October CU Fire Retreat
Brief bios of the October 2023 CU Fire Retreat speakers:Matt Bennett
Matt is the founder and CEO of Christian Union, a Christian leadership development organization with the mission to bring sweeping spiritual and cultural transformation to our nation and the world by developing and networking Christian leaders to make an impact for Christ. Christian Union focuses its activity on America's most influential universities and on professionals in the nation's key cities.
A native of Houston, Texas, Matt earned BS and MBA degrees from Cornell University and holds a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He worked for Campus Crusade for Christ (Cru) at Princeton University for 12 years, and developed the ministry into one of the largest in the history of the Ivy League. In 2002, he founded Christian Union. The ministry has been featured in The New York Times, PBS, NPR, Christianity Today, and World Magazine.
Matt currently resides in New York City.
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Qwynn Gross
D. Qwynn Gross began a vibrant relationship with God after a missionary trip to Toluca, Mexico, in 1986. She has worked in various administrative ministerial roles and has provided leadership to several areas of ministry including worship, small groups, and intercessory prayer. Qwynn is the co-founder of Hope Cathedral in Jackson, New Jersey.
She is known as an inspiring and practical teacher and has created several resources as well as authored books on spiritual devotion: A Pattern for Prayer, A Guide to Consecrated Living, and Teach Me To Pray. She is a conference host and a sought-after speaker at women's conferences, workshops and retreats. A graduate of Bennett College in Greensboro, North Carolina, Qwynn is married to Trevón, the lead pastor of Hope Cathedral. The two have three children: Trevón, Jr., Dianna, and Sarah.
Rice Broocks
Rice Broocks is cofounder of the Every Nation family of churches, which currently has churches and campus ministries in more than seventy nations. He is also the senior minister of Bethel World Outreach Church in Nashville, Tennessee, a multiethnic, multisite church.Rice is a graduate of Mississippi State University and holds a master’s degree from Reformed Theological Seminary, Jackson, Mississippi, as well as a doctorate from Fuller Theological Seminary, Pasadena, California.
The author of several books, including GOD’S NOT DEAD: Evidence for God in An Age Of Uncertainty, MAN MYTH MESSIAH: Answering History’s Greatest Question, THE HUMAN RIGHT: To Know Jesus Christ and to Make Him Known, THE PURPLE BOOK: Biblical Foundations for Building Strong Disciples, and EVERY NATION IN OUR GENERATION, Rice lives in Franklin, Tennessee, with his wife, Jody, and their five children.
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Dr. Chuck Hetzler
Chuck Hetzler is the Vice President of Biblical Theology for Christian Union, helping to create and teach CU’s Christian leadership development curriculum for vocational Christian ministers, CU Universities’ students, and lay people across the nation. Chuck has served with CU at Princeton University as Teaching Fellow and in New York City as Director of CU New York, and has ministered in local churches in a variety of roles from senior pastor to church planter to volunteer elder in denominational and non-denominational churches. Chuck holds an MDiv from Covenant Theological Seminary and a ThM and PhD in New Testament from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
Chuck's path in ministry took a new direction after he experienced and helped lead a dramatic work of God’s Spirit at Princeton University with Christian Union Nova from 2008 to 2012. Since that time, Chuck and his wife, Karen, have worked to promote a lifestyle of seeking God and experiencing His extraordinary grace in local churches, in New York City, and to the nation.
Chuck currently lives in Quincy, IL with Karen and their four children, and near extended family.
