This morning at 10, the sanctuary at Ridge Road Baptist Church in Raleigh will ring with the sounds of "Faith" -- and memories of the special man who brought "Faith" to the congregation.

That's both literally and figuratively.

Jerry Jones, the longtime music director at Ridge Road, died in early July after a long fight with pancreatic cancer. He was one of those people whose arrival at a church changed it forever. He brought energy. He brought ideas. And he was a character, said longtime member Alice Goode, one of Jerry's choir members and good friends.

"If he walked in and you were wearing something that didn't work, he would just say, 'Oh no, what are you wearing?' " she laughed. He delivered such lines with a mix of moxy and humor that made him irresistible.

When he first showed up at the church, it was in response to an ad for an organist. He played beautifully and got the job. That was 1990.

But it was clear from the first day that Jerry was destined to run the entire music program, said Christopher Ingram, minister of education for the church. An ordained minister, he eventually became minister of music.

Under his leadership, the church's musical endeavors flourished. There was the regular choir and the youth choir. And, of course, his baby, the handbell choir.

Then, in the early winter of 2002, he learned he had an aggressive form of pancreatic cancer.

For many, this sort of diagnosis would have been a death sentence. But not for Jerry. He decided to reorder his life for survival. He changed his diet. He tried alternative medicines. And he followed his regular doctors' orders, too.

The combination worked. He beat the cancer into remission for several months.

But earlier this year, the cancer returned with a vengeance. Again, he tried every sort of treatment possible.

To raise money for his care, his friend Paul McKlveen composed a piece intended to be played by handbell choirs, such as the one Jerry founded at Ridge Road. McKlveen dedicated the music to Jerry.

He named it "Faith."

Until Jerry's death, the rights to use and perform the music were sold to churches and other organizations for a small sum. But the more the piece was played, and the story behind it told, the more it sold. All of the proceeds -- nearly $10,000, according to Goode -- went to assist in paying for Jerry's treatment.

But what meant the most to Jerry was that this music was filling churches with the golden ring of handbells in his honor.

Jerry finally succumbed to the cancer on July 7. But his friends and family will gather at Ridge Road Baptist Church today to celebrate the congregation's 50th anniversary -- and to listen to "Faith" in Jerry's honor.

Jerry is missed. But his faith lives on.