Father Ulric Jones ends 12-year stint in New York
by Nelson A. King in New York 03.AUG.07
In a very impassioned farewell ceremony Friday night, July 27, commemorating his retirement from the Episcopal (Anglican) Church in the United States, popular Vincentian priest Fr. Ulric C-Jones broke down in tears, then sang âAdieuâ to parishioners and guests as they returned the favour with a raucous standing ovation.{{more}}
âIn the last 12 years, with all my shortcomings, I tried my very best,â cried Fr. Jones, 65, who served uninterruptedly for that period of time at St. James the Less Episcopal Church in Jamaica, Queens.
âI think God knows I tried my best,â he added at the gala ceremony, at the Crown Plaza Hotel, near John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, organized by members of the churchâs vestry, at which Jacqueline Boucher, wife of ex-national football captain and coach, Rudy Boucher, played an active role.
âI want to ask those with whom I did not agree to forgive me,â he continued.
Then, after asking his very devoted wife, Marilyn, who flanked him, to hand him a tissue, which he never used to dry his tears, Fr. Jones, a Calliaqua native, sang the chorus for âA Tavern in the Town,â a very familiar elementary school song in his youthful days.
Fr. Jones, who officially retired from the priesthood on June 24, after serving the Anglican community for 30 years, saluted parishioners at St. James the Less, their seventh and longest-serving rector, stating, âYou are the best.â
âThe priest who succeeds me has a good heritage,â he said, disclosing that he goes into retirement leaving the parish on sound financial footing, with US$250,000 âliquid cash,â compared to US$45,000 when he first arrived in October 1994.
Fr. Jones, who left New York Tuesday, said he was returning to the âancestral homeâ in Calliaqua, which he inherited from his grandparents and parents, to âlive a quiet lifeâ with his wife.
The Jonesâ three children – Brentford Ulric, Eneka Ulric, and Sharon – all adults, will remain in New York.
Eneka, the youngest, wed Wendy Huggins, originally from Georgetown, on Jul. 21, just
before his parentsâ departure; Sharon is the executive assistant secretary to Catherine Jefferts-Schori, the presiding Episcopal Archbishop in the United States; and Brentford Ulric, the eldest, otherwise known as âSoca Jones,â is a popular entertainment promoter in Brooklyn.
Fr. Jones told Searchlight after the ceremony, heâll try to âdiscern where the spirit leadsâ after re-settling in Vincyland.
âI have no specific and immediate plans about preaching,â he said. âIâll like to visit institutions, like hospitals, nursing homes, etc.â
âAnd Iâll be available for any pastoral help, but Iâll not be pressing that,â he added.
Fr. Jones, however, said his primary reason for returning to his native land is to spend his golden years in Calliaqua.
âI just love it,â he said tersely.
Fr. Jones entered the priesthood in August 1977, serving first as an assistant for four months, to Archdeacon Charles Adams in the parish of St. Maryâs in Bequia.
From January 1978 to August 1988, he served as rector at St. Phillipâs in the Marriaqua Valley.
He then moved to St. Peterâs Parish in Long Is., Bahamas, from 1988 to 1991.
After migrating to New York in 1991, Fr. Jones assisted the then rector, Fr. George Brown, of Bahamian roots, at Grace Episcopal Church in Jamaica, Queens, for three years.
He arrived at St. James the Less in October 1994, remaining until retirement.
âGod was very good to me, but never better until He brought Fr. Jones,â said Fr. Brown, now retired, who was among a host of parishioners and well-wishers paying glowing tributes and offering gifts to Fr. Jones and Mrs. Jones.
âI needed his counsel and his tenderness,â he added. âThrough it all, we maintained love for each other.â
Fr. Leopold Baynes, the Vincentian-born rector at Grace Episcopal Church in Corona, Queens, said his relationship with Fr. Jones spans over 40 years, and that Fr. Jones had asked him to âstand withâ him when Fr. Jones administered his first mass at St. Paulâs Anglican Church in Calliaqua 30 years ago.
Rev. Dr. Glyger Beach, a Methodist minister, who attended the ceremony, said he and Fr. Jones were both baptized at St. Paulâs, but âsomewhere along the line, I left the Anglicans and went to the Methodist Church.â
Narissa Morris, an attorney and accountant, who is a member of St. James the Lessâ Finance Committee, said Vincentians will miss Fr. Jones immensely, pointing out that the parish, an admixture of Caribbean nationals, including Jamaicans, Guyanese and Barbadians, has become a âhavenâ for her compatriots.
âWe, Vincentians, love St. James the Less,â said the vice president of the Brooklyn-based Girlsâ High School Alumnae, Inc., who chaired the proceedings. âItâs been like a haven to us.
âFr. Jones is leaving St. James the Less better than he found it,â Morris continued. âThe fortunes of the church have more than doubled since he came here. Weâre going to miss him.â
Fr. Jones and the Very Rev. Patrick Mc Intosh will celebrate their 30th anniversary in the ministry with a âSolemn Eucharistic Service,â on Aug. 7, at St. Georgeâs Cathedral in Kingstown.
The Rt. Rev. C. Leopold Friday, Bishop of the Windward Islands, will preside over the service, with the Rev. Canon Christian E. Glasgow, Rector of St. Georgeâs Church in Grenada, Fr. Jonesâs protégé, bringing the word.