The Reverend Canon Associate Professor Robert (‘Bob’) Derrenbacker grew up in upstate New York State in the USA. He attended Wheaton College where he earned a BA in Theology and Biblical Studies. He then received his Masters Degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in Massachusetts, USA. He, and his wife Cindy, then immigrated to Toronto, Canada where Bob earned a PhD in New Testament at the University of Toronto. It was there in the Anglican Diocese of Toronto where Bob was ordained Deacon in 2001, then Priest in 2002.

Dr Derrenbacker has published and presented his research widely on the New Testament Gospels, with particular interest in the Synoptic Problem, the Sayings Gospel Q, and writing cultures and book production in antiquity. He has authored one monograph and numerous articles and reviews. Dr Derrenbacker is also a member of the Society of Biblical Literature, the Society of New Testament Studies, the Catholic Biblical Association of America, and the Canadian Society of Biblical Studies. He has held full-time faculty positions in New Testament at Tyndale Seminary (Toronto) and Regent College (Vancouver), where he taught in the areas of the Gospels, the writings of Paul, and early Christianity. Most recently, Dr Derrenbacker was President of Thorneloe University, a small Anglican college federated with Laurentian University, in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. He joined Trinity College as the Dean of the Theological School in January 2019, where he also serves at the Frank Woods Associate Professor in New Testament.

Dr Derrenbacker is a past Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Colleges and Universities of the Anglican Communion, one of the Networks of the Communion. He is also Canon of St Paul’s Cathedral in Melbourne.

University Appointments

Dean of the Theological School (Trinity College Theological School)

External Affiliations

• Colleges and Universities of the Anglican Communion (Chair)
• Endowment Committee, Canadian Society of Biblical Studies (Chair)
• St Paul's Cathedral (Clerical Canon)