No Price too High
Reprinted with the permission of the Josephite Harvest, Vol. 113, No.4 Winter 2011
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Today, he is a Roman Catholic permanent deacon, serving the Detroit cluster parishes of Ss. Peter and Paul and St. Suzanne/Our Lady Gate of Heaven and pursuing his second Master's degree in art and theology.

What happened?

The conversion of Deacon Alex C. Jones to the Catholic Church in 2000 when he was 60-years-old became quite celebrated at the time not only because he was a black evangelical minister but because he brought with him on his journey some 54 members of his then thriving independent Pentecostal church. His wife, Donna, their three sons and grandchildren were also received into the Catholic Church during that memorable Easter Vigil.

It was a steep step to take but one Deacon Jones became absolutely convinced he had to take. But his conversion was not without pain and loss.

"I needed to do what I did after I realized the Catholic Church was the true New Testament church," he said.

It was a realization that first began to dawn on him when he began looking at early Christian worship with a congregational study group. The experience prompted him to begin reading the early church fathers, such as St. Ignatius of Antioch, a friend of the apostle John, and St. Clement of Rome, the third successor to St. Peter as head of the church.

"I began to see the continuity from the apostles to the church today and that made me want and need to take an even closer look," Deacon Jones explained.

As his research progressed, he began to change the worship style of his Maranatha Pentecostal Church, instituting a Liturgy of the Word, and a Liturgy of the Eucharist on Easter Sunday. Gradually, the service began to resemble a Catholic Mass.

He had reached what was to him the surprising conclusion that the present day Catholic Church - and the Mass - is essentially the same, exact "worship service "from the very early Church.

"We said all the prayers with all the rubrics of the Church, all the readings, and the Eucharistic prayers, although we did it with an African American style," Deacon Jones said, adding that he "felt God accepted our prayers."

But then one Sunday Deacon Jones had an epiphany of sorts.

"I was saying the Eucharistic prayer and suddenly realized that I really didn't have the authority and power to do so," he said.

Deacon Jones then began to establish relationships with people who might help him answer the questions he had and deliver him from the "authority" quandary in which he saw himself.

They included Dr. Bill Riordan, a professor of theology at Detroit's Sacred Heart Seminary and, most notably, Catholic apologist, author and television documentary producer, Steve Ray, of Milan, Mich., whose own conversion story is told in his book, Crossing the Tiber.

The two became good friends and met regularly, usually for lunch. Their discussions and shared experiences led Deacon Jones further on his path toward the Catholic Church, in fact to the very doorstep.

Mr. Ray introduced Deacon Jones to Dennis Walters, then the catechist at Christ the King parish in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In 1999 Mr. Walters began giving the Pentecostal pastor and his wife weekly instructions in the faith that led to their reception into the Church a year later.

Known, respected and loved for his inspiring preaching and service to his Pentecostal community, it came as no surprise that after his conversion to the Catholic Church Deacon Jones would want to find another form of ministry to express his great love for God. And so he entered the permanent diaconate program in the Archdiocese of Detroit and was ordained in 2005.

Two years later, Deacon Jones put his conversion experience and life story into print with the publication by Ignatius Press of his book, "No Price too High."

The title is an apt one, because the price involved the loss of many friends and colleagues who could not reconcile themselves to his conversion, including his mother who left Maranatha for Detroit's Perfecting Church where Jones' cousin, gospel singer Marvin Winans, was pastor.

And there are times when he misses "the intensity of friendship" he found in his small and intimate Pentecostal church. But while it hasn't all been easy, Deacon Jones says he has "absolutely no regrets" and that there is no turning back.

"If I returned to my former life, I would be dishonest," he said. "I would be untrustworthy. I would be a man who saw truth, knew truth, and turned away from it. I just couldn't do that."

"The fullness of faith rests in the Catholic Church," Deacon Jones said. "This is the church that Jesus founded and it has endured all these years. I hope to bring an increase of faith and joy into the work of His kingdom."

And, Deacon Jones said he is now even more "on fire" for the truth of the Catholic Church. In fact, as he approaches 70, he is pursuing another Master's degree; this one in art and theology. "I feel like I'm 40," he said.