Clinton Robert Jones, Jr., was born November 8, 1916, in Brookfield,
Connecticut, the only child of Clinton Robert Jones and Henriette Elizabeth
(Morehouse). Clinton, Jr., was raised on a large farm managed by his father. His
parents were Episcopalian and Henriette was a church organist. His father had
been a Congregationalist before his marriage. The Rev. Charles Carpenter,
Clinton's boyhood pastor at St. Paul's Church in Brookfield, was influential in
Clinton's life.
Henriette died during Clinton's junior year at Danbury High School. He
received a B.A. degree from Bard College in 1938. His intention had been to go
to law school, but instead he enrolled at General Theological Seminary in New
York City where he received a Master of Divinity degree in 1941. He was ordained
in the Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut on June 15, 1941, and pastored at St.
James Church in New London from 1941 to 1945. The following year he served as a
chaplain for the U.S. Maritime Service. He became assistant minister of Christ
Church Cathedral in Hartford in 1946 and two years later became Canon, a
position he held until his retirement in 1986. He was then named a "Life Canon."
He joined the Greater Hartford Regional Ministry that serves four small churches
in 1990 and continues to the present.
As part of his ministry at the Cathedral, Canon Jones was heavily involved in
youth work and served as director of youth for the diocese from 1946 to 1953 and
as a member of the National Youth Commission for the denomination from 1947 to
1951.
In 1963, Canon Jones was appointed to the Rehabilitation Committee under the
auspices of the Social Service Department of the Greater Hartford Council of
Churches. At the time the committee was working on issues related to alcoholism.
When an inquiry was received from a parish in East Hartford seeking assistance
on how to deal with a situation in which a janitor had been accused of sexual
misconduct with a young boy, Canon Jones was assigned to gather information
available regarding homosexuality. This sparked a personal interest and
engagement in ministry with sexual minorities that Canon Jones pursued in the
decades to follow.
Canon Jones' research on homosexuality spurred the formation of a special
task force at the Greater Hartford Council of Churches in 1965 that included
clergy as well as psychologists and other social service professionals. This
task force was originally called the Homosexuality Committee but soon changed
its name to Project H.
As Canon Jones and the Project H team continued their research into
homosexuality they became aware of the George W. Henry Foundation in New York.
Founded in 1947, the foundation was led by Dr. Alfred Gross who provided
counseling and assistance to homosexual persons. After inviting Dr. Gross to
come to Hartford to talk with them about his work, a Hartford chapter of the
George W. Henry Foundation was established.
In 1968-69, Canon Jones studied counseling at the Postgraduate Center for
Mental Health in New York City and completed an S.T.M. degree at New York
Theological Seminary. He subsequently began a counseling ministry at the
Cathedral as well as gathering an extensive library on homosexuality there. In
his ministry he came into contact with a number of transgendered persons. Along
with Dr. George Higgins, professor at Trinity College, Canon Jones and other
professionals developed an extensive program of counseling and psychological
services for persons seeking gender reassignment. The "Twenty Club," a support
group for transgendered persons was created at the Cathedral and met for more
than 30 years and has since continued at the GLBT Community Center.
Widely known for his expertise of issue of sexual orientation and gender
identity, Canon Jones served on a special Task Force on the Church and the
Homophile for the House of Bishops of the Episcopal Church from 1972
to 1975. He continued to serve on the diocesan Project H Committee, renamed the
Committee on Sexual Minorities in 1980, until his retirement in 1986.
When persons in his congregation told hold him stories about mistreatment and
abuse of homosexual prisoners, Canon Jones began a prison ministry in which he
went to the prison to interview and counsel gay prisoners every two to three
weeks over 20 years.
He published three books: What About Homosexuality, Thomas Nelson
& Co., 1972; Homosexuality and Counseling, Fortress Press, 1974;
and Understanding Gay Relatives and Friends, Seabury Press, 1978.
In addition, he published and presented many articles and research papers.
The Friends of Christ Church Cathedral inaugurated an annual Canon Clinton R.
Jones Award at a dinner honoring Jones' forty years of active ministry at the
Cathedral on November 12, 2005.
Canon Clinton Jones died at his home on June 3, 2006, survived by his
partner of more than 40 years, Kenneth Woods.
The sermon at Canon Jones' memorial service on June 7,
2006, given by the Rev. William Doubleday, can be heard at: mms://media14.cqservers.com/cccathedral/sermon060706.mp3
(Information for this biographical statement taken from a biography of
Canon Jones compiled by Frank Gagliardi, associate library director at Central
Connecticut State University (CCSU) and a videotaped interview with Canon Jones
by Joihn Plotica and Isaac Miller, Jr., on November 4, 2002, in the Gender
Equity Archives at CCSU. Additional information from Canon
Jones.)