Jared Jones always has felt a calling to minister to youth, so when the opportunity arose to share the good works of God with high school students, he was thrilled beyond words.

Jones recently was named head chaplain at Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy Upper School in Melbourne. He comes to Holy Trinity from Orangewood Presbyterian Church and Christian School in Maitland, where he served for four years as director of student ministries.

“I have been doing student ministry for most of my ministry career, and 95 percent of ministry is present around the people you’re ministering to,” Jones said. “So, I began to notice in my student ministry positions that to really minister to these kids I would need to be in and around school with them since that’s where they spend the majority of their time.

“When I heard about the position at Holy Trinity, I was thrilled!” Jones said. “Here was a job where I could do what I love (hang out and minister to students) while also be around them on a more consistent basis.”

Jones brings a wealth of experience to the Brevard County private school. He has held several roles as a teaching assistant, and student ministry assistant at churches in Georgia and Central Florida. In 2015, he co-authored Live Free, a student devotional. He blends his love of writing with ministry by developing Christian content and curriculum.

The multi-talented Jones holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Biblical Studies from Liberty University, a Master of Divinity from Reformed Theological Seminary and is currently pursuing ordination with the Episcopal Diocese of Central Florida.

“I’m so excited to be going through the discernment process in the Diocese of Central Florida,” Jones said. “I have a huge amount of respect for Bishop (Greg) Brewer and his staff. Bishop Brewer, especially, has been a great pastor to me over the last few years. I’m excited to be in this diocese and look forward to (Lord willing!) a long and fruitful ministry here!”

The path to ministry is nothing new to Jones. His father also was a pastor, and ministry has always been a part of his life. “For a while, though, I didn’t want to go into full-time ministry,” Jones said. “But early in college, I began to feel called to pursue ministry as a vocation. This call mainly centered around my love for scripture and the teaching and preaching ministry of the Church. And, as time has gone on, this call has been more clarified and confirmed throughout my ministry experience.”

Jones said his number one goal as head chaplain is that the gospel of God’s grace would take root in the life of Holy Trinity. “The truth that God is actually a gracious God who loves sinners powerfully changed my life,” he said.

Holy Trinity Episcopal Academy’s new head chaplain grew up believing that God inherently liked good people and disliked bad people. “This is soul-crushing!” Jones said. “People try to get out of it by toying around with whether or not people are all that ‘bad.’ But this goes against our common experience: we’re often our own worst enemy. We do the things we don’t want to do, and we don’t do the things we want to do (Romans 7). I finally realized that I would never improve “enough” to feel like I “arrived.” And that is where I finally understood that Christianity is about something entirely different: it’s all about grace.
“My hope is that the students at Holy Trinity Academy hear the promise that ‘while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.’ (Rom. 5:8) This good news is a proclamation that you and I are forgiven, and we are loved ‘as is’ by God. It maintains the objectively verifiable reality that we aren’t “good” people, but it declares that we have been loved by God in Christ on the cross. And when this message is instilled in human hearts, it brings forth gratitude and love for our neighbor. It’s a beautiful thing to watch!” Jones said.