Staff

Any of our staff can be reached by contacting the church office at 303-933-9300 or by requesting information through our Contact Us page.

Duane Cory, our Senior Pastor, and his wife, Holly, are transplants from the Midwest. They fell in love in college and spent their early married years together doing graduate studies and all kinds of fun things in the waters surrounding south Florida. In 1987 they moved to Colorado to start this church. They’ve raised a family of four children, nearly all adults now, so they know something about the deep joys and steep challenges of parenting. Both love the outdoors, this church and, yes, after 27 years together they still love each other. Holly teaches sixth grade and Duane has been a student of pastoring for 23 years. He earned his Bachelor’s degree from Covenant College and his Master of Divinity from Westminster Seminary.
 

Steve Sage is our Associate Pastor of Adult Ministries. He and his wife, Carissa, met as undergrads at Kansas State University. Steve claims Carissa changed her major so she could study with him. They married on the day Steve graduated from college: he’d do it that way again... she wouldn’t! After graduation they spent 7 years in Orlando, Florida, where Steve worked full-time and completed seminary. Their next move was to Denver to help start a new church, and after completing that task, they moved across town to join the ministry at Deer Creek. Steve loves sports, the outdoors, and strategy games. They have three children: Brendan, Caden, and Sydney. He earned his Bachelor’s degree from Kansas State University and his Master of Divinity from Reformed Theological Seminary. He is well on his way toward completing his Doctor of Missiology from Fuller Seminary's School of Intercultural Studies. 

Joseph McCormick is our Director of Youth Ministries. He and his wife, Sheila, met at and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. They moved out to Colorado in 2010 (two weeks after getting hitched) and enrolled into graduate school together at Denver Seminary. Joseph is pursuing his Master of Divinity, while Sheila is pursuing her Master in Counseling. Joseph is a self-proclaimed “Geek-Jock”, who loves playing sports of any and all types, reading a great book, writing poetry, singing Broadway melodies, studying new languages, and playing video games.  Sheila’s favorite hobbies (besides keeping Joseph out of trouble) are watching movies with great friends or having a great conversation over coffee. While they have no kids themselves (yet), Joseph and Sheila also love opening their lives to middle-school and high-school students at every opportunity - something that they’ve enjoyed doing with various volunteer groups for years. Together, they are excited at the incredible years ahead here at Deer Creek Church that they get to spend hanging out with equally incredible students.

Aaron Ellis is our Director of Worship Ministries. He met his wife, Jackie in Costa Mesa California. They have been married for two and a half years and currently have one son named Boaz. Aaron graduated from Vanguard University of Southern California with a degree in Music Ministry. He loves to surf, snowboard, skateboard and play or write music, but his favorite pass time is reading. As a song writer he loves to explore different ways to sing about the riches of God's grace in peoples lives.
 

Verleen Didier, our IMPACT Director (of Children’s Ministries), grew up in Canada. She has obtained her Master of Education from the University of Arkansas and has coached volleyball at the collegiate level. After spending their first year of marriage in the Chicago area, David and Verleen moved to Littleton, Colorado, in 1991. They have been involved at Deer Creek since 1993. Along with their children Erin, Josiah and Alyssa, they enjoy a variety of sports and traveling.
 

Christy Diamond keeps all of our staff in line and the church functioning as our Administrative Assistant. She grew up as a Pennsylvania farm girl and moved to Colorado to attend CSU, where she graduated with a BS in Zoology & Animal Behavior. She worked in medical research for 10 years (loved it!) and even has some of her research displayed in the Smithsonian (ask her about dissecting mosquitoes). She and husband, Ken, have been married for 22 years. They have three children who are active in sports. Christy enjoys hiking, the outdoors, her garden, and a good mystery. One of her favorite things to do is sit on her porch swing early in the morning, listening to the birds sing and smelling the new blooms of springtime flowers... times when she has her best conversations with God. 

Linda Kern, Director of Women’s Ministries, is a native of the great, yet highly underrated, state of New Jersey (home of the greatest tomatos in the world). She graduated from Gordon College in Massachusetts with a B.A. in Social Work. She met her husband, Tobin, while they were both working in the Washington D.C. area and have now been married 16 years. They have four kids that keep them happily busy. Linda loves the outdoors. The Kern family has been a part of the DCC community for almost 12 years and love being a part of this church. Over the years, Linda has been involved in many areas of Deer Creek ministry and loves seeing the variety of gifts being used among the body of believers.