The Pontifical Requiem for the Repose of the Soul of Irene Jones was held Monday, Nov. 30th, at the Episcopal Church of St. Michael and St. George in Clayton. Celebrant was the Rt. Rev. Jeffrey Lee, Bishop of Chicago, Preacher was the Rev. Steven Lawler, rector of St. Stephen’s-Ferguson, the Rev. Andrew Archie officiated.

The Reverend Irene Jones was canonically resident in the Diocese of Chicago and active in the Diocese of Missouri, serving as Interim Pastor at Grace-Kirkwood until the Rev. Todd McDowell was called, and as Associate for Congregational Development at St. Stephen’s-Ferguson.

Bishop Lee shared a letter from a fellow priest in the diocese of Chicago; it was a low point in this priest’s vocational life, a time close to writing off all colleagues. Irene related, with her always twinkling eyes, that when she had these moments, she sometimes imagined that at the rapture every cleric that had every given her grief would be left behind. The priest continued, “knowing there were compassionate colleagues like Irene, I decided I could stick with it.”

Irene was ordained to the Sacred Order of Priests on June 6, 2003 in the Diocese of Missouri. Her brother, Wesley McAfee, said, “The crowning glory of her life was her ministry.” The Rt. Rev. Wayne Smith, Bishop of Missouri, was unable to be at the service; he is currently in the Lui diocese of southern Sudan. “This is not only a significant loss for the people of the Dioceses of Missouri and Chicago, but for the entire Episcopal Church,” said Smith. “We had so looked forward to her long and fruitful ministry, and this will not come to pass. We pray God’s peace for her family and loved ones, for those whose hearts were touched by her ministry, and we ask God to grant her rest eternal.”

In his sermon, the Rev. Steven Lawler included several references to Irene’s interest in Celtic Christian Worship. He referred to a celtic saying that the distance “between heaven and earth was the distance of an eyelash,” and that he had felt that distance while preparing this sermon, and heard the familiar voice of Jones calling as she often did, “Lawler….”

“Irene was fully alive. She was less and less a patient participant in everyday life. She gave herself fully to living life as one who thought we know God too little because we live life too timidly. Irene moved comfortably and clearly from place she was to the place she was going.” Said Lawler, “It was easy to understand her interest in the Celts and her belief that all of life is spiritual.”

For Irene, knowing the way not just something, it was everything. She often said ” The whole thing centers on Jesus, the person Jesus who is fully alive.” Lawler concluded quoting an ancient hymn from Iona, traditionally played when Scottish kings of old were being ferried to their final resting place;

From the falter of breath,
through the silence of death,
to the wonder that’s breaking beyond;
God has woven a way,
unapparent by day,
for all those of whom heaven is fond.
From frustration and pain,
through hope hard to sustain,
to the wholeness here promised, there known;
Christ has gone where we fear
and has vowed to be near
on the journey we make on our own.

Rector Steven Lawler, also ordained in the Diocese of Chicago, has graciously accepted our request to provide the full text of his sermon.