She went on to pursue a theological education at Princeton Theological Seminary. Sensing a call to ministry, grounded in her Christian upbringing and in her experiences as a young adult, Jones sought out opportunities to serve. Ordained in the New Mexico Conference of The United Methodist Church in 1986, she went on to minister to churches in Albuquerque and Santa Fe and served as interim chaplain at the Claremont College while pursuing her Ph.D. at the Claremont School of Theology. She graduated from Claremont in 1995 and received the President's Award for Academic Excellence in the interdisciplinary field of theology and personality. Campus programming in religious life has grown since Jones' arrival at Southwestern.
Programs change annually depending upon student interest.
Half traveled to Juarez, Mexico , for Operacion Hogar to build simple structure homes for residents who had been living in paper and cardboard shacks, while the other group trekked to Brownsville, Texas , to the Good Neighbor Settlement House. There, students repaired, cleaned and painted homes for senior citizens in need. They also served free meals to residents and helped with a community center clean-up. The first group will travel to the Center for Creative Non-Violence in Washington, D.C. , where they will volunteer with social service organizations. The third group will venture for the Gila National Monument and Wilderness , a national park in southwestern New Mexico.