Annual UBE Absalom Jones Celebration Set as ‘Call for Justice, Healing and Hope’

The Canon Nelson W. Pinder Union of Black Episcopalians Chapter of Central Florida will hold its annual Absalom Jones Celebration on Feb. 28, 2026, at St. Richard’s, Winter Park, honoring the legacy of Jones, the first Black priest to be ordained in The Episcopal Church.  The Rt. Rev. Dr. Justin S. Holcomb will celebrate the 10:30 a.m. Eucharist. The Rev. Dr. Mauricio J. Wilson, president of the national Union of Black Episcopalians and rector at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, Oakland, California, will be the guest preacher.

The Rev. Dr. Dale Truscott, interim priest-in-charge at St. Richard’s, will host the event. Dr. Carl MaultsBy, the church’s musical director, will provide the music. Chairpersons for the event are Faye Oliver Henderson and Roger Johnson, Esq. They lead a committee that also includes Chapter President Carrie Brown (ex officio), Sonia Johnson and MaultsBy. The theme for the celebration is “Rise in the Power of the Spirit, Walk in Grace: A Call for Justice, Healing, and Hope.”

“It will be interesting to see what Dr. Mauricio’s take is on that theme,” said Brown. “He has a high Anglican background; his father was a bishop in Costa Rica. He’s Black, Latino and bilingual, speaking both English and Spanish, which all makes him very interesting. The music is also going to be exciting. Whatever Carl picks out, it’s always great.”

“We feel that we’re going through a period of chaos in our country right now,” she explained. “So that was our thinking in choosing the sub-theme … Absalom Jones never lost sight of working for justice, but he also was a champion of healing and reconciliation among different people. And he always held out hope that all peoples, at some point, would really live into what we now call our baptismal covenant.”

“I find Absalom Jones to be intriguing, but not just because he was the first person of African descent to be a priest and credited, of course, with founding the African American Episcopal Church in Philadelphia,” Brown said. “I’m intrigued because I often wonder how he felt as a young man of 16, seeing his family sold off into slavery: his mother, his sister and his five brothers. With that memory, and going from one owner to another at the same time, how do you hold on to your belief in the goodness of people and not be bitter? … For him to be a man who grew in his faith and in his religion out of the cruelty that surrounded him and being treated as ‘less than’ for the majority of his life, yet also a man who had a real belief in God and the ‘better angels of our nature’ [a quote from President Abraham Lincoln’s first inaugural address.] All of his life, he never lost sight of that, and he always pursued justice and equality for all people. That is what makes me admire him.”

She also looks forward to the fellowship of the day. “People getting to know each other is the most exciting part to me,” she said. “Part of our goal really is to build relationships. Building relationships is how we get to know, understand and appreciate people and their differences.”

In view of the desire to build relationships, the UBE chapter is making a special effort to invite those of Latin descent to this year’s event, Brown said. She added, “Our membership is open to any Episcopalian who wants to join us in working toward our goals, which are to advocate for inclusion for all people, not just Black – for all people.”

The UBE has clear goals for the celebration, she said. “Out of this event, we hope that people will be, No. 1, praying for our nation and for our national leadership,” she explained. “We hope that we’ll all be in prayer. And we also hope this will embolden us to be witnesses or disciples for Jesus and followers of Jesus. Just as Bishop Justin Holcomb has emphasized, God gathers us with the gospel, nurtures us through the Church and then send us out on mission.

“We do appreciate our bishop and his support of everything UBE does and all his work in proclaiming the gospel, and certainly we are supportive of his work,” Brown said. “That’s why we also hope to get our members more involved in diocesan ministries.”

Luncheon tickets are $40 for adults and $15 for students, with all proceeds going to benefit the two historic black Episcopal universities: St. Augustine’s University and Voorhees University. Find registration information and more at this link. There is no charge to attend the Eucharist service.