25 July 2023
Black Christian community mourns passing of Windrush pioneer Rev Carmel Jones
Rev Carmel Jones, one of the most prominent members of the Windrush Generation, and one of the UK’s most well known black church leaders died peacefully at St Georges Hospital, London, following a bout of ill health on Saturday 22 July. He was surrounded by his family.
This pioneering Pentecostal church minister will be remembered for the great legacy he created - the Pentecostal Credit Union (PCU).
Some of Britain’s leading black church leaders have played tribute to Rev Jones following his passing.
Bishop John and Pastor Penny Francis, joint leaders of Ruach City Church stated:
"Rev. Carmel Jones was a trailblazer, a pioneer, and a legend - you could also say he was the church's black banker! He was a special confidant and friend to me personally.
When I look at all the acquisitions of Ruach City Church, it started with Rev Carmel Jones, who gave us our first mortgage when our high street bank turned us down. As a young Pastor, starting a church from the ground up, Rev Jones was the first person to give our church a loan.
Rev. Jones registered the Pentecostal Credit Union in 1980. A number of black church leaders were critical of Rev. Jones vision of economic self-reliance for the black community and the PCU and did not support him, but he proved them all wrong going on to position the PCU as one of strongest credit unions in the UK.
Rev Jones was inspired to start the PCU after reading an article in The Sun newspaper in September 1979. Seven months later, he had officially registered the PCU with support from fellow church leaders. It is now one of the richest credit unions in the UK.
Thank you Rev Jones for showing us that we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us. Your legacy will live on!"
Rev Ade Omooba and Dionne Gravesande, co-chairs of the National Church Leaders Forum said:
"We honour an exceptional man whose indomitable spirit and unwavering faith blazed a trail of inspiration for countless lives. As the visionary founder of Pentecostal Credit Union and a distinguished black Christian Pioneer, he empowered a Black British community with financial inclusion and spiritual guidance. Rev Carmel Jones legacy resonates through generations, symbolising resilience, compassion, and an unyielding commitment to uplifting others. His profound impact on society and unwavering dedication to bridging the gap will forever remain etched in the hearts of those he touched. May his soul rest in perfect peace, and may his legacy continue to inspire."
Bishop Delroy Powell, stated:
"The New Testament Assembly expresses it deepest sympathy to the Jones family and the staff of the Pentecostal Credit Union following news of the passing Rev Carmel Jones. To borrow from the Ghanaian proverb, “a mighty oak has fallen”. Rev Carmel was an exemplary leader, a disruptive visionary and a stalwart among his peers in the Pentecostal church movement in the UK. He will be sorely missed and long be remembered."
The PCU was launched at a time when black people - the Windrush Generation and their children - found it difficult to access financial services from Britain’s established banks and building societies. In response to the obstacles of racism and financial exclusion experienced by the black British community at the time, PCU provided a range of services, including personal loans, business and church loans and savings accounts to individuals as well as church leaders and business owners desirous to buy their own buildings.
Church organisations that bought some of their buildings with the support of a PCU loan include Assemblies Of The First Born Church, AME Zion Church, Ruach City Church, Brixton, New Testament Assembly, New Testament Church Of God, Church Of God Worldwide Mission, Tabernacle Christian Centre, Pentecostal City Mission, Church Of God In Christ, New Life Assembly, Acts Christian Church, Mount Zion Apostolic Church (Nottingham)
During the early decades of the PCU’s existence its members were drawn solely from the black Pentecostal community, but following Rev. Jones retirement, the new management of PCU have expanded the PCU “common bond” to attract younger people to join the credit union and support initiatives that encourage the economic empowerment of the black community. In 2018 PCU began offering online banking services
Although Rev Jones is renowned for starting Pentecostal Credit Union, he was also founder of the New Assembly Of Churches and the RESCUE Training organisation that provided vocational and employment training for ex offenders. He was also one of Britains first black prison chaplains ministering the gospel to inmates at several local London prisons and Heathrow Airport.
Rev Jones was born in Black River, St Elizabeth, Jamaica in and is one of six siblings. His mother was a homemaker, his father a farmer of a small holding and faith played a very important role in his childhood.
Like many Caribbeans in the 1950s, Rev Jones came to Britain at the age 17 in search of work, adventure and to make a success of himself.
He had been an altar boy at this local Anglican church, and upon arrival in the UK, he attended a service at his local Anglican church in Clapham. At the end of the service the vicar thanked him for coming, but asked him not to return.
Having been rejected by the local Anglican church, Rev Jones later joined a Pentecostal church - the Church of God in Christ UK, after being invited by a friend where he was eventually ordained and was a lifelong member.
In 2020, St Pauls in Clapham, south London, the church that rejected Rev Jones when he first arrived in the UK in 1955 held a service where they publicly apologised to him for the racist treatment he received. Rev Jones graciously accepted the apology stating” “I was a boy of 17, when I encountered here one of the first of many acts of racial prejudice that subsequently occurred in my life.”
“It provided the inspiration that led me to founding the Pentecostal Credit Union 25 years later. It led me to the Pentecostal Church, where I still am today and lastly, but certainly not least, it led me to meeting the woman who has been by my side for the last 63 years.”
Rev Jones was married to Iveline for 65 years and says it was love at first sight. They had three children together.
He is survived by his wife, his two children, grand-children and his extended family.
