I (Esau) come from a long line of black Baptist pastors. For a long time, I thought that I would join them. I began preaching at the age of 18 and planned on entering the ministry after college. While at university, I was exposed to the liturgy and riches of the Anglican tradition. Immediately, I had a vision for a church that was multicultural and liturgical. The year was 2001. I did not think that over two decades would pass before it came to fruition. Everything in God’s good timing.

In the intervening years, I got married to a wonderful woman (Mandy). She graduated from medical school and became a pediatrician for the U.S. Navy. We had four amazing children (Luke, Clare, Peter, Miriam).

Meanwhile, I was ordained a deacon and then a priest (2006). I served in parishes in Virginia, Japan, and Scotland. I also received a PhD in New Testament at the University of St Andrews and eventually took a teaching position at Wheaton College.

During that time, the vision of a multicultural Anglican church never went away. My wife and I prayed consistently over a period of years for an opportunity to bring this vision to reality but consistently experienced a clear call to wait.

The story of All Saints Naperville began in England. Mandy, the kids, and I had been blessed with a place to stay outside of Oxford during my sabbatical from teaching. It was a wonderful time of prayer and reflection, as we discerned God’s call for our family.

Our time in England cemented our deep commitment to the Anglican way of forming Christians, but we did not fully know what that would mean moving forward. Shortly after our return from England we shared our sense of calling with our Bishop and the opportunity arose to plant a church in the Western Suburbs of Chicago.

From the beginning, the core values that has been building over decades became the guiding principles of our church. First of all, we wanted to be unapologetic about our desire to pattern our lives and practice on the word of God. Secondly, we longed to embrace the Anglican way of spiritual formation through the sacraments, the liturgy, and the church year.

We believed that the liturgy is a means of grace, a way of encountering God. We also hoped to see those aspects surrounding and informing that liturgy be enculturated, fitted to our context. For us that meant having music, preaching, and prayer that is expressive. We believed that it was okay to preach, sing, and pray with feeling. Musically, we envisioned a combination of classical hymns, gospel music, and Christian contemporary .

Third, we desired to be multiethnic in our make-up because we believe that the diversity of the church testifies to the universal saving power of the gospel. Fourth, because we believe the Christianity is good news we want to be a church that invites people into a life changing relationship with Christ. Finally, we were convinced that Jesus cares about our bodies and not just our souls. Therefore, we wanted to be a church that contends for justice and cares for the needy. We did not feel called to choose between justice and evangelism or between caring for the poor and a focus on a personal relationship with Jesus. All those things are found in the Scriptures and part of the make up of a healthy church. Because none of this can be done alone, we place a heavy emphasis on life together as a community of prayer, encouragement, and support. These values eventually became the following vision statement:

All Saints Naperville strives to be a biblically faithful, sacramental, multiethnic community serving Christ and his kingdom through sharing our faith, contending for justice, and caring for the suffering.

In August of 2024, we began sharing that vision with a friends and neighbors who resonated with that call and joined us. Heather Matthews quickly joined our growing team becoming our Associate Pastor for Community Life. Soon Lindsey Goetz came on as our Children’s Pastor, Sarah Kwan as our Worship Pastor, and Paul Yang as our Pastoral Resident.

The name All Saints was chosen for number of reasons. In the Anglican tradition, saints are people whose lives of heroic virtue serve as an example to us. Saints can be men or women, young or old, rich or poor. They come from a variety of cultures and contexts. Despite the fact that they come from different times and settings, they produced the same holiness that brings glory to God. Their unified testimony to the transforming power of the gospel reminds us that holiness is still possible in our day. We can run after the God who first came running after us.

We choose the city of Naperville after a period of prayer. Put simply, Naperville seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us. More practically, it did give us the opportunity to live out our vision to be a multiethnic church. Naperville has a population of around 150,000 people. Thirty five percent of its residents are ethnic minorities (52,000). We want to plant a church that looks like the city (and surrounding area) in which we reside.

After a few months of vision casting, meetings for prayer and planning, we held our first preview service (and baptism) on November 3rd, 2024 (All Saints Sunday). We have continued to meet bimonthly in the lead up to our launch on April 6th 2025. We are excited about the work God has done and will do in our midst. Come join us!