Brief Bio

I am Professor of Christian History and Centenary Chair in World Christianity at McMaster Divinity College (MDC). Besides teaching at MDC, I also serve as Director of the Canadian Baptist Archives, the official archives of the Canadian Baptists of Ontario and Quebec (CBOQ).

My PhD is from St. Michael's College at the University of Toronto (2004), and I am a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society (2019).

My research interests lie particularly in the area of church-state and church-war issues, although recently I have begun exploring aspects of the persecuted church and questions surrounding the “post-Christian establishment” (or post-Constantinian) relationship between church and state in Canada and the West.

I have a number of research projects on the go at the moment, one of which is related to a SSHRC research grant related to Canadian Protestant Churches and Constructions of Empire and Nation (1899-1945). This book project is ongoing, as are a number of other book and article projects.

I am also an ordained minister with the CBOQ, having pastored in both Nova Scotia and Ontario, and have served in a variety of leadership roles in local churches working with both youth and adults. I continue to enjoy speaking and teaching in local churches, usually on some aspect of church history.

I am married, with two adult children, and one grandchild. When I am not hanging out with family, I enjoy getting on the ice, in the woods, up a mountain, or on the water.