![Michelle White Michelle White](https://dioceseofnewark.org/sites/default/files/styles/node_hero_image/public/images/MichelleWhite.jpg?itok=IPsc_anL)
Trinity and St. Philip’s Cathedral provided the stage on Sunday afternoon, February 12, for a spirit-filled and joyous celebration of the life and ministry of the Rev. Absalom Jones, the first priest and deacon of African descent ordained in the Episcopal Church.
The Rev. Dr. Michelle White, vicar of Christ Church, Teaneck delivered an impassioned sermon, calling the congregation to witness to the fundamentals of their faith by living and acting into God’s call for liberation and justice. The ceremony was marked by the “Invocation of our Ancestors in the Faith” in which participants in turn faced north, south, east and west, invoking the spirits of ancestors in the faith on “whose shoulders we stand, and whose memory still inspires us to be people of faith, hope and love.”