Bishop David D. Daniels III is the Henry Winters Luce Professor of World Christianity at McCormick Theological
Seminary, having joined the faculty in 1987. A bishop in the Church of God in Christ,
he chairs the National Board of Education for the denomination and directs the 5th
Illinois-East Jurisdictional Academy for Ordination and Licensure. Since 1987, he
has been a member of St. Luke Church of God in Christ where Bishop James Curtis Austin,
Sr. serves as the pastor; Bishop Austin is the jurisdictional bishop.
Bishop Daniels presented at the Holy Ghost Conferences, the National Prayer Clinic, O. T. Jones Institute, and the Leadership Conference. He served on the Historical Commission chaired by Bishop Ithiel Clemmons, the Commission on Education led by Dr. Alonzo Johnson, and the Urban Initiative led by Bishop Edwin Bass.
Bishop Daniels received the Bachelor of Arts from Bowdoin College, obtained the Master
of Divinity from Yale University, and earned a Ph.D. in Church History from Union
Theological Seminary.
Bishop Daniels has served as the president of the Society for Pentecostal Studies and the co-chair of the Reformed-Pentecostal International Dialogue. He has served as a commissioner for the Faith and Order Commission of the National Council of Churches, presented at the General Assembly of National Council of Churches, and has participated on consultations sponsored by the World Council of Churches.
Bishop Daniels is a member of the American Academy of Religion, the Society for the Study of Black Religion, and the Society for Pentecostal Studies. He serves as a board member of the Christian Century Foundation, the Lake Institute on Faith and Giving, Global Impact, and the Seymour Institute on the Black Church and Public Policy; his previous board memberships include the Louisville Institute and McCormick Theological Seminary. He serves on the editorial board of Journal of World Christianity.
Bishop Daniels is the author of over 50 essays, academic articles, and chapters in books edited by scholars such as Cornel West, Vinson Synan, and Estrelda Alexander. He has served as a member of seven research projects funded by various foundations, including the Eli Lilly Endowment, the Luce Foundation, and Pew Charitable Trust.
Bishop Daniels has lectured at over twenty universities, colleges and seminaries in the United States such as Harvard University, Vanderbilt University, Regent University, Wheaton College, and Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis. He has presented academic papers at conferences in Nigeria, Senegal, Switzerland, Sweden, Great Britain, Lebanon, South Korea, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Canada.
Bishop Daniels has presented at national denominational conferences sponsored by the Church of God in Christ, the Church of Christ (Holiness), the Full Gospel Baptist Fellowship, and the Presbyterian Church (USA). He has preached at Church of God in Christ congregations in the United States, Great Britain, and Ghana along with preaching to Presbyterian, Roman Catholic, Baptist, and Methodist congregations.
Bishop Daniels served as an advisor to the Legacy of A Leader, a 1991 video documentary on Bishop Charles Harrison Mason, and to the Faith & Community Video Project, Indiana University. Additionally, he was interviewed in the PBS documentary about Aimee Semple McPherson.
Bishop Daniels is married to the Rev. Dr. Delois Brown-Daniels; they have two adult children.