When profound loss shakes the very foundation of your spirit, causing grief and faith to feel like opposites, where do you turn for a candid conversation? Pastor, spiritual director, and author Kirk Byron Jones joins to share his decades of wisdom on God and spirituality amidst the pain of loss. Dr. Jones advocates for the powerful concept of ‘healthy doubt’ as an avenue for spiritual growth, and he shares his own personal journey through burnout and struggles with divine trust. He offers essential practices, like his ‘Morning Brew’ ritual and ‘Peace Pockets,’ encouraging listeners to embrace rest, ‘self-gracing,’ and sacred stillness to transform solitude from isolation into a wellspring of compassionate presence.

I am sharing my experience of loving the same man for 32 years, a mother to two adult children, a retired military officer, a breast cancer survivor, and my connections with others. 

Anyone experiencing suicidal thoughts should reach out to a suicide hotline or local emergency number in their country: Psychology Today Suicide Hotlines and Prevention Resources Around the World.

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Watch the episode here

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Honoring The Empty Spaces Where Grief And Faith Meet With Kirk Byron Jones

Thank you for being along for this mini series, Voices of Widowhood: Healing through the Holidays. Our last guest for this conversation, Dr. Jones, has some nuggets for you. We’re going to talk about what fills you and what drains you. He also has a great acronym to start the day called BREW. The first B is Be still. The R is Receive grace. I’ll let him explain the rest of them to you in this conversation. Let’s jump into it.

Dr. Jones, welcome to the Widowhood.

Greetings. It’s good to be with you. I’ve been looking forward to talking with you.

When you hear, “Welcome to the Widowhood,” what comes to mind?

What a first question.

We’re here to talk.

First of all, I take the word welcome very seriously in a lighthearted way. When you say, “Welcome,” I see from your face and from the invitation that you mean it, so I don’t take welcomes for granted. Thank you for the welcome. To the Widowhood, I celebrate community amid a missing or a losing. Yet, you found each other, which, to me, speaks of life continuing on amid loss, grief, hurt, and pain. We oftentimes find that in each other. There are resources within, but there are resources without. When you say, “Welcome to the sisters of the Widowhood,” it’s a layered blessing.

When Grief Makes God Feel Distant: Honoring The Empty Spaces

Thank you. You have spent decades working with pastors and caregivers on the idea of slowing down the pace, having a better relationship with God. I want to start there for the people who are grieving. They’d love to understand what that looks like in their grief because they’re not hearing God. They feel like God is distant.

I can tell this conversation is going to be a slow conversation. I hope that people appreciate the pauses as much as they do the words, because the spaces in between this conversation, something tells me, are going to be very important.

I would attest to that. This mini series that you agreed to participate in, Voices of Widowhood: Healing through the Holidays, I believe this is going to be the last conversation in this series. It is important as this conversation will air in the last week of January 2026. People have read from different people giving them information about encouragement, how to make it through, and how to breathe.

What I’ve often found lingering in the back of those conversations is that missing piece of that candid discussion about God, their faith, and what that looks like in their grief. Understanding that every reader has a different faith that they may resonate with, but the overall concept of how this level of loss impacts one’s faith.

Going to your question about how we honor, I hear it as how you honor the empty spaces. Being honest about the distance of divinity is important because often, God feels gone if we’re honest about it. Maybe not so much on a Sunday morning. I’m in the Baptist tradition. When the choir gets going, and there’s a whole lot of hallelujah going on, the assumption is that the spirit is in the place, but I’ve pastored long enough to know that even in such moments, there are people who feel the opposite. They’re maybe clapping to not be detected because it’s habitual. The real truth of the matter is, in any given moment in a worship or anywhere else, God feels gone.

I’ve never experienced the loss that the sisters of the widowhood are experiencing. I preached a scripture where it’s post-resurrection. It’s the last chapter in Matthew. The disciples are gathered on the mountain. They’ve gotten word from this alleged resurrected Jesus for them to meet him on the mountain. There’s this interesting passage that says that they’re there. Some doubted. Though they had gathered post-resurrection, some doubted.

The promise comes that Jesus says, “I’ll be with you always.” He didn’t separate the crowd before He made the promise, which means to me that the shouters, those who affirmed the resurrection and believed in it, and the doubters received the same promise. I may have been tempted to separate those who believed from those who doubted and said to the believers, “I’m with you,” and ignored those who were doubting.

The moral of the story is that God’s being with us does not depend on our being with God. When God seems gone, it seems to me is when we need God the most, even though we may not feel God’s presence. We don’t have to feel God’s presence. God need not be invited to be present. I may have some folks who come at me on this. I don’t believe God needs to be named to be known or to be identified by any religious faction for the love, the grace, and the strange peace to pervade one’s being. For those who are in that space, I say be honest as much as you can be, as much as you can be. I was going to say be open.

Beyond Intentional Openness: How Grace Sings Through The Cracks

That’s my next question. How would you recommend someone stay open to the possibility of God’s presence in that space?

For the first time, I’m going to take away the necessity of being open. I forget what the Japanese term for it is in terms of the light coming through the cracks of a pot. Are you familiar with that?

Yes.

I don’t want to romanticize brokenness, hurt, and pain. God knows I don’t want to romanticize them, but in those broken spaces, the light comes. All it needs is the brokenness. It doesn’t need an intentional request or welcome, as you welcomed me earlier. There’s something about the love of God and the compassion of God that can softly and tenderly touch wounds that doesn’t even need an invitation. I would say for folks to be honest. A part of me wants to say to just be. Keep being as best you can. Talk to me.

In your own personal walk, how have periods of silence with God shaped your own faith?

It saved me. Silence saved me. All of us have predispositions. One of my predispositions that I was born with was a tendency towards solitude. In my childhood, I was as comfortable sitting under a tree in the backyard and looking up at the sky. I could see that tree, even as I speak with you now. I’m predisposed to solitude and silence, but in the busyness of ministry, I lost it. I’m 67 now, but I burned out in my early 30s. I had to rediscover stillness and silence, which is openness and emptiness that allows for a presence beyond expression.

We’re taping early. I don’t know if you mind me telling folks. It is the first week in November 2025. The commercials are already on. It’s not just about the Christmas spirit. It’s about this. It’s about money. Consumerism and all of that have already begun. There’s a piece of me that wants to say, amid all that we’re facing in our world, amen to the goodness and the cheer, but we need to include in the celebrations solitude, stillness, and silence, whatever that means to people. It could be a candle or soft music. We need to be alone with who we are and to experience, hopefully, God, love, and acceptance in fresh new ways. We deserve that gift.

It’s important for someone to hear that they do deserve that gift. Also, profound loss has a way of shaking one’s faith. What does healthy doubt look like to you?

I love beautiful questions. That’s a beautiful question. I’m trying to think of the author who has written about beautiful questions. He says, “A beautiful question is that which has the capacity to move you and grow you.” That’s a beautiful question. Ask it one more time.

Embracing Healthy Doubt: A Path To Spiritual Growth And New Terrain

I believe it’s important for people to understand that they do deserve goodness or deserve to have joy and peace in their life, but profound loss has a way of shaking you to your core and your faith. What does healthy doubt look like?

Hold on to that question, everybody. I’m taking that question away from this conversation. I’ll be loitering and lingering with that question for quite some time, so thank you. Healthy doubt, what does it look like? It’s real and genuine. It’s the heartache of the soul. Healthy doubt asks hard questions. It risks asking questions silently. If not allowed, some folk would damn the fact that you’ve asked that question. They damn it. That kind of vulnerability and honesty brings us into new terrains. That opens new ground for transformation and growth.

All questions are welcome, especially new questions that we’ve never asked before. Those are beautiful questions because on the other side are new possibilities, new ways of seeing things, new perspectives, new sides, and new dimensions. My four key words, and I have these in several places around the house, are explore, discover, create, and evolve. Those are the four keywords that I live by.

That kind of question touches all four of those. Healthy doubt allows exploration. It creates a possibility for new discoveries. With that exploration and that discovery, I might be inspired and moved to create something I would not have created apart from that healthy doubt. In the midst of that, I’m changing. Even if no one else is, I am. The mere fact that I’ve allowed healthy doubt to be a companion means that I’ve walked with something that I’ve never walked with before. That camaraderie changes me, and that’s exciting to me.

Do you find people of faith are comfortable with the concept of healthy doubt, or do they look more for pat answers and not want to dive in deep?

You know what the answer to that question is.

I don’t know what your perspective is.

Bless your heart. I am in the midst of preaching this Sunday about peace. I posted on Yes to Grace on Facebook. One of the things that I say is about liberating peace. There is liberating peace in honoring soul urgings to tread beyond the gates of comfortable captivity. I think that sometimes, a lot of our religious experience can be comfortable captivity because we get used to the same expressions, the same words, and the same expectations. Religion is a place of comfort more than it is a place of challenge. I don’t want us to lose the comfort and blessing of spirituality, but if that’s all it is, then we’re missing an important dimension of spirituality. That challenges. That questions. That explores. That prioritizes unlearning as much as it does learning.

I accepted a position. I retired from pastoring not long ago, and I’ve been on sabbatical for about a year. When the year was up, the universe said, “Let’s go.” I realized that I still have some preaching in me, so I accepted a position as minister in residence at a church here in Massachusetts. I’ll be preaching and helping them find their new pastor. I’m realizing that my preaching is more about how I want to leave folks with questions than I want to offer answers. The best amen for me is somebody who has a great question that they would not have asked if the sermon had not been preached.

Beginning Again: Rebuilding Trust In God After Tragedy

After tragedy, trusting God can feel dangerous. How might someone begin again without pretending everything is fine?

Do you have people from various religious traditions as your audience?

Yes.

I can only speak with some sort of authenticity from my own Baptist Christian faith.

The conversation with other people of other faiths is had for people to grasp those different pieces. You are only speaking from your perspective.

One of the things that I’m grateful for about the tradition that I grew up in is that, beyond the rituals and the sorts of religious trappings, people experienced a divinity that proved helpful in hurting, if not dreadful situations. That experience was had by person after person. This is apart from the trappings and words. People have experienced a reality that is there, and that can be a bridge, as the song says, over troubled waters.

I would encourage people who may experience this reality to seek it and be open to it. There is a reality out there or in here that has a proven base of support, mercy, grace, and strength beyond our strength that too many people who’ve had the experience. I’m not talking about the religion. I’m talking about the experience for that not to be real. I go on preaching and teaching because I believe that experience is still possible for people. You don’t need a sanctuary for that. You don’t need to know scriptures for that. You need to be open to the possibility of it.

In your own personal walk, have you ever struggled with trusting God?

Yes, I have. I don’t think I’ll ever get beyond that struggle. A part of me doesn’t want to get beyond that struggle. One of my struggles with God was on a Saturday night when I didn’t have anything to preach the next morning. I was down. I don’t remember what I was going through, but I was going through. That night, I rebelled. I said, “God, I’m through. I don’t have anything to preach. I don’t feel like preaching. You can take the gospel and the calling.

To prove to you, God, that I mean business, I’m not playing my regular gospel music tonight. I am going to put on the secular song, the secular CD.” It was CDs back then. This was many years ago. The CD was Ella Fitzgerald singing these slow ballads. I didn’t know that Ella Fitzgerald was proof of the existence of God. There must be a God because there’s a voice like Ella Fitzgerald.

I’m depressed that night. I’m rebelling against God, and here’s this voice that talks about melancholy baby, black coffee, and singing, “I cried for you.” The last song she ends up with, “Reach for tomorrow.” I found myself crying. When I was through, I realized that the heaviness was lifted. This jazz singer had sung out of me what was oppressing me. I was ambushed by grace. God said, in substance, “I got you.”

Madeleine L’Engle, the great writer, says, “There’s nothing so secular that it can’t be sacred.” In the moments when I’ve had trust issues with God, God has proven to be a very sneaky divinity and will come in ways, spaces, and places. God has a way of sneaking up on us, and that thrills me. God can come through anywhere and anytime through anyone, including a jazz singer long since gone.

Morning Brew & Peace Pockets: Rituals To Protect Your Grieving Heart

I’m going to shift a little bit to a conversation about the holidays. The holidays can pull at you from the noise, the oversensory, and the commercialism of it. How do we protect our grieving hearts? What practices do you recommend a person do?

Thank you for asking that. I recommend that you find and develop small rituals. Soul-keeping rituals are what I call them. I’ll give you two that I practice daily. There is one I call Morning B.R.E.W. It’s an acronym. Be still, Receive grace, Embrace yourself, and Welcome the day. There are four movements of B.R.E.W. One, I’m still, which, for me, is imagining emptiness. Sometimes, I become an empty pitcher.

A deacon at our church in New Orleans, where I grew up, used to pray, “Lord, I come to you as an empty pitcher before a full fountain.” In being still, for me, one of the ways I do that is I become that empty picture. With Receive grace, it’s one thing to sing about amazing grace. What if you imagined yourself swimming in a body of water that was God’s grace, and you saw yourself and felt the grace of God every day?

Then, Embrace. One of the best ways to love God is to embrace yourself and give yourself a hug every The W is to Welcome the day. Although some days, some don’t want to see it coming, but the day is here. The day, however best you can have something new that all yesterdays did not have. Today might have a little something that’s enough to help you make that next step. Morning B.R.E.W. is one ritual.

Then, I encourage people to have peace pockets. A peace pocket is a 5 to 15-minute interval at any time during the day where you find a comfortable place, and you sit and enjoy. You might sit, rest, breathe deeply, relax your body, and enjoy the decor. You may put on some Ella Fitzgerald or whatever it is that you like. You may listen to something else.

You may listen to the sounds of nature. You may look out the window. We live across the street from a forest. We’re in New England. Those leaves do a thing every fall that takes the breath away at the way they’re able to change these colors. I did not see that growing up in the bayou land of Louisiana. There was no fall. I’m here in New England. There are oranges, yellows, and reds. It still thrills me, and I’ve been here for 30-plus years. Those are peace pockets.

I have an evening question at the end of each day. “What about the day has thrilled me, if not thrilled me, taught me, and grew me?” I journal regularly, too. That’s another strategy. Take a moment to write a few lines, like how you’re doing inside, what’s going on, and what your soul is telling you. There are little strategies. It doesn’t have to be a whole lot. The goal is to let it be real to you, something you can practice regularly, and that can help us build a muscle of resistance to those things that will suck the spirit right out of us if we let it.

That is a good ducktail into my next question. You write about holy play and joy. What have you learned about transforming solitude into something sacred rather than isolating?

Ask it one more time.

Transforming Solitude From Isolation Into Something Sacred

You write about holy play and joy. I know you’re a fan of solitude, but other people may not. Have you learned anything about transforming solitude into something sacred rather than isolating?

That’s good. Let me say this. I don’t think solitude necessarily has to be laced with isolation. Howard Thurman is a great spiritual genius of all time. His book, The Centering Moment, I would recommend to people. I’m paraphrasing this. Let’s say you go deep down into yourself. You go deep down into solitude and silence, and you come up in community. You go deep enough, and you’ll come out in community.

There’s something about genuine solitude that enables us. Once I’m in touch with myself and my soul, I can be fully present to myself. Being fully present to myself gives me the grace, strength, daring, risk, and safety to be fully present to my fellow sisters, brothers, and others. I can be fully present to you, and I continue to grow in this.

I see a real connection between solitude, silence, community, involvement, and engagement. It’s a part of a single strand for me. They also intersect. Solitude and silence can be a wonderful gift in a meeting where there’s some stuff going on. There are a few people there who are in touch with their inner peace and their presence in that community. They don’t even have to say anything. Their presence in that community that’s dealing with some things can be a witness of grace and levity that can help that meeting move forward and not disperse in chaos. There are blessings that we can get in solitude and silence that are important for true community.

The person who has isolated feels a sense of loneliness in dealing with profound grief. What is it that they can tune into to hear God’s voice?

The echo of their loneliness. The echo of that sense of separation. I’m no expert, but a part of me resists denying that reality. I don’t want to deny that. I know this is risky, but if folks can take one step toward it and let it be, there’s something there.

The Ministry Of Presence: Bringing Compassion Instead Of Shame

I would agree. My follow-up question is, when loneliness and grief meet, how can those on the outside bring compassion instead of shame? I’ll speak from my own personal experience that I have found. When people don’t know what to say, instead of choosing silence, they will give you a one-liner or a pat answer. It lands hollow and doesn’t provide the comfort that they think they are emitting to the person who is in deep sorrow, where compassion needs to show up.

That’s real. As someone who trades in words, I have to discipline myself to not speak so quickly and to allow for the space. Soul-strengthening is important. If we are strengthening our souls, then we develop a kind of capacity to be sensitive to the souls of others. The more sensitive I am to my own soul, my insides, the more I can be sensitive to the inner life of someone else, whether it be a family member or a stranger, even. I can honor their hurt by being with it. I give myself permission to not try to fix anything, but just to be a witness of compassion. Sometimes, that’s all we need. We need somebody to be there for a moment.

I would agree. Too many times, people are trying to fix the unfixable, and then they miss the opportunity to be present.

As a pastor, I missed the class that would teach you if it were offered. I didn’t take it. I had to learn it, and I’m still learning it. The ministry of compassionate presence, non-judgmental presence, and receptive presence. We go into situations, and we think that it’s ours to give all the time. I’m going into some situations thinking that I was the giver and the person in their silence gifted me. Part of the answer is being humble enough to realize that in those situations, we’re not always called to offer anything. We’re simultaneously givers and receivers. As I talk about all of this, it is easier said than done, right?

It is, but sometimes, it needs to be heard over and over before it takes root.

I would agree.

Hope For The Exhausted: Rest And Self-Gracing After The Holidays

In the same concept of talking to two groups of people, this episode will air at the end of January 2026, wrapping up our mini series, Voices of Widowhood: Healing through the Holidays. There will be people listening to this conversation who are exhausted from the holiday season, enduring that without their loved one. There will also be the person who held witness to this from the outside. What would you give as far as hope for both of those groups, one different than the other?  They’ve made it through this, and they’re trying to reset themselves to finish out 2026.

Rest is a powerful blessing. I would encourage people to rest and retreat. You don’t have to take a long trip. You can retreat right where you are. Carve out space for walks. Be in nature. Drop every load. Do whatever it is that feeds your soul. I did a thing when I turned 62. It was a few years ago. What would my 62-year-old self tell my 26-year-old self? One of the things was to know what fills you and what drains you, and to take lavish portions of what fills you. That’s what I would say to both groups. During this period, take lavish portions of what fills you.

Also, be open to what I call self-gracing. Many of us are better at other gracing than we are at self-gracing. Other gracing is saying yes to everybody. Self-gracing is giving yourself permission to say no. Other gracing is applauding someone else’s achievement. Self-gracing is sometimes patting yourself on the back, and you say, “I did that, and I feel good about that.” Other gracing is forgiving someone. Self-gracing is saying, “I’m not perfect.” Self-gracing, rest, and retreats. Those are the kinds of strategies that I would offer to both groups, especially including my comrades in ministry, because pastors are notorious. We’re notorious for not taking care of ourselves.

Your Right To Peace: A Lifeline Scripture For The Storms Of Life

In the vein of taking care of yourself. When the storms of life arise, is there a passage, a prayer, or a ritual that calms your soul?

Yeah. You are messing around with my sermon for this week. Let me get it to you because I had to send it to the church secretary and the administrative assistant. I mentioned I’m preaching about peace. The scripture Isaiah 26:3, “You will keep them in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee.” That scripture is one I quote because it was a lifeline some years ago when I was in burnout, and I was experiencing anxiety attacks.

I know many of your readers will know something about anxiety attacks. You think the next breath will be your last. You feel nervousness. When I started experiencing that, I didn’t know what the heck it was. There was this nervousness and heart palpitations. I was in my early 30s when this was going on. I was like, “This isn’t right. What is this?” I was in the middle of burnout.

The scripture that came to my rescue was Isaiah 26:3. “You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee.” Part of what that scripture did for me was it reminded me that it was the universe’s and God’s love and desire that I be at peace, and that I had a right to peace. That was not something that was out of the equation of creation. Peace is the norm. Peace is my norm, so I could expect it. That shifted things in me. I said, “This other reality that they call anxiety attacks is there, but now, it’s got to face something else that’s growing inside of me, which is my right to peace. I’m going to claim it.”

You’ve asked some beautiful questions. Thank you for asking them. This doctor asked me this crazy question in the midst of my burnout. It was, “What do you do to relax?” What kind of question is that? I looked at him like he was talking in a different language. Relaxation was not a part of my vocabulary. I was like, “Relax? What is that?” Between that doctor’s question and the scripture, healing came and continues to come. That would be mine. I’m curious. What’s yours? Do you have one that you go to?

Long walks are my favorite. I love to be in nature and see how small I am compared to a big tree. I look into the sky to put things in perspective. I breathe in fresh air. My body is moving in a different location, and putting it all in perspective.

That’s good.

You rolled into my next thing. I try to give my guest an opportunity to be the host and ask me a question. You asked one. Do you have a second question?

Yes. You answered it. I was going to ask you what you do to relax. Let me ask you this. What brings you deep joy?

I never thought about the concept of deep joy as any different than joy. I’m trying to get a balance of what that would look like for me. I’m going to have to go with joy. There are several things that give me joy, like spending time with my siblings, my children, and my husband. Don’t judge me, but I could stay in the house for an entire weekend in my pajamas, not take a shower, and not do anything. I could watch TV, hang out, and laugh. That’s good for me.

I resonate with that.

At the same time, I can find a lot of joy when I’ve worked with a widow that I’ve been coaching who’s been going through different things, and they’re telling me that they don’t need to meet with me anymore. They have the coping skills, and they feel like they’re ready to be successful. That brings me joy. It brings me joy to operate in my purpose that God has placed me in. At the same time, I’m realizing I don’t make anything different. That is God’s place, and I know my limitations in that. I don’t have to take the burden of the person I’ve been working with in another situation to think I have to do something about it. She can’t, and I know that. If I show up in the space that I’m assigned, then that brings me joy.

Eight years later, after the passing of my husband, my tribe, my family, my siblings, and my friends show up. I talk to people dealing with profound loss. Six to nine months after the passing of their spouse, they have very little support. When I know a widow in Alabama and then learn of another widow, and those two get to connect and start creating, that brings me joy.

That’s good right there. That sounds like deep joy. That deep joy is when the soul smiles. When you talked about it, I felt deep joy. Thank you for sharing that.

You’re welcome. Anymore?

I’m good. I’m going to talk about this doubt that you talked about. You’ve left me with questions that I’m going to continue to ask. This has been wonderful. Thank you for doing what you do. You got another fan. I’m going to have to keep up with you.

I thank you for sharing your wisdom and your calm presence. Your words remind us that healing doesn’t always mean hurrying. Even in grief, rest and the wonder to be still have their place at the table.

Amen.

Final Words Of Wisdom & Recommended Reading

Thank you for this conversation. I would ask you to give the final words on how someone could connect with you. Maybe there’s one of your books you want to recommend, or any other closing comments.

Thank you once again for this opportunity. This has been a soul pleasure. I do post on Facebook @YesToGrace. I’m on LinkedIn. I’m even on TikTok. As far as books, there are a number of them out there. If they go to KirkBJones.com, I’ve been writing for a long time, so there are a lot of free offerings there that can be helpful to people. All of the books are there for people. Some excerpts are there that people can read. If they’re interested, they can go anywhere books are sold and ask for the book.

My latest book, which was written in 2025, is called The S.E.A.: Living a More Conscious and Intentional Life. It’s my gift book because I didn’t know I was going to write it. It just came. It was written in April of 2025. S.E.A. is an acronym. It means Soul, Evolution, and Affirmation. This is the Soul, Evolution, and Affirmation that was a gift to me. I couldn’t shake it, so I wrote about it each day. I’m strong for affirmations, too. I think you are as well. I say, “Each day, I consciously deepen my awareness and amplify my agency as a unique and divine soul.” The book is very brief. It’s about 80 pages. It’s about what that’s about. I would encourage people to start there. Start with the S.E.A. and go from there.

Any final words of wisdom?

Folks, keep on keeping on. There’s a power in the universe. It is ever-changing, ever-healing, and ever-making whole again. I’ll close with there’s a power in the universe that is ever-changing, healing, and making whole again.

Thank you.

You’re welcome. God bless.

Important Links

• Kirk Byron Jones
• Kirk Byron Jones on LinkedIn
• Kirk Byron Jones on TikTok
• @YesToGrace on Facebook
• The S.E.A.: Living a More Conscious and Intentional Life
• The Centering Moment
• Living a More Conscious and Intentional Life

About Kirk Byron Jones

Kirk Byron Jones, Ph.D., D.Min. was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, as the second son of the late Frederick and Ora Mae Jones. He is a graduate of Loyola University and Andover Newton Theological School and holds a Doctor of Ministry degree from Emory University as well as a Doctor of Philosophy degree from Drew University. Dr. Jones began preaching at the age of twelve and has served in pastoral ministry for more than thirty years.

Throughout his distinguished career, Dr. Jones has served as founding minister of Beacon Light Baptist Church in New Orleans and as senior minister or pastor at several congregations across the country, including Calvary Baptist Church in Chester, Pennsylvania; Ebenezer Baptist Church in Boston, Massachusetts; the First Baptist Churches of Randolph and Tewksbury, Massachusetts; and Zion Baptist Church in Lynn, Massachusetts. In addition to his pastoral leadership, he has served on numerous religious and civic committees at both local and national levels.

Dr. Jones is the author of multiple books written for clergy and for individuals seeking spiritual growth in an ever-changing and challenging world. Through his speaking and writing, he inspires people to embrace their deeper spiritual energy and activate their creative and life-giving power. He teaches that such empowerment is the birthright of all people as children of God, encouraging others to live with purpose, joy, and spiritual vitality.

Grounded in the belief that “the Spirit gives life” (2 Corinthians 3:6), Dr. Jones emphasizes the importance of releasing limiting beliefs that hinder personal growth and faith. Drawing from the imagery of Isaiah 40:31, he encourages individuals to rise above fear and self-doubt and to soar to greater heights in their relationships, work, and daily lives.

Dr. Jones is married to Mary Brown-Jones, a counselor at Randolph High School. They are the proud parents of four adult children and grandparents of three. The family resides in Randolph, Massachusetts. More resources and teachings can be found at kirkbjones.com, where visitors are introduced to tools that inspire spiritual renewal and personal transformation.