Trainings
Developing tools, skills, and practices that allow us to reimagine our relationship to pain and suffering.
Brave Conversations
Jesus has a way of showing up at the intersection of the people and suffering. Not to condemn. Not to provide an escape route from discomfort. But to transform people, communities, and the world.
How do we as followers of Jesus join him at this intersection? We start with some brave conversations.
Church Well Co has a community of theologically rooted and psychologically trained professionals who have been wrestling together with these questions. In Brave Conversations, we are inviting you to join us in our wrestlings, explorations, and development. To deepen our honesty. To cultivate Spirit-shaped imagination. To develop new skills and practices. That we may faithfully follow Jesus.
So what will this look like? Each quarter has a theme. Each month in that quarter we will tackle the theme through one of 3 questions:
Can we be honest about ___ ?
What could it look like if we _____?
How do we _____?
The intent is not simply to inform, but to invite the broader community to experience these topics together. To learn together. To wrestle together. To dream together.
Hosted on Zoom - Free Registration
monthly virtual trainings for followers of Jesus at the intersection of faith and psychology.
Upcoming Brave Conversations
January | February | March: The Dealing with Disappointment Series
Can We Be Honest About Disappointment?
In January 2026 we begin our exploration of disappointment, starting with January’s “Can We Be Honest?” conversation with BrianJames McMahon, founder of Church Well Co.
In this conversation we will explore what disappointment is, its prevalence in our world and faith communities, and why it must be engaged more intentionally.
Grieving Together: Reimagining how we engage disappointment
Continuing our exploration of disappointment, February’s “Imagination Building” conversation with BrianJames McMahon, founder of Church Well Co will cultivate ways of thinking about, engaging, and identifying the significance of engaging disappointment - our own and that which is carried by others.
Praying Our Grief: A practice of engaging disappointment
In this March 2026 “Skill Building” conversation, pastor and spiritual director James Knight will introduce us to the practice of praying our grief, guide us into an understanding of how this differs from praying about our grief, and illuminate the significant role this practice can play in cultivating strong communities of faith.
April | May | June: Cultivating Safety Series
July | August | September: The Role of Honor Series
(Registration Pending)
1-Day Training Intensives
Ministering in a Suffering World
A 1-day training for pastors, teams, and all disciple-makers to reimagine our understanding of suffering in our communities, examine our responsibility, and explore the necessary response towards it that is theologically sound, spiritual rooted, and psychologically informed.
Here are the upcoming dates and locations for this training:
February 28, 2026 - Genoa, Illinois
If you are interested in hosting or bringing this training
to your community, let us know.
There is great need for more communities of bravery that cultivate relational connection and safety. We need communities, churches, and organizations in which pain is attended to, stories are honored, and relationships are experienced in ways that lead to deep healing and transformation.
Yet the work of cultivating bravery, developing safety, and establishing relationships and communities that thrive is complicated. It’s risky. And it requires both bravery and wisdom.
At Church Well Co we come alongside pastors and organizational leaders to provide training and consultation to allow the dreams that matter to find their way into implementation. We help you assess how your organization is functioning relationally, where the barriers to bravery and safety are, and provide tools to engage more deeply with your community.
-
Church Well Co provides a variety workshops to help communities understand relationship and connection, develop shared language, and identify brave practices to support and strengthen individual relationships and culture.
Workshops are provided both virtually and on-site based on need.
Stand-alone and weekend series formats are available.
For more information, or to schedule a workshop for your church, let us know how we can help you.
-
Examples of workshops Church Well Co has provided to churches and communities:
Brave Relationships: practices for community formation
When Love Is Not Enough: the need for relational safety in community contexts
Identity and Empowerment: emotional wholeness and the way of Jesus
Made for Connection: understanding the formation and growth of relationship in the Body of Christ
Peace in the Storm: finding our footing in difficult times
-
Coaching is an ongoing conversation that empowers you to live into and out of your calling – in your life and profession. The goal of coaching is for you to listen to what is already within you, discover new things about yourself, and take action to reshape your life around that learning.
Coaching is about you – your goals, your learning, and your growth.
Coaching is about action – your action. Each session you will determine 1-3 actions steps you will take before the next session. You may be surprised how quickly you progress toward your goals.
Consultation can take a variety of forms - it is tailored for your context. It may be a single conversation to think deeply about a challenge your community is facing. It could be a process of engaging your team and team dynamics over a period of time.
-
Duration: Coaching is intended to be focused and productive. 6-10 coaching sessions is often effective. For more complex goals more sessions can be useful. That is something we can determine together.
Expectations: The coaching relationship is expected to produce insights, greater personal awareness, changed behaviors, actions, and ultimately results that satisfy the client. Much is expected of you: to evaluate, reason, imagine, decide, and implement.
Location: In-person coaching is available for those in geographical proximity to our team. For those out of the area phone and virtual coaching is available.
Cost: Determined by each coach.
Contact Church Well Co to schedule your first coaching session or to find out more.
-
These retreats are designed around the shared practices of survey, lament, own, and welcome (SLOW) to build relationship, work through team dynamics, and strengthen connection for sustainable ministry together.
Each retreat is tailored for the context and the team. BrianJames will partner with your dreams and goals to facilitate an experience together with your team that can lay a foundation (or build upon what you have established) for long-term flourishing.
-
Costs vary based on time-frame and travel.
Contact BrianJames to plan a retreat for your team.
