UCC selects new Chief Financial Officer

The United Church of Christ has hired Stephen Jones to serve as the Chief Financial Officer for national setting of the denomination. Jones brings more than 25 years of senior leadership experience in both private industry and the non-profit sector to his new position.

“I was drawn to this position by three things,” Jones said. “First, I really like the people I interviewed with and met, and I really liked the atmosphere and the organization. Second, I was very intrigued by the complexity of everything the UCC is into — from the financial endeavors to the investments. Third, I really like [General Minister and President] John Dorhauer and I am eager to work with him.”

After graduating from Marshall University in 1984, Jones joined Touche Ross (now Deloitte & Touche) in Louisville, Ky., and provided auditing and accounting services to clients in the non-profit, manufacturing and distribution sectors. Early in his career, Jones served as president and CFO of Cambridge Educational, an educational publisher and distributor of supplemental educational materials. During his tenure there, the company tripled in size and was then sold to a publicly held company in New York.

Jones moved into working for non-profits, specifically in higher education, serving for 15 years as the CFO for West Virginia Wesleyan (2001-2006) and Hiram College (2006-2016). In 2011, he was nominated for the Crain’s Cleveland Business Magazine Chief Financial Officer of the year in the non-profit category.

Jones has already identified some areas of his department where he hopes to make improvements. “We want to make better use of technology, and use technology a lot more in making us more efficient,” he said, “and I’ve identified some processes and procedures we can fine tune.”