Derek L. S. Jones (born 1961) is an American Anglican bishop in the College of Bishops of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA). As the Bishop Ordinary, he retains the primary responsibility to train, educate, ordain, and direct the activities of all Anglican Chaplains® who require formal ecclesiastical endorsement for the ACNA and other chaplains from participating Anglican bodies. He also oversees numerous churches, missions, and chapels throughout the US and oversees.

 

Chaplains under Bishop Jones' oversight serve in the United States Armed Forces, Veteran's Administration, Department of Justice, and other Federal and State agencies; as well as chaplains serving Hospitals, Hospices, Industry, Education, Law Enforcement and as Community Chaplains. Bishop Jones works with and through a variety of professional organizations such as the International Conference of Police Chaplains (ICPC), the Association of Clinical Pastoral Education (ACPE), and the Association of Professional Chaplains (APC). Bishop Jones has served as an endorsing official since his consecration in January 2007 and is the founding bishop of the Anglican Chaplains® ministry.

 

Bishop Jones is recognized and highly regarded as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) on matters regarding Religious Freedom (RF) and Religious Liberty (RL). He is a charter member of the Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty (CALL) which is a non-profit created in 2012 by the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) to address the increasing number of Religious Freedom, Religious Liberty, and right of conscience infringements occurring in the United States Military. Since 2021, he has served CALL as its Executive Director. In his role as Executive Director, he has regularly partnered with First Liberty Institute, Becket Fund, and Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) to defend Religious Liberty cases in the United States, with particular attention to matters involving chaplains, churches, and other ministers both in and outside the military. CALL has successfully defended Religious Liberty in every one of the more than 200 cases in which they have engaged. In 2024, CALL entered into an agreement with First Liberty to better execute their work to advocate and defend, through both legal and legislative actions, RF/RL issues in our military and in the Veterans Administration.

 

Bishop Jones also serves on the 501c4 and 501c3 boards of the National Committee for Religious Freedom (NCRF) under the leadership of Ambassador (and former Governor and Senator) Sam Brownback. He is a regular speaker for the NCRF, particularly in Washington DC and on “the Hill,” most recently being a keynote speaker at the NCRF’s Religious Freedom in America Conference in 2023 (a joint meeting of registered RF/RL organizations with members of Congress). In addition, to these two organizations, Bishop Jones serves as the Chairman of the Anglican Office for Government and International Affairs (AOGIA), has been used as an authority on RF/RL by the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), and is an active member of the US House of Representatives Values Action Team (VAT).

 

Bishop Jones was recognized by the Becket Fund in 2020 for his successful involvement in several Federal and US Supreme Court cases in which his defense of RF/RL Amicus Curiae briefs were cited as “moving the court to favorable decisions.” Most notably, his Amicus Curiae arguments in the Zubik vs. Burwell ("Little Sisters of the Poor") case in 2016, and the Fulton vs. the City of Philadelphia were specifically cited in the favorable SCOTUS decisions. Additionally, his joint Amicus Curiae in the Kennedy vs. Bremerton School District proved to be one of the compelling arguments in the positive decision for Coach Kennedy.

 

Bishop Jones began serving on the Executive Committee for the National Conference on Ministry to the Armed Forces (NCMAF) in 2011. In January 2017, he was elected to serve as Chair-elect of that organization and served as its Chairperson from January 6, 2019 to January 9, 2021. By unanimous Resolution, Bishop Jones was honored with the title "Chair Emeritus for Life" in permanent recognition of his significant leadership in the reorganization and revitalization of that organization.

 

In March of 2024, Bishop Jones was recognized as one of the “Ten most Influential Leaders for 2024” by Industry Era magazine for his remarkable and continuing work on RF/RL matters. Bishop Jones was honored to be on the cover of that magazine as their first honoree for 2024.

 

Bishop Jones retired from the United States Air Force in 2009 after 28 years of service. He is a combat veteran fighter pilot having flown the F-16, F-111, and CF-18 fighter aircraft and the T-37 trainer as an Instructor Pilot. His awards include the Combat Air Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal with four oak leaf clusters, and many other individual and unit citations. Bishop Jones has also won numerous “Top Gun” awards. He was among the last Top Gun award winners for the 27th Fighter Wing in the F111 before its retirement in 1996. Bishop Jones is the pictorial subject for the book Superbase 11: RAF Upper Heyford by Jon Davison. He also was the Wing Top Gun for the 27th Fighter Wing while a member of the 524 Fighter Squadron flying F-16s in his last year of flying fighters on active duty in 1998. From 1998 to 2005, he served as an Instructor Pilot with the Air Force Reserve. His final assignment before retiring in 2009 was as the Reserve Advisor to the Commander and Director of Staff for the Air Force Doctrine Center, collocated at Maxwell AFB and the Pentagon. In this role, he directed the activities of over 100 geographically separated military personnel in the writing of Air Force and Joint Military Doctrine; which included seminal work on Joint Publication 1–05 on Religious Affairs in the DoD.

 

In civic areas, Bishop Jones continued to advocate for Air Power serving from 2011 to 2013 as the President of the Birmingham, AL Chapter of the Air Force Association. Bishop Jones served as an adjudicator for the United States Pony Club (USPC) as part of the National Quiz Committee for 12 years (1999 to 2011). In 2012, he was named a Distinguished Honorary Alumni of Nashotah House Seminary in Wisconsin. Bishop Jones was selected to serve on the Board of Advisors with Beeson Divinity School’s Anglican Institute in 2016. In July 2020, he was elected to the Executive Board of Trustees for Nashotah House Seminary.

 

Bishop Jones holds a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Samford University. He received his Master's from Beeson Divinity School. In 2021, Bishop Jones was honored with a Doctor of Divinity from Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi Christian University. Bishop Jones is married to Connie (née Lee) who is a Family Nurse Practitioner working in a private practice. They make their home in central Alabama where they oversee a small family farm. In his off-time, Bishop Jones enjoys working with his horses, hiking, and kayaking. An accomplished musician, he is a member of Phi Mu Alpha. He remains an 'in demand' speaker on topics related to Religious Liberty, and as an academic teaching Eucharistic Theology.