J. Stephen Jones

Senior Pastor

James Stephen Jones received his Bachelor of Science degree in 1977 from Auburn University majoring in Political Science with minors in Religion and Sociology. His Master of Divinity was awarded in 1980 from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. Reverend Jones was ordained in April, 1979 by the Normandale Baptist Church of Montgomery, Alabama.

Steve Jones served in numerous ministry positions while in seminary, including inner-city work in Louisville, Kentucky, at the Jefferson Street Baptist Chapel and the Walnut Street Baptist Church. Upon graduation, he served in a pastoral intern/mentor program under Dr. Ben Waggoner from 1980 until 1982 at the Orange Baptist Church in Orange, Virginia. For seven years (1982-1989), Jones was the senior pastor at the Salem Baptist Church in Sparta, Virginia, a rural congregation of approximately three hundred members. For ten years (1989-1999), Jones served as the senior pastor of the Walnut Hill Baptist Church in Petersburg, Virginia, an urban/suburban congregation of approximately four hundred and fifty members. From 1999 to the present, he has served as the senior pastor of the Southside Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, a diverse urban congregation of approximately five hundred members.

J. Stephen Jones is a gifted preacher and pastoral leader. In each of the aforementioned churches, he guided the congregations with a focus on fulfillment of their call to Christian discipleship, community awareness and engagement, inclusiveness and reconciliation, and to seeking a greater place of involvement in the interfaith community. Reverend Jones has proven to be a leader in Birmingham in the push for multicultural understanding and partnerships. He serves on numerous active community boards and ecclesiastical organizations, but his first passion remains his congregation. He is married to Elizabeth Harris Jones, a teacher of hospice care, and they have one son, Aaron Stephen Jones.

Listen to Pastor Steve Jones’ interview on WZZK about his mission trip to Zimbabwe in June and July.