FL with their families, including three wondrous grandchildren.