God created the world to exist in relationship to God and to one another (Genesis 2). Church Well Co holds conviction that relational connection is both a marker of and invitation to participation in the work of God in this world. Church Well Co engages in, for, and toward relational connection of the people of God.

Church Well Co is unapologetically relationship-forward.

Space is the experience of having room to show up as we are. Our whole selves. To be seen, known, and welcomed. To be attended to and supported.

Pastors and church leaders often reate space for others and operate in contexts in which they hold responsibility. Paired with the proneness of our world to fill, take, and move through space quickly, much that deserves to be seen, honored, and healed turns into wounds that fester, disconnection that remains, and weariness that does not dissipate. Pastors and leaders burn out, weighed down carrying their own burdens and the burdens of their people.

Pastors and church leaders need space to be created for them. We all need room for connection, healing, and transformation to emerge through relationship.

Church Well Co intentionally creates and holds space for pastors and church leaders.

The Sacred Heavy is the stories, experiences, thoughts, or parts of ourselves that we hide from the view of God, others, and/or ourselves - because they are too painful, dangerous, tender, or fragile. The parts of ourselves that we carry one because we fear they will lead to further disconnection (from God, self, or others) if acknowledged.

The Sacred Heavy tells of who we are, where we have come from, how we have become us. It describe the wrestlings within us, our formation, our failures. It holds great weight and deserve to be honored.

Church Well Co believes that each story belongs to the person who has experienced it. Those outside the experience are privileged witnesses who are invited to hold the story with the story teller and attend to what God is doing. We are invited to learn to honor the Sacred Heavy in one another by protecting, holding, and caring for it.

Bravery is the choice to take the risk to acknowledge, welcome, and enter the Sacred Heavy and invite others to enter ours.

We all long for safe relationships. Relational connection is most accessibly experienced in safe relationship. But relational safety is not the starting point for most of us. The process of becoming safe(r) people, communities, and Churches is a process of practicing bravery together. It is through wise and intentional brave engagements that we become safe(r) for and with one another. Church Well Co creates space and opportunity for pastors and church leaders to learn and practice bravery together for healing, connection, and growth.

Church Well Co recognizes that the practice of bravery is foundational to the development of safe(r) relationships.

Safety does not simply exist or not exist. Safety is co-created over time. When my bravery is met by your bravery, and the bravery of both is acknowledged, trust grows and we become safe(r) together.

Emotional and relational safety has to do with the experience of trustworthiness within the community context in which there is openness, predictability, and a fair and balanced system. Safety cannot be declared. It must be developed. Together. We do not begin with trust. We form trust. Wrestling with whether or not we can trust each other, how much we can trust each other, and how to talk about it are foundational to the formation of safety.

Church Well Co engages with the intent to create spaces and train others to create spaces in which we become safe(r) together.