What grips my soul is the ability of any people to, as The Son’s of Issachar did, accurately know the times and seasons in which we live. So much of life is about timing. Music, sports, and even agriculture succeeds or fails on timing. The life of The Church, it’s ministry, and the effectiveness of its witness is no exception. The circumstances under which they lived, are what prompted our foreparents to discern their need for the power of Jesus Christ. They recognized the need for supernatural, omnibenevolent help.

What a world of circumstances does The Black Church in America face today! Clarity of Christian belief, the hijacking of historic Christian faith for partisan purposes, the pressing questions of anthropology, identity, gender, and sexuality, the strengthening of family life, support of single and married believers, injustice at every level, oppression from without and opposition from within - these are the matters to which The Black Church in America must clearly and Biblically speak.

No Christian church can afford the theological haze or convictional uncertainty required for acceptance in the public square. In times like these, we need a bold Christian witness.

It is for these reasons and others, The Progressive Baptist Church announces Dr. Esau McCaulley as it’s new resident theologian. Esau, a son of the Black church, brings a heritage of faithful witness, skilled and orthodox exegesis, and a theological mind with both popular appeal and cultural discernment. He will come alongside the rest of the godly and wise leadership of Progressive to help us think carefully about the shape of our public witness and lived theology. I want to express my gratitude to the leadership of ProgressiveChicago and for his Bishop Todd Hunter for allowing us to license Esau to serve in our congregation.

Rev. Esau McCaulley, PhD is an assistant professor of New Testament at Wheaton College in Wheaton, IL. He completed his doctoral work at the University of St Andrews under the direction of renowned scholar biblical N.T. Wright. His first book entitled Sharing in the Son’s Inheritance was published by T & T Clark in 2019. His second book Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope was published by IVP academic on September 1st, 2020. It has won numerous awards including Christianity Today’s book of the year. He is a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times. His writings have also appeared in places such as Washington Post, The Religious New Service, and Christianity Today. He is married to Mandy, a pediatrician and navy reservist. Together, they have four wonderful children.

- Dr. Charlie Dates
Senior Pastor | Progressive Baptist Church, Chicago