Pastor James Jones is certainly no stranger to the music scene. Known in the music business as Junior, his first gig was as an intern in New York under Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs at Uptown Records. Pastor Jones rose quickly through the ranks, first being promoted to A&R Director, then to VP of A&R. He built an impressive track record, working with hip-hop and R&B superstars including Mary J. Blige, Heavy D, and Montell Jordan as well as executive producing the soundtracks for Rush Hour and The Nutty Professor.

In 1995, Junior accepted a position at Def Jam Records as a VP of A&R…it was shortly after joining Def Jam that he was saved. Being a saved record executive was heavy burden to carry in an industry that praises material wealth and values that are often the direct opposite of those the church encourages.

“The response from my friends and co-workers was, ‘you gotta be kidding me’. They didn’t understand why I would choose that kind of life. I told them, I can be saved and still do my job.”

Pastor Jones’ spiritual home at the time was a church in Brooklyn, where he says, “for the first six months I went to church in jeans, sneakers, and diamond earrings”. It was there that he met and began dating the house prophetess, Caron, who had been saved since 1980. They both encountered disapproval of their match, but despite the opposition they fell in love and married, which Pastor Jones says, “was the best thing I’ve ever done after being saved.”

In 1999, a regime change at Def Jam presented Pastor Jones with another challenge. His position was one of the casualties of restructuring, but he was reluctant to let go of the career he had worked so hard at and continued to produce projects independently. With his faith and his wife sustaining him, he eventually came to terms with the fact that everything has its season.

“Everything has its own timing and its own life cycle…part of the beauty of endings are the new beginnings that open up for you.”

“My wife and I were in the furniture store…when one of the guys who moved furniture for the store said, ‘may I have a word with you, young man?’ Somehow he knew I was a man of God. He pulled me aside and said, ‘you are here to do something else’. His words just resonated within me…inspiration can come from the most unexpected places.”

In late 2001, Pastor Jones and Pastor Caron began holding prayer services in their home. By 2002 the group had grown large enough to move the services to a hotel, and in late 2002 they moved into their own building; they called their church Restoration In The Word. Pastor Jones continued to produce secular music during his ministry, but in 2004 he made a pivotal decision.

“I knew from the day I was saved that I was going to do work in gospel music. This is mandated…God pushed me to do this record. So, I’ve put my work in secular music on hold to concentrate on the Pastor Jones & The RITW Worshippers project.”

Pastor Jones combined his proven instincts for creating hit urban records with the amazing young vocal talent that had gravitated to his church. All the members of the RITW worshippers are between the ages of 16 and 22, and their sound has all elements of the hottest urban music on the market today, built on a solidly spiritual yet subtle base. “This is gospel that creeps up on ya”, he says, and it’s true: you’re so busy nodding your head that it takes a minute to realize you’re listening to a gospel record.

“I come from the secular world, and I’m not excluding it in what I’m doing now. Everyone looks for guidance at some point in their life, and whether they truly receive the guidance they’re given depends on how you present it. I believe God is using me to work through the secular world.”