Rufus M. Jones - South China Community Church - South China, Maine - Etched in Stone on Waymarking.com

A popular preacher at churches and colleges around the United States, Rufus Matthew Jones (1863-1948) preached at South China Community Church in South China, Maine during July and August from about 1916 until 1947. Decades of oration and writing "led many to regard him as the informal head of the Society of Friends in America." (Elizabeth Cazden, J.D. '78, "Rufus Mathew Jones - Brief Life of a practical mystic: 1863-1948) Born to a Quaker family in South China, he attended Haverford College, taught high school for six years, then joined the Haverford College faculty in 1893. His lifelong work of combining philosophy, psychology, and religion touched thousands of people. He focused on pacifism during the First World War, training relief workers and founding the American Friends Service Committee, then serving as AFSC chairman or honorary chairman until 1944. Primarily a teacher, he led philosophy, ethics, or Bible courses at Haverford for 40 years.

The main building of South China Community Church dates to 1884 and was originally a Quaker meetinghouse. Additions were made to the structure throughout the 20th century. The congregation has been a multi-denominational Christian church since 1935. The property, which includes a small cemetery, at the southern tip of China Lake has served religious communities since the late 1820s. It gained National Register of Historic Places status on August 4, 1983. (Title: South China Meeting House; National Register Information System ID: 83000459)

A cast bronze plaque mounted to a boulder near the church's southeast corner includes a quote from Jones and reads:

SOUTH CHINA COMMUNITY CHURCH

National Historic Site
and
Home Meeting of Rufus M. Jones

About 1827, a local family donated this site to the Baptists who built a brick church that burned in 1869. The Baptists transferred the site to the China Monthly Meeting of Friends in 1884 who then built the present main building. In 1935 the Friends created the South China Community Fellowship to embrace all faiths. Over the years additions have been made to the original structure. The property was presented to the Fellowship by the Friends in their centennial year 1984, and it then became the South China Community Church.

"Every local church in Christendom ought to be a creative center of transforming life and love in the community."

-- Rufus M. Jones, 1863-1948

Address: South China Community Church 246 Village Street South China, Maine Website: [Web Link]

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