On a quiet dead-end street in South Boulder, just south of the University of Colorado campus and a short ride from the Flatirons, Cornerstone Boulder meets each Sunday in a building that has quietly anchored this neighborhood for three decades. The church is known for something unusual in evangelical life: a self-described identity shaped by seven streams of Christian and Jewish tradition, brought together in a single congregation that lives out its faith through worship, intellectual engagement, care for vulnerable neighbors, and one of the more intentional mental health ministries in the area.
Sundays at Cornerstone
Sunday services are held at 8:30 and 10:20 AM at 1190 S. Lashley Lane, with the 8:30 service also livestreamed on YouTube. Visitors are greeted at the door, offered free coffee in the lobby, and welcomed into a service that runs about twenty to thirty minutes of music followed by announcements and a Bible-based message from one of the pastors. A trained prayer team is available at the close of each service. Casual dress is the norm, and the church describes its music as a blend of modern songs, traditional hymns, and original writing from the Cornerstone worship community. Lead Pastor Brian Carlucci is the most frequent teacher, though the pulpit is shared with the rest of the pastoral team throughout the year.
Kids are a major part of Sunday morning. Nursery care is offered for crawlers and walkers; preschool classes serve two-year-olds through PreK; and elementary classes are divided by grade from kindergarten through fifth. Classrooms include accessibility features such as flexible seating, fidgets, headphones, and closed captioning, plus a one-to-one buddy program for children with special needs. Check-in is near the main lobby. Middle school students have their own gathering on Sunday evenings, and high schoolers meet during the week, so older kids do not have to sit through the adult service unless they want to.
Parking and Getting Here
The main parking lot sits right next to the building and is the easiest choice for families with small children or anyone with mobility concerns. Overflow parking is available along Lashley Lane and adjacent streets (with care taken not to block driveways), at the CenturyLink lot next door, and on Aikins Way, a two to five minute walk to the church via a multi-use path. For students and visitors coming from the CU Boulder campus, RTD's SKIP route runs directly to the area on Sunday mornings.
The Seven Streams
What distinguishes Cornerstone from a typical evangelical church is its explicit weaving together of seven streams of Christian and Jewish tradition. A sermon series called Streams, taught by several of the pastors, walks through each one in turn. The Charismatic stream is centered on the Holy Spirit's presence and power in everyday life. The Evangelical stream is a Word-centered life shaped by the authority of Scripture. The Contemplative stream draws on the deep heritage of prayer and stillness in the Christian tradition. The Holiness stream keeps the church partnered with the Spirit in pursuit of growth, healing, and character. The Messianic stream pays particular attention to the context of God's covenant story and the Jewish roots of Christian faith, an emphasis the church celebrates alongside Christian practice. The Incarnational stream reminds the congregation that the kingdom of God is meant to be made visible and tangible in ordinary places. The Justice stream flows from the prophetic call to compassion for the vulnerable and the oppressed.
This seven-stream identity is not just teaching. It shows up in the church's calendar, its partnerships, and the way the congregation describes its mission. The Tikkun Olam (Justice and Mercy) ministry uses the Hebrew phrase for "repairing the world" as its organizing idea, and Cornerstone's justice work is rooted in a Messianic Jewish framework that pairs Christian and Jewish traditions.
Heart and Soul: Mental Health and Whole-Person Care
Cornerstone has placed mental health at the center of its congregational life through a long-term initiative called the Heart and Soul Project. The Hope Collective, a network of licensed and unlicensed counselors, coaches, and caregivers in Boulder County, operates as a ministry partner and offers a pathway to professional care for people connected to the church. Mary Howard, a licensed professional counselor on staff, provides a complimentary thirty-minute consultation for anyone exploring care options through the church's intake process.
J10 is a peer support ministry for teenagers, named after John 10:10, that pairs faith-based encouragement with research-backed tools for navigating mental health challenges. Separate tracks run for middle school and high school students, with both groups back in session after summer break in mid-September. Adults are not left out. Healing Care Groups meet for eight-week cycles that combine biblical teaching, Christian spiritual practices, and insights from psychology and neurobiology, all facilitated by trained caregivers. Other ongoing support groups include a faith-based gathering for caregivers of loved ones with chronic conditions, a group for parents of children with mental health challenges, an Alcoholics Anonymous beginners' group that meets Mondays at 6:30 PM, and an Al-Anon group for loved ones of alcoholics that meets Sundays at 3 PM at the Rocky Mountain Fire Station in Superior.
Family, Students, and Kids
The Family and Kids ministry runs Sunday classes at both services for children from crawler age through fifth grade. Kari Quesada serves as Pastor of Family and Kids, with Rachel Hockey coordinating nursery, Kylee Currier coordinating preschool, and Izabelle Letourneau coordinating elementary. Safety is a stated priority: volunteers are carefully interviewed, selected, and trained, and classrooms are checked in and out through a centralized system.
Student Ministry is split between middle school and high school with separate pastors. Middle school meets Sunday nights from 5:30 to 7:30 PM under Pastor Christian Maljian, and high school meets Tuesday nights from 7:00 to 9:00 PM under Pastor of Students Collin Currier. Both weekly gatherings mix games, worship, teaching, and small groups, with special events scattered through the year. Students are also invited to attend an annual participation and information form process required for camps and retreats.
1825: College and Young Adults
Given Boulder's identity as a college town, Cornerstone has built a substantial ministry for young adults called 1825, named for the eighteen-to-twenty-five age range it targets. The ministry is led by Pastor Tim Coressel and welcomes CU students, grad students, community college students, young professionals, and anyone else in that season of life. The flagship gathering happens every other Thursday night at 7:00 PM at the church, with a meal, worship, a short message, and discussion. A Young Professionals Small Group for working adults meets every other Wednesday at 7:00 PM in Lafayette. Monthly dinner groups rotate through homes across the community, placing six to ten people at a table each month so newcomers can meet a wider circle without needing to know anyone in advance. Game nights, hikes, worship nights, and retreats fill out the calendar.
Life Groups, Marriage, Women, Men, and Living Bolder
Cornerstone's small-group ministry is called Life Groups, and groups meet across the week in homes around Boulder, Superior, Lafayette, Louisville, and Erie. There are groups for twenty-five-plus singles, families and couples, mixed ages, and empty nesters. Neighborhood Connections add a more casual layer, with hosts opening their homes in different parts of the region for unhurried meals and getting-to-know-you time.
The Marriage Ministry, led by Pastor Gabe Kinzley, walks couples through premarital preparation with the ONE Premarital Class and offers an ongoing marriage enrichment experience called Seasons, which runs for several weeks in the fall. Women's Ministry, led by Pastor Jess Mulvaney, is anchored by an annual Women's Bible Study that runs from September through April in three formats: Tuesday mornings on-site with childcare, Wednesday evenings on-site, and Friday mornings over Zoom. The 2026 to 2027 study is called "Matthew and the Synoptics." MomHood meets the second Friday of each month for moms in any phase. Men's Ministry gathers on the first Wednesday of each month for worship and small groups, with special events like barbecues and bowling nights sprinkled in. Living Bolder serves adults fifty-five and older with various gatherings.
Faith and Reason and Alpha
For those exploring Christianity or wrestling with hard questions, Cornerstone runs two distinct entry points. Alpha is the well-known introduction to the Christian faith held in a small-group setting. Faith and Reason is a more intellectually focused ministry that meets six times a year (three times per semester) on second Fridays from 6:00 to 8:00 PM at the church. Each evening includes a catered dinner, a roughly forty-minute video lecture from a vetted expert, and facilitated small-group discussion of six to eight people. Past topics have ranged from arguments for and against the existence of God, the problem of evil, divine hiddenness, and difficult divine attributes, to human gene editing, artificial intelligence, Western values and Christian origins, Old Testament violence, and whether truth and tolerance can co-exist. Lecturers have included Timothy Keller, N.T. Wright, William Lane Craig, John Lennox, Bart Ehrman, Jonathan Haidt, and Miroslav Volf. Stephanie Trees and Andrew Trees co-direct the ministry, supported by an advisory board that includes Lead Pastor Brian Carlucci. Admission is five dollars per person and requires advance registration.
Tikkun Olam: Justice and Mercy
The Justice and Mercy ministry, also called Tikkun Olam, is led by Founding Pastor Gene Binder and Coordinator Tori Overby. The church runs an in-home tutoring program and after-school tutoring at Alicia Sanchez Elementary in Lafayette and University Hill Elementary in Boulder, recruiting ten or more volunteers per site for one to two hours a week. Cornerstone partners with RISE to provide wraparound support for foster and adoptive families in the community. International partnerships include work with refugees and ongoing ministry in Uganda and Israel. A meal ministry provides food for church members after births, surgeries, and losses, and a Special Projects Team handles one-off needs like yard work and event setup.
Counseling Partners and Outside Resources
Beyond The Hope Collective, Cornerstone lists Healing Care Ministries, Front Range Church Planting Network, and Colorado Christian University among its partners. The mental health resources page curates a long list of apps (Abide, Finch, Lectio 365, Pause, Soultime, Soulspace), podcasts (Being Known, Slingstones, The Place We Find Ourselves, Ask Lisa), and crisis support including 988, Colorado Crisis Services, and Boulder County's WellMind Connection.
History and Leadership
Cornerstone's story begins in the late 1990s, when Southern Hills Baptist Church gifted the building on Lashley Lane to the newly named Cornerstone Church. From the start, founding pastor Gene Binder wove four values into the fabric of the congregation: worship, confluence, community, and healing. Brian Carlucci joined the staff nearly two decades ago and became lead pastor in 2017. The church's longevity in Boulder, one of the most unchurched cities in the United States, is a point of quiet pride. The congregation describes itself as theologically and generationally diverse, with a strong representation of adoptive and foster families, entrepreneurs and professors, CU students and retirees, and outdoor enthusiasts who see the mountains as a playground the Lord has provided.
Pastoral leadership is organized around an Executive Pastoral Team that meets regularly on teaching, ministry, and outreach direction. Along with Brian Carlucci and Aaron Wardle, that team includes Natalie McGukin (Groups and Connection), Tim Coressel (Young Adults), Gabe Kinzley (Marriage), Kari Quesada (Family and Kids), and Dan Lance (Operations and Vision Alignment). The Church Council, chaired by Chad Seidel, oversees budget, finances, and vision, and serves as the interpretive authority on the Bible's meaning and application within the church. The council can be reached at council@cornerstoneboulder.org.
Getting Connected and Giving
Visitors who want to follow up after a first Sunday can text "I Am New" to 833-265-5246, fill out a Connect Card, or attend a periodic New to Cornerstone Lunch. The Church Center app is the hub for event registration, group sign-ups, and the directory. Giving is available online through Church Center, by texting "Give" to the same number, by mailing a check to the Lashley Lane address, or by dropping cash or check in the donation boxes in the auditorium. Gifts of stock are coordinated through Director of Finance Chuck Vaughan. Sermons are posted weekly on YouTube and as a podcast on Podbean.