Institute of Strategic Evangelism Staff

Dr. Lonnie Allison
Director

Dr. Allison serves as the Director of the Billy Graham Center, and also the Institute of Strategic Evangelism, at Wheaton College. There he directs a comprehensive team that seeks to be a "nerve center of evangelism" for the evangelical world.  Dr. Allison is a Christian communicator, educator, pastor and performing artist who has served as a youth minister, as pastor of three Evangelical Covenant churches and as a guest speaker at churches and conferences throughout the last 25 years. 

In addition to being a lecturer and public speaker, Dr. Allison has a professional background in music and theater. His presentations to churches and conferences often combine speaking, music and drama in such a way as to be both informative and compelling. 

Lon and his wife reside in West Chicago along with their three children.

Rev. Dallas Anderson
Director of Proclamation Ministries

Rev. Anderson serves as the Director of Proclamation Ministries for the Institute of Strategic Evangelism. In this role he gives direction to the task of publicly proclaiming Christ. Dallas surrendered his life to Christ at the age of 13 and was called to spend his life reaching others with the life-changing message of Jesus Christ. Over the past thirty years he has taught, trained and mentored individuals and churches to find their unique calling from God in the critical work of seeing Christ's Kingdom advanced. He has traveled in over 25 countries proclaiming Christ in numerous cultures and situations. He uses practical life experiences and his gift of communication to present the Gospel in clear and simple terms, and has the unique ability to connect with people of all ages.

Dallas also serves as the Operation Starting Line Coordinator of the Billy Graham Center's Institute of Prison Ministries, and at present, Mission America Coalition's National Facilitator of Evangelism. He also joined several leading evangelists in the nation to form the Company of Evangelists under the umbrella of the BGC.

When not on the road, Dallas lives and ministers with his wife lives on their ranch near Lake Norden, SD where they raise Registered Quarter Horses and operates Rolling Meadows Ranch.

Dr. Jerry Root
Associate Director

Dr. Jerry Root serves as the Associate Director of the Institute of Strategic Evangelism. In this role he heads up Wheaton College's Campus Evangelism Initiatives to make "a lifestyle of evangelism" part of what it means to be a whole and effective Christian at Wheaton College. Jerry also teaches evangelism courses at both the undergraduate and graduate level.

Jerry was born and raised in Southern CA and grew up in a Christian family but did not become a Christian until his freshman year at Whittier College. He has pastored three different churches over twenty three years, and nineteen of those years were invested in student ministry. While pastoring he taught courses in Philosophy and on C.S. Lewis for ten years at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, IL. Jerry is visiting professor at Biola University, Talbot Graduate School of Theology in La Mirada, CA and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, IL. Before transferring to ISE, Jerry was a full time assistant professor since 1996 with the Christian Formation & Ministry Department.

Jerry has lectured and preached in 16 countries, 25 states and has lectured in 38 colleges or university campuses. He co-edited "The Quotable CS Lewis," has produced study guides and booklets on Friendship Evangelism, and contributed to other books and had presented a number of lectures on CS Lewis, evangelism and spiritual formation.

Jerry and his wife have four grown children and live in Wheaton.

Jean Bilang
Office Coordinator

Jean joined the ISE staff in October, 1999. She had worked previously in the Counseling Department of College of DuPage before coming on staff at the Billy Graham Center. Jean is responsible for providing administrative support with the Institute, conference coordination as well as the other administrative tasks of ISE and BGC Administration Office. Jean lives in Carol Stream.