The Matthew 25 invitation calls the church to remember that what we do matters to God, and how we treat others is important to God. In Matthew 25:31–46, Jesus teaches that when we welcome, care for, and stand with those whom the world too often overlooks, we are encountering Christ himself.
This month’s Matthew 25 In Action feature highlights the Presbyterian Historical Society’s video, “Jess Cook Oral History, 2026,” an important testimony of call, identity, courage, and faithful witness in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
Rev. Jess Floyd Cook is a Presbyterian minister in Richmond, Virginia. They grew up in Texas, were formed by Presbyterian congregations in Dallas and Longview, and later studied fine arts at Baylor University. Their journey toward ministry unfolded through art, theology, youth work, and a deepening understanding of their own identity and call. After moving to Richmond, Jess audited coursework at Union Theological Seminary, including Womanist Feminist Mujerista Ethics with the late Rev. Dr. Katie Geneva Cannon, whose teaching helped open new language for lived experience, justice, and embodied faith.
Jess began the ordination process in 2009 as a ruling elder at Ginter Park Presbyterian Church in Richmond. At the time, they were navigating that process as an openly queer person in a church still wrestling with full inclusion. Their story bears witness to the faithful persistence of LGBTQIA+ Presbyterians and their allies, whose courage helped widen the church’s understanding of call, leadership, and belonging.
From 2013, Jess served as youth programs director at Side by Side, a Richmond nonprofit supporting LGBTQ+ youth. In the oral history, Jess reflects on how listening to young people’s stories helped them better understand their own journey. As they offered care and presence to youth who had often been told by the church that they were unworthy, Jess also discovered deeper clarity about their own identity and ministry.
In 2017, Jess began serving with More Light Presbyterians, continuing the work of advocating for LGBTQIA+ inclusion in the church. They were ordained in the Presbytery of the James in 2019 and are recognized as the first openly non-binary Minister of Word and Sacrament in the PC(USA).
Jess Cook’s oral history is a powerful reminder that building congregational vitality means more than creating programs or filling pews. It means forming communities where people can bring their whole selves before God, where call is discerned honestly, and where the gifts of LGBTQIA+ leaders are recognized as essential to the Body of Christ.
Their testimony also speaks to the Matthew 25 focus of dismantling structural racism. Jess names the lasting influence of Rev. Dr. Katie Geneva Cannon, whose womanist theological teaching shaped their understanding of race, class, gender, and justice. Through Cannon’s witness, Jess encountered a way of faith that was honest, embodied, and unwilling to separate theology from lived experience. Their story invites the church to continue learning from voices that have too often been pushed to the margins.
This oral history also challenges the church to examine the systems that create exclusion, shame, and spiritual harm. Whether through racism, homophobia, transphobia, classism, or rigid understandings of gender, the church must confess where it has failed to honor the image of God in all people. Matthew 25 calls us not only to compassion, but to transformation.
Jess’s journey reminds us that ministry often begins in places of deep honesty. It begins when someone listens closely to their own life, to the stories of others, and to the persistent voice of God. It begins when the church makes room for people to be seen, loved, and called.
As the Synod of the Northeast continues to live into its Matthew 25 commitments, stories like Jess Cook’s help us imagine a church that is more courageous, more inclusive, and more faithful. Their oral history is not only a record of one person’s journey; it is an invitation to the whole church to become a place where every child of God can hear and answer the call.
May we listen. May we learn. May we continue the sacred work of becoming a church where justice, belonging, and love are not merely spoken—but lived.