Dr. David Guretzki became the EFC’s President and CEO on Jan. 31, 2023. From 2017-2023 he served the EFC as executive vice-president and resident theologian. His formal connections with the EFC began in 2008 when he was recruited to the EFC board of directors, where he served for nine years.
His passions include his love for the gospel testified to in Holy Scripture, his desire to see greater unity of the Church in the Holy Spirit, and to see persons and nations reconciled in and through God’s Son, Jesus Christ. David sees a unique role for the EFC in calling the Church to renewed emphases on prayer, evangelism in a post-Christian world, and living out the calling to be known in our society as lovers of God and lovers of neighbour.
His formal education culiminated in a PhD in Western Christian thought from McGill University (2006) and was preceded by an MA in historical theology (Briercrest Seminary 1995) and a BRE in theology (Briercrest College, 1989). In 2022 he completed a graduate program in bioethics at St. Paul University in Ottawa.
Prior to moving to Ontario he served in Caronport, Sask., from 1993-2017 at Briercrest College & Seminary, where he was professor of theology and public life, along with stints as dean of the seminary and vice president of external relations. He continues to serve as an adjunct professor at various seminaries.
He has published three books (with IVP and Routledge), many book chapters, and dozens of academic and popular level articles and reviews. He has taught and researched on a broad number of topics, especially the theology of forgiveness and reconciliation, the doctrine of the Trinity, the doctrine of the church, the theology of marriage and illness, the theology of Karl Barth, human dignity, conscience, and the theology and ethics of medical assistance in dying (MAID).
In both his time at Briercrest and at the EFC, he has preached and taught in dozens of church contexts across Canada. Earlier, he served in Lacombe, Alta., from 1989-1992 as assistant pastor at Lacombe Evangelical Free Church. He has also served as an elder at Caronport Community Church.
David Guretzki is executive publisher of the EFC’s bimonthly magazine Faith Today in which he writes the regular column Cross Connections. He is currently a member of the editorial board of Canadian-American Theological Review. In the past, he served as president of the Canadian Evangelical Theological Association (2004-2008) and book review editor of Canadian Evangelical Review (1997-1999)
He is an executive member of the International Council of the World Evangelical Alliance since 2019 and a board member for Christian Higher Education Canada.
David has been married to the love of his life Maureen since 1989. They are members of Trinity Bible Church (AGC) in Ottawa. They have three adult children. When he manages to find a few spare moments, he is involved in astrophotography, amateur radio, reading novels and various fix-it projects.