Mark Mittelberg, is a sought-after speaker, best-selling author, and leading strategist in evangelism and apologetics. His recent books include The Reason Why Faith Makes Sense and The Questions Christians Hope No One Will Ask (with answers). He also co-authored The Unexpected Adventure with Lee Strobel and Becoming a Contagious Christian with Willow Creek Community Church senior pastor Bill Hybels, and he was a contributor to God Is Great, God Is Good: Why Believing in God Is Reasonable and Responsible, which was awarded the 2010 Christianity Today apologetics book of the year.

Mittelberg served for seven years as Willow Creek Community Church’s first director of evangelism and then for a decade on the leadership team of the Willow Creek Association before coming to Cherry Hills to co-direct The Institute. He holds a Master's Degree in Philosophy of Religion from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Southern Evangelical Seminary in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Mark and Heidi Mittelberg have two grown children and live near Denver.

Blake LaMunyon

Blake LaMunyon serves as the pastor of evangelism and leader of Cherry Hills’ Wednesday night worship service, Midpoint, and he is a frequent teacher at the church’s weekend services. He works with The Institute staff in building teams, developing training opportunities, and sponsoring church-wide outreach events – all with the goal of spreading the Gospel throughout the local community. LaMunyon’s ministry is marked by his passion for connecting with people who are far from God and helping them move toward a relationship with Christ.

LaMunyon earned his Bachelor’s degree in Bible-Ministries at Manhattan Christian College, his Master’s degree in Christian-Ministries from Friends University, and his Doctorate of Ministry from Northwest Graduate School of the Ministry.

LaMunyon served as the founding and lead pastor of Christ’s Church in Highlands Ranch from 1994 until joining the leadership of Cherry Hills in 2008.

Blake and Marci LaMunyon live in Highlands Ranch with their two teenage children.

Guest Speakers

At various time throughout the year, The Institute has the privilege of welcoming guest speakers to Cherry Hills Community Church. This provides you the opportunity to experience unique messages from experts across a diverse set of disciplines including academia, politics, media and Christian leadership.

Click here for information on individual speakers.

Contact

The Institute at Cherry Hills
303.791.4100

Lee Strobel, a former atheist and award-winning legal editor at The Chicago Tribune, is the New York Times best-selling author of more than twenty books. These include such classics as The Case for Christ, The Case for Faith, The Case for a Creator and The Case for the Real Jesus, and he recently released his first novel, The Ambition.

Strobel has been described in the Washington Post as “one of the evangelical community’s most popular apologists.”

For two seasons, he hosted the national weekly television program Faith Under Fire. He was also a teaching pastor at two of America’s largest churches, Willow Creek Community Church in suburban Chicago and Saddleback Valley Community Church in Southern California, before coming to Cherry Hills to co-direct The Institute.

Strobel earned a journalism degree from the University of Missouri and a Master of Studies in Law degree from Yale Law School. In 2007 Southern Evangelical Seminary honored Strobel with the conferring of a Doctorate of Divinity degree.

Lee and Leslie Strobel have two grown children and have been married 39 years. They live in the South Denver area

Garry Poole

Garry is known for his fresh approaches to reaching spiritually curious people through low-key small group settings. He is the author of the Silver Medallion Award-winning book, Seeker Small Groups, in which he details proven strategies that we’ll be employing at Cherry Hills in our new Spiritual Discovery Groups.

Chuck Colson once wrote, “Garry Poole’s compassion for souls is contagious. He presents with great enthusiasm a simple and effective way to share the beautiful truth of Jesus Christ with neighbors, colleagues and friends.”

Before joining The Institute, Poole was Willow Creek Community Church’s key evangelism leader for more than 16 years, serving with Lee Strobel and Mark Mittelberg for much of that time. He and Strobel co-wrote a companion study to the film The Passion of the Christ that was named Christian Book of the Year. He has also published The Complete Book of Questions, The Three Habits of Highly Contagious Christians and The Tough Questions Series.

Garry lives in the South Denver area.

Be wise in the way
you act toward outsiders;
make the most of every opportunity.
Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt,
so that you may know how to answer everyone.