• Who We Are
    • Who We Are
    • Mission
    • History
    • General Synod
    • Leadership and Ministry
    • Staff
    • Board of Directors
  • What We Believe
    • What We Believe
    • Worship Ways
    • Daily Devotional
  • What We Do
    • What We Do
    • Office of the General Minister & President
    • Justice & Local Church Ministries
    • Wider Church Ministries
  • News
  • Church Finder
  • Donate Now
  • Search
UCC Logo United Church of Christ
  • Church Finder
  • Events
  • Contact
  • Store
  • Frontline Faith Portal
  • Donate Now
  • Search
  • Who We Are
    • Column
      • About
        • Mission
        • Constitution and Bylaws
        • History
          • UCC Archives
        • UCC Brand Guidelines
        • General Synod
          • Past General Synods
        • Abuse Prevention
    • Column
      • Structure
        • Conferences
        • Affiliated Ministries
    • Column
      • Team
        • Elected Officers
        • Staff
        • United Church of Christ Board of Directors
          • Board Minutes
    • Column
      • Career Opportunities
      • Annual Reports
  • What We Believe
    • Column
      • Worship
        • Statement of Faith of the United Church of Christ – La Declaración de Fe de la Iglesia Unida de Cristo
        • Worship Ways
        • Daily Devotional
        • Sermon Seeds
  • What We Do
    • Column
      • Office of the General Minister & President
        • 3 Great Loves
        • Human Resources
          • Employee Relations Resources
        • Center for Analytics, Research & Development and Data (CARDD)
          • General CARDD FAQs
          • About The Center for Analytics, Research & Development, and Data (CARDD)
          • Authorized Minister Opt Out
          • Access UCC
          • Archived Reports
          • Assessment Resources
          • Information Policies and Requests
          • Faith Communities Today (FACT) Survey
          • MissionInsite
          • Statistics and Reports
          • Vital Signs and Statistics Blog
          • Data Hub FAQs
          • Data Hub
          • Yearbook and Directory
    • Column
      • Justice & Local Church Ministries
        • Justice
          • Faith Forming Publications & The Pilgrim Press
          • Faithful Action Ministries
            • Environmental Justice Ministries
            • Economic Justice
            • Racial Justice
          • Health and Wholeness Advocacy
            • Disabilities and Mental Health Justice
            • Encuentros Latinx
            • UCC HIV & AIDS Network-UCAN
            • LGBTQ Ministries
            • Our Whole Lives
            • Overdose and Drug Use Ministries
            • Scouting
            • Wellness Ministries
          • Washington DC Office
            • Justice and Peace Action Network
            • Our Faith Our Vote 2020
            • Justice Training Resources
            • Action Center
    • Column
      • Justice & Local Church Ministries
        • Local Church
          • Faith INFO
            • Weekly Seeds
            • Youth & Young Adults
          • Worship Resources
            • Worship Ways
            • Sermon Seeds
            • Music and Liturgical Arts
          • Ministerial Excellence, Support & Authorization (MESA)
            • History, Polity, and Theology
            • Search & Call
            • Ministerial Profiles
            • Ministry Opportunities
            • Manual on Ministry
    • Column
      • Wider Church Ministries
        • Global Ministries
        • Global H.O.P.E.
          • Volunteer Engagement
          • Refugee and Migration Ministries
          • Disaster Ministries
          • Recovering Hope
        • Ecumenical and Interfaith Relations
  • News
    • Column
      • News
        • United Church of Christ News
    • Column
      • Columns
        • Witness for Justice
        • Into the Mystic
        • Getting to the Root of It
        • The Pollinator: UCC Environmental Justice Blog
        • UCC Roots
    • Column
      • Upcoming Events
      • Changes & Deaths
  • Giving
    • Column
      • Donate Now
      • Ways to Give
        • Our Church’s Wider Mission
          • Our Church’s Wider Mission Basic Support
          • One Great Hour of Sharing
          • Strengthen the Church
          • Neighbors in Need
          • Christmas Fund
          • 5 for 5
        • Disaster Relief
    • Column
      • Ways We Give
        • Scholarships & Grants

  • Home
  • News
  • Column
  • UCC Roots
  • Abner Jones and Our Christian Tradition

Abner Jones and Our Christian Tradition

by Peters, Jr., Robert F. R. | published on Jan 20, 2021

Frontier settlers in early America were not impressed with religious institutions.  Many of them rejected all formal church practices.  They insisted that the Bible was enough, private judgement should prevail, character was an adequate test, Christ was the head of the church, “Christian” was a sufficient name, and church unity was a calling.  These “Christians” resisted becoming a denomination.  Many called themselves the “Christian Connection”.   Later some of them united with Congregationalists and became part of the United Church of Christ.  

Abner Jones (1772-1841) was one of the founders of the “Christian Connection” in New England.  Early in 1802, Jones gathered twelve followers and established a church at Lyndon, Vermont—insisting that it was simply a “Christian” church. 

Jones struggled with his sense of sinfulness as a youth.  At age fourteen in 1793 some Baptists affirmed his call to serve churches.  During the next years, he taught school, studied Greek, Latin and Hebrew, practiced medicine and continued to wrestle with faith issues.  

By 1801 Jones rejected the Baptists and began preaching in nearby churches.  He refused affiliation with some Free Will Baptists in 1802 and founded a second “Christian” church in Hanover, Vermont.  In 1804, he established a third “Christian” church in Boston—serving until 1807.  His ministry flourished until retirement in 1840.

Abner Jones’ zeal for the “Christian movement” was passionate. To Jones the central principle of the Christians was “character.”  Baptism, and doctrine did not matter.  For Jones, “character [was] a sufficient test of Christian Fellowship.”  It was not acceptance of creeds, but faithful deeds of life which qualify one to be in fellowship with other believers.  At his death, he was remembered as “a physician; a nurse at the bedside; a preacher in the pulpit; a laborer at his trade; and when he spoke it was with his character, as well as with his tongue.”                

Contributor: Robert F. R. Peters, Jr.  
November 2020

Download the PDF

Categories: Column UCC Roots

Related News

Witness for Justice
Witness for Justice

History Is Made

Minister for Economic Justice History is made, and the United Church of Christ was part of...

Read More
Into the Mystic

An Existential Wound

Listen to the podcast https://soundcloud.com/theucc/an-existential-wound Read the...

Read More
Witness for Justice
Witness for Justice

Waiting to Exhale

Minister for Youth and Young Adult Engagement For nearly two weeks, attention has been fixed on...

Read More
  • Column
    • Local Church and Conference Resource Directory
    • Mission
    • Justice & Local Church Ministries
    • Wider Church Ministries
  • Column
    • Contact
    • News
    • Store
  • Follow us on Facebook
  • Follow us on Twitter
  • Follow us on Instagram
  • Subscribe on YouTube

Donate Now


UCC Crest
© United Church of Christ 2021. Privacy Policy.
Crafted by Cornershop Creative