CIA | 2026 Instructor

Brett Kunkle

Founder | President | MAVEN

Applications Open April 1st 2026!

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About Brett Kunkle

Brett Kunkle is the founder of MAVEN, a ministry dedicated to equipping the next generation to know truth, pursue goodness, and create beauty. With years of experience working with students, Brett focuses on training young people in biblical worldview, critical thinking, and apologetics. He is passionate about helping students stand firm in faith in an increasingly secular culture. 

Brett Kunkle's Bio

Brett Kunkle is the founder and president of MAVEN, a movement to equip the next generation know truth, pursue goodness and create beauty, all for the cause of Christ. He has more than 25 years of experience working with junior high, high school, college students and parents.

A dynamic communicator who engages both heart and mind, Brett speaks to thousands of students and adults at churches, seminars, conferences, and college campuses across the country. He has developed a groundbreaking approach to mission trips, creating a one-of-a-kind training experience that immerses participants in real-life engagement in worldview, apologetics, theology, and evangelism. MAVEN creates customized interactive missions experiences to Berkeley, California, and Salt Lake City, Utah, equipping participants to engage skeptics atheists, Mormons, university students, and other non-believers with the truth of the gospel.

In addition, Brett is a Teaching Fellow at the Impact 360 Institute and co-pastor at Imago Dei Church in Orange County, California. He was an associate editor for the Apologetics Study Bible for Students, authored The Ambassadors Guide to Mormonism and co-authored A Practical Guide to Culture: Helping the Next Generation Navigate Today’s World and A Student’s Guide to Culture. Brett received his bachelor’s degree in Christian education from Biola University and he earned his master’s degree in philosophy of religion and ethics at Talbot School of Theology.

Brett lives with his wife and five kids in Southern California.

Instructor FAQs

Brett Kunkle is the founder of MAVEN, a ministry dedicated to equipping the next generation to know truth, pursue goodness, and create beauty. With years of experience working with students, Brett focuses on training young people in biblical worldview, critical thinking, and apologetics. He is passionate about helping students stand firm in faith in an increasingly secular culture. 

At the Academy, Brett Kunkle teaches specialized sessions focused on strengthening apologetic skills. Topics may include: 

  • Student apologetics 
  • Biblical worldview formation 
  • Youth discipleship 
  • Cultural engagement 
  • Christian philosophy 
  • Leadership development 

Each session is designed to move beyond basic apologetics into instructor-level training. 

 

Bachelors degree in Christian education from Biola University  

Master’s degree in philosophy of religion and ethics from Talbot School of Theology. 

Co-planter & Co-Pastor of Imago Dei Church

Teaching Fellow at Impact 360 Institute

Co-Founder & CEO of Maven 

 

A Practical Guide to Culture: Helping the Next Generation Navigate Today’s World (co-authored with John Stonestreet). 

A Student’s Guide to Culture (co-authored with John Stonestreet)

The Ambassador’s Guide to Mormonism

The Apologetics Study Bible for Students (Associate Editor). 

Yes. One of the unique strengths of the CrossExamined Instructor Academy is personal interaction with instructors like Brett Kunkle. Attendees have opportunities to ask questions, engage in discussion, and receive direct insight in a more focused setting than typical large conferences. 

No. While pastors and ministry leaders attend, Brett Kunkle teaches in a way that is accessible to serious Christians who want to grow in defending their faith. Whether you are a student, church leader, teacher, or layperson, the training is designed to help you develop clarity, confidence, and competence in apologetics. 

By attending sessions taught by Brett Kunkle, you can expect to: 

  • Strengthen your understanding of Christian doctrine 
  • Improve your conversational apologetics skills 
  • Learn how to respond to challenging objections 
  • Grow in confidence when discussing your faith 

Yes. The CrossExamined Instructor Academy is intentionally structured to allow meaningful interaction with instructors, including Brett Kunkle, throughout the event. Meals, breakout sessions, and informal discussions offer added opportunities for engagement. 

You can learn directly from Brett Kunkle by attending the CrossExamined Instructor Academy. Many instructors also provide more resources such as books, debates, podcasts, or online content to continue growing in apologetics beyond the conference. 

Areas of Expertise

  • Student apologetics 
  • Biblical worldview formation 
  • Youth discipleship 
  • Cultural engagement 
  • Christian philosophy 
  • Leadership development 

Brett Kunkle's Latest Works

Brett Kunkle's Best-Selling Work

A Practical Guide to Culture: Helping the Next Generation Navigate Today's World

We don’t have to lose the next generation to culture. In this practical guide, John Stonestreet and Brett Kunkle explore questions including:

  • What unseen undercurrents are shaping twenty-first-century youth culture?
  • Why do so many kids struggle with identity?
  • How do we talk to kids about same-sex marriage and transgenderism?
  • How can leaders steer kids away from substance abuse and other addictions?
  • How can we ground students in the biblical story and empower them to change the world? 

With biblical clarity, this is the practical go-to manual to equip kids to rise above the culture.

More Works from Brett Kunkle

A Student’s Guide to Culture (co-authored with John Stonestreet)

The student edition of the popular A Practical Guide to Culture by John Stonestreet and Brett Kunkle delivers a hopeful message to readers ages 15–25 who live every day with increasing cultural pressure. These young people struggle to navigate contemporary challenges to their Christian faith and values, but will be encouraged to emerge as leaders.

In A Student’s Guide to Culture, Stonestreet and Kunkle write in a highly relational style, sharing insight and experience. Jumping off from the original version, this guide includes all-new discussion questions and stories that remind young readers that they can live differently and be a light in a culture that sometimes feels overwhelming.

Video Courses from
Brett Kunkle

True Story—An Apologetic for Christianity

Is Christianity actually true?

Are there good reasons and evidence for the Christian faith?

 

Do you long to effectively discuss your faith with a wayward child? Or perhaps you’d love to share the Gospel in a compelling way with an atheist friend at school? Apologetics training is how we master the art of effectively sharing this life-changing narrative. 

Dive into the true story of Christianity. In this 6-lesson video course, you will be introduced to apologetics—a reasonable defense of Christianity—and uncover how the Christian narrative isn’t just wishful thinking or leap of blind faith, but tells us the truth about all reality.

The Image of God—Finding Our True Identity and Living it Out in the Real World

Where do you find your identity?

What does it mean to be created in the Image of God? 

How does the Image of God apply in the real world?

 

Our culture is obsessed with one singular question: What is your identity? We are constantly prescribed price tags and identity labels. But what does Scripture say about who we are?

Our identity as God’s image bearers should affect every single aspect of our lives. It tells us why we’re valuable and what amazing things we’re capable of. This idea has actually transformed the history of the world, and that is NOT an overstatement. In this 12-lesson on-demand video course, you will examine what Scripture says about your TRUE identity will tell you WHO you really are, WHAT you’re supposed to do, and HOW life can be so rich and joyful and fulfilling, when we live according to God’s design, not our own.

Don’t Miss Brett Kunkle live at CIA

Applications Open April 1st 2026!

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