Mother Georgiana Briggs-Jones

(Widely Known as Mother R. T. Jones, Sr.)

          Mother Georgiana Jones was born to the late Romeo and Clara Briggs, on February 22, 1919 at Philadelphia, PA. She was

educated in Philadelphia Public School System and graduated with distinction.  She completed the Philadelphia School of Nursing and worked in the healthcare

industry for several years before meeting and marrying Reuben Timothy Jones on October 19, 1940.  To this union two children were born; Reuben Timothy,

Jr. and Rachel Ann.

Mother Jones, received her initial Christian experience at the ‘Family Church’, Corinthian Baptist Church in Philadelphia, she was drawn to the Holiness

and joined the Church of God under the pastorate of the late Elder Solomon Lightfoot Mechaux and served there until her husband was called to

serve the White Rock Baptist Church in West Philadelphia.  Her life changed drastically when she attended a prayer meeting led by the late Mother

Juanita Elizabeth Dabney at the Garden of Prayer Church of God in Christ.  It was in those series of Prayer Meetings and Consecrations that the

Ministry of Prayer was transferred to her and became the hallmark of her life.

When her husband came home and told her of his vision for a ‘community of believers which would cross denominational boundaries but remain

faithful to the basic tenets of Truth’ she began to pray and fast for the birth of a Tabernacle where Christians could come and be healed.  She became

Co-Founder with her husband in organizing Christian Tabernacle Church, which affiliated itself with the Church of God in Christ but maintained a

distinct charter known as “Christian Tabernacle Friendly Community Church.”

Her husband, Pastor Jones, appointed Mother Jones to the office of Church Mother.  She became one of the youngest “Church Mothers’ in the City

of Philadelphia, and was known for her Ministry of Prayer.  Mother Jones began a devotion to Prayer that surpassed anything that the Mid-Twentieth Century had ever

witnessed in the Eastern segment of the United States.  Scores of believers would flock to the Sunday Night Broadcast at Christian Tabernacle and remain for the

“Prayer time in the Tabernacle” conducted by Mother R.T. Jones and the “Prayer Warriors.”  Demons were rebuked

and cast out, bodies were healed, saints delivered and seekers filled with the Holy Ghost during that one hour each week. 

One day the Manager of Radio Station WIBF heard Mother Jones pray and asked that she take five minutes per day to lead the Philadelphia

community in prayer.  One of her spiritual children dubbed her “Philadelphia’s Queen of Prayer” in an effort to describe her work to a friend.  She has received

numerous awards and commendations for her dedicated life of prayer and consecration.  Mother Jones did not limit her influence to prayer

alone but she worked in the Kingdom of God and was a Member of Bishop’s Wives of the Church of God in Christ and of the United Pentecostal

Churches of Christ, and a Member of the Interdenominational Pastor’s and Minister’s Wives Council.  She was a Member of the Board of Directors

of Christian Tabernacle and was, for a brief time, the appointed Pastor and Shepherd Mother of Christian Tabernacle immediately following the death

of her husband, the late Bishop R. T. Jones, Sr.

Mother R.T. Jones, was a Matriarch.  Her family was primary and the development of families was on e of her consuming passions.  She loved her

children and gave theme very opportunity to succeed as contributors and leaders in the Kingdom of Christ.  Her son Bishop Reuben Timothy Jones, Jr.

 now serves as Pastor of the Church while her daughter; Mother Rachel Jones Baxter serves as the Assistant Supervisor for the Department of

Women in Pennsylvania’s Koinonia Jurisdiction in the Church of God in Christ.  Mother Jones took children into her home over the years and gave

them nurturing and opportunities for becoming productive people.  One such person she adopted and made him her own was Jesse Delano Ellis, II

who served as Senior Bishop of the United Pentecostal Churches of Christ in Cleveland, Ohio.

On Tuesday, February 15, 2005 Mother Jones heard the call of her Commander-in-Chief, the Lord Jesus Christ, and was ‘Promoted to Glory’.

The life of a saint, such as Mother Georgianna Briggs Jones, cannot be adequately, summed up in a few paragraphs.  She will have to be remembered,

quoted, imitated and observed in the lives of her natural and spiritual offspring.  Those who met her in the middle of Twentieth Century will forever

hear her opening her prayer times with that all-too-familiar phrase; “Father-God, in Jesus Name:  We bless Thy Name for blessing us.  We

bless Thy Name for Thy wonderful works and for Thy mighty acts toward the children of men…” And when we hear that refrain we will bow

our heads and faintly smile, remembering that a Mother in Zion passed this way.

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