Epiphany (VIRTUAL) Book Study: READING WHILE BLACK

Thursdays from 8-9:30 PM via Zoom
Starts January 14

Continuing our conversations around the intersection of faith and race, you are invited to join us for our Epiphany Book Study on Reading While Black, by the Anglican priest and Wheaton Professor Esau McCaulley! A mixture of scholarship, personal experience, and invitation, Reading While Black considers the black Christian experience in America and invites us into a deeper conversation about race, faith, and how to move forward together. Join us virtually for the discussion!

• January 14 Chapters 1 & 2

• January 21 Chapters 3 & 4

• January 28 Chapters 5 & 6

• February 4 Chapter 7 & Conclusion

• February 11 Bonus Track & Final Discussion

Here is what Amazon has to say about the book:

"Growing up in the American South, Esau McCaulley knew firsthand the ongoing struggle between despair and hope that marks the lives of some in the African American context. A key element in the fight for hope, he discovered, has long been the practice of Bible reading and interpretation that comes out of traditional Black churches, [...a] tradition is often disregarded or viewed with suspicion by much of the wider church and academy, but it has something vital to say. Reading While Black is a personal and scholarly testament to the power and hope of Black biblical interpretation. At a time in which some within the African American community are questioning the place of the Christian faith in the struggle for justice, New Testament scholar McCaulley argues that reading Scripture from the perspective of Black church tradition is invaluable for connecting with a rich faith history and addressing the urgent issues of our times. He advocates for a model of interpretation that involves an ongoing conversation between the collective Black experience and the Bible, in which the particular questions coming out of Black communities are given pride of place and the Bible is given space to respond by affirming, challenging, and, at times, reshaping Black concerns. McCaulley demonstrates this model with studies on how Scripture speaks to topics often overlooked by white interpreters, such as ethnicity, political protest, policing, and slavery. Ultimately McCaulley calls the church to a dynamic theological engagement with Scripture, in which Christians of diverse backgrounds dialogue with their own social location as well as the cultures of others. Reading While Black moves the conversation forward.