SHANAN E. JONES

By living out his full calling in the emergent areas of religion, business, and social justice, Rev. Jones is a founding partner of Faith Strategies Group, LLC. (FSG) Bringing more than 30 years of experience as a public relations professional to the FSG partnership, Rev. Jones is excited to team with a group of clergy-strategists who were responsible for local, county, and statewide political campaigns, social justice organization consulting, and denominational leadership.

 

On Monday, February 1, 2021, Rev. Shanan E. Jones was elected as the 11th President of Concerned Black Clergy of Metropolitan Atlanta, Inc. Concerned Black Clergy of Metropolitan Atlanta, Inc., CBC focuses sharply upon justice related issues and the needs of those caught in the grips of homelessness through advocacy and service. The organization was chartered on May 9, 1983.

 

Rev. Jones is the founding pastor of The Gathering Baptist Church located in College Park, Georgia. Since its founding on December 31, 2017, The Gathering is a community-centered church that preaches a relevant gospel and works to meet the spiritual and social needs of all people. Prior to founding The Gathering, Rev. Shanan E. Jones served as the Executive Pastor of the Historic Ebenezer Baptist Church. In this capacity, Rev. Jones was “Chief of Staff,” responsible for overseeing all historic Ebenezer’s day-to day operations. He also served as press secretary to Ebenezer’s senior pastor, and Georgia’s first Black United States Senator Reverend Raphael G. Warnock, Ph.D. A public relations professional for more than 25 years, Rev. Jones was previously Assistant Pastor for Community Affairs and Public Relations for
“America’s Freedom Church.”

 

While serving on  the pastoral staff in 2006, Rev. Jones was instrumental in organizing several outreach initiatives, such as Ebenezer’s:  “Freedom Caravan,” a large scale effort to return Hurricane Katrina Survivors home to New Orleans to participate in local, as well as statewide elections; and “Cutting Thru Crisis,” which is the Church’s special outreach to African American men and boys in Atlanta’s Old Fourth Ward (this annual event gives them the opportunity to engage in critical issues targeting their individual and collective lives, while the Church provides free haircuts on its site from the city’s top barbers).

 

While attending Northeastern University in Boston, Rev. Jones was employed with the Massachusetts legislature as a press secretary for four years. During that time, Rev. Jones honed his public relations skills by working for two committees -- Education & Federal and Financial Assistance. He simultaneously managed press relations for each of the eight members of the Massachusetts Black Legislative Caucus; one of his important assignments was to coordinate various press efforts for visiting dignitaries to the legislature, including heads of state. In the 1990’s, Rev. Jones also served as a voluntary advance aide for the Massachusetts Democratic Party, assisting with New England official visits of national party leaders.

Following graduation, he worked as a staff writer for The Cambridge Chronicle and The Somerville Journal. In 1998, Rev. Jones joined his elder brother, the Reverend Conrad B. Tillard (branded the “National Hip-Hop Minister”), in founding a social, political organization entitled, “A Movement for CHHANGE” (Conscious Hip-Hop Advancement Necessary for Global Empowerment). As the organization’s Chief of Staff and principal media spokesperson, one of Rev. Jones’ most memorable assignments was “The National Hip-Hop Day of Peace,” Death Row recording artist Tupac Shakur’s official New York Memorial Service. This event resulted in a massive media turnout and a signed peace treaty between east and west coast Hip-Hop artists. 

On January 21, 2000, Rev. Jones was licensed to preach the Gospel at the historic Eliot Congregational Church in Roxbury, Massachusetts. The Eliot Church hired Rev. Jones to serve as both assistant pastor and assistant director of the Eliot Educational center. Eliot is a community-based church that provides free private school tuition to low-income families, after school programs and breakfast, lunch, and dinner community children in need. Rev. Jones also managed the Summer Youth Enrichment program that sought expose children coming from low-income families to the rich resources that the Boston Community offered. In August of 2000, Rev. Jones moved back home to the Atlanta area to accept the position of Minister for Public Relations/Political Liaison at the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church of Lithonia, Georgia. At New Birth, Rev. Jones was the bridge between the church and both the social and political communities. On January 23, 2001, Bishop Eddie L. Long re-licensed Rev. Jones as a Baptist minister.

 

Rev. Jones and his wife Kattya also own and operate Images International Public Relations, LLC. He received his Bachelor of Science in Journalism/Public Relations with a concentration in strategic political communication from Boston’s Northeastern University in 1998. A graduate of the Interdenominational Theological Center’s Morehouse School of Religion, he holds a Master of Divinity degree with a concentration in Missiology, as well as the Master of Arts degree in Christian Education.