Well for the Journey
In this episode, Greg talks about Well for the Journey, a spiritual wellness center in Lutherville, MD. The various programs offered in different formats and settings are focused on spiritual well-being, and center on the sacred conversation between the Spirit and a person's spirit, with the aim of bringing transformation and healing to the world. Changing the world, one person at a time, one heart at a time.
We are honored to have Greg Cochran as our guest on this episode. Greg Cochran is Executive Director at a spiritual wellness center, Well for the Journey, in Lutherville, Maryland. He is a program/retreat facilitator and a spiritual companion. Greg is currently a staff member of Shalem Institute’s Spiritual Guidance Program in D.C. and a mentor in Paseo’s Spiritual Guidance Program in Idaho. He recently completed his service as Associate Pastor at Woodbrook Baptist Church (1988-2022). Greg is a graduate of Clemson University and Southern Seminary. He and his wife, Carole, live in Baltimore. They have two children (26 and 24). Greg is a hiker, photographer, woodworker, and loves being with family – and is always desiring to be open and listening for the invitation of the Spirit.
Highlights:
[00:00:00] Intro
[00:01:45] How did Well for the Journey get started?
[00:04:59] How has the Spirit surprised you?
[00:06:05] A Model for Listening
[00:08:16] What is Spiritual Wellness?
[00:10:15] Challenges
[00:12:58] Faith and Trust
[00:13:26] Moving Into the Surrounding Communities
[00:16:07] Expanding the Reach and Impact
[00:17:37] Hope for the World
[00:19:12] How someone can participate in or support Well for the Journey
[00:20:47] Thanks
Resources mentioned in this episode:
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Welcome to Good News being brought to you by Listening for Clues.
Lauren:We are Lauren Welch and Jon Shematek Deacons in the
Lauren:Episcopal Diocese of Maryland.
Jon:We sure are, and today we've got some good news for
Jon:you from Well for the Journey.
Jon:We have a special guest, Greg Cochran, who is the executive director at Well
Jon:for the Journey, which is a spiritual wellness center in Lutherville, Maryland.
Jon:There Greg works as a program and retreat facilitator and spiritual companion.
Jon:Greg is currently also a staff member of the Shalem Institute's
Jon:Spiritual Guidance Program in the district, and a mentor in Paseos
Jon:Spiritual Guidance program in Idaho.
Jon:Greg recently completed his service as associate pastor at
Jon:Woodbrook Baptist Church, and that was a long pastorate Greg.
Jon:I mean, it was like 34 years, I think, if my math is right.
Jon:You're a graduate of Clemson University and Southern Seminary.
Jon:Greg and his wife Carol, live in Baltimore ... And they have two children.
Jon:Greg is a hiker, photographer woodworker and loves being with family and is
Jon:always desiring to be open and listening for the invitation of the Spirit.
Jon:So, Greg, welcome.
Greg:Well, thank you.
Greg:Thanks for inviting me on.
Greg:Thank you for what you all are doing.
Lauren:Greg, we're really grateful to have you with us today.
Lauren:Well for the Journey has been around for a while.
Lauren:So , tell us about it.
Greg:Sure.
Greg:We're just a little over 20 years old now.
Greg:It started with one person, May Beth Hudson who was in the Episcopal Church
Greg:at Good Shepherd who had, she would call it probably a divine discontent.
Greg:She's a lawyer by education and training but was feeling this stirring within her.
Greg:And she went to her rector at the time Scott Slater, many people
Greg:may know Scott, and Scott invited her to invite others to listen.
Greg:And through that listening , the group grew to, outside of the Church of the
Greg:Good Shepherd, and actually a program formed first called Women at the Well.,
Greg:that preceded Well for the Journey.
Greg:The group decided it wanted to incorporate itself into a nonprofit in July of 2002.
Greg:So at that point, the Well was birthed.
Greg:And here we are over 20 years later continuing and now we're
Greg:reaching nationwide through online.
Greg:So we're excited about that.
Jon:Yeah, that was one of the hidden blessings of the pandemic for so many
Jon:of us that we could expand our, reach.
Jon:I was looking at your website recently and you have just an amazing
Jon:breadth of programs that you offer.
Jon:Can you talk a little about that, Greg?
Greg:Sure.
Greg:The creators of the Well, wanted to create a safe, sacred space where
Greg:people could come wherever they are on their spiritual journey to be
Greg:able to ask questions, to explore, to experience community and connection.
Greg:And so with that, knowing that each individual has their
Greg:own unique style of learning.
Greg:We provide a breadth of ways that they can connect with the spirit in that way.
Greg:So we have programming that uses art.
Greg:We have traditional small group programming.
Greg:We do pilgrimages.
Greg:We use journaling.
Greg:Kind of a trademark of the Well is a is small group so where people
Greg:can have opportunity to talk about their experiences and, to learn.
Greg:When we first started, it was really People who felt like from their
Greg:own congregation, they needed, wanted something a little deeper.
Greg:So they'd go to their congregation on a Sunday but then during the week
Greg:would take programs at the Well.
Greg:And as we have grown and expanded, we're finding people coming who
Greg:have had a bad experience in their childhood or other times.
Greg:in institutional religious community people who would be considered
Greg:spiritual but not religious.
Greg:Mm.
Greg:People who may not claim any kind of spiritual tradition, but know
Greg:that there's something within themselves that want to connect
Greg:something bigger than who they are.
Greg:And we have started having people from other faith traditions joining us too.
Greg:So again, for us, the idea is, To provide a safe, sacred space and get
Greg:out of the way and let Spirit do what Spirit's going to do in that space.
Lauren:So, Greg, has the spirit surprised you in any ways?
Greg:Oh, good question.
Greg:Yes.
Greg:So one of the things that I am learning, I have learned and continue to learn,
Greg:and I hope I continue to learn is the idea of not getting ahead of the Spirit.
Greg:When I decided to apply for this position here I wanted to be in
Greg:the world, but not of the world.
Greg:And so with that, that means not getting ahead of the spirit listening.
Greg:So listening and discerning is very key to, who we are.
Greg:There's been many times when I have not heeded that and I've
Greg:found myself getting into trouble.
Greg:Like things, we try things too quickly and they may not work out.
Greg:And so really listening and being patient and taking our time that has been a
Greg:learning and a good surprise for me.
Greg:Something like I knew in my head.
Greg:But you know, they say the longest distance is between
Greg:the head and the heart.
Jon:And so I'm wondering how that actually translates for people that
Jon:participate in your, program.
Jon:The listening, the discernment process is not I'm gathering is not just
Jon:something that the facilitators do.
Jon:But is this, is this something you, that you're modeling and
Jon:teaching for folks that come there?
Greg:Yeah.
Greg:Yeah.
Greg:So our board meets this coming Saturday and we have intentionally
Greg:on our board, we have a.
Greg:Spiritual guide or director for our board.
Greg:So if we are going to talk about this is the way we want
Greg:to be, we need to live it too.
Greg:And a good chunk of the board time is spent after we've had
Greg:conversations around business or how we are invited to grow.
Greg:Like right now , we call it B D E I, belonging, diversity,
Greg:equity, and inclusion.
Greg:Really trying to pay attention to that.
Greg:So we'll give a good amount of time to that this Saturday.
Greg:Our board spiritual director will help lead that.
Greg:And then that kind of filters down that listening into our staff.
Greg:Our staff meetings always start off with a, a quote or a reflection
Greg:and then a listening piece.
Greg:And then that kind of infuses our staff meetings where we each have our roles and
Greg:responsibilities, but we collaborate with one another and it gets very creative.
Greg:And there'll be times when.
Greg:We have great ideas, but it's not time for those ideas yet.
Greg:And there's times when spirit moves among us and , yes, yes, it's time for that.
Greg:And then that even filters down into you're correct, our facilitators
Greg:where we meet and we intentionally have small group guidelines that
Greg:help form that safe, sacred space.
Greg:So that people feel comfortable to share when they're willing to share, which
Greg:then translates to hearing their own story and hearing other people's story
Greg:. It invites us to change or decide what
Greg:Mm-hmm.
Greg:Mm-hmm.
Lauren:So, Greg, as, as you were talking, one of the things that you
Lauren:said in your bio is that Well, for the Journey was a wellness center.
Lauren:How do, you describe spiritual wellness?
Greg:Yeah.
Greg:So I, I'm one and I think we here believe that we're all connected.
Greg:We're whole people.
Greg:So that includes the the emotional, mental, social, physical.
Greg:And what makes each of us unique is that we have our, spirit who we are.
Greg:So, and for me, I believe that is the thread that intertwines among all the
Greg:others and helps bring it all together.
Greg:So in our programming, we try to pay attention to that.
Greg:We have a class on intuitive eating coming up and and one
Greg:on intuitive cooking coming up.
Greg:So the idea of how we eat feed ourselves, our physical self plays a part in
Greg:our spiritual self and vice versa.
Greg:We have yoga classes, and again, we, we have classes where we're outside and
Greg:we have some woods in the back here.
Greg:We're located on the campus of the Church of the Holy Comforter.
Greg:There's some woods in the back where we will take walks in the woods through tree
Greg:space, our, a program called Tree Space.
Greg:So with time and space and silence and practice, we hope that that can
Greg:move down to the heart where it's kind of naturally lived out in the world.
Greg:And that is part of our, our mission and our vision and our hope
Greg:is that people who come here is, it just, just doesn't stay here.
Greg:But it's a change in transformation so that like you all are doing, It goes
Greg:out into the world and hopefully to transform the world and heal the world.
Greg:So that's for me the, the, how the spiritual part plays into the wellness
Greg:of all of who we are and hopefully the world too, our community and world.
Jon:Yeah, it sounds, it sounds like the Spirit sure has been
Jon:active in, in the work that you've done all these over these years.
Jon:I'm, wondering too if Well, for the Journey or you, yourself personally,
Jon:have encountered any obstacles along the way and what those might
Jon:be and how, you overcame them.
Greg:Yeah.
Greg:Yeah.
Greg:Another good question.
Greg:Well, both personally and, for the Well.
Greg:I think what moved me toward my contemplative way of being and helped
Greg:me discover that that's kind of who I am at, heart was an experience
Greg:when I was a teenager working with my uncle who was killed in a construction
Greg:accident that was right beside me.
Greg:I grew up in a very evangelical conservative tradition in South Carolina
Greg:where the thinking was dualistic, you know, black or white, right or wrong.
Greg:And that experience didn't fit in with that.
Greg:So that began my questioning and invitation into a deeper conversation and
Greg:relationship with, who I would call God.
Greg:And that has changed me for sure and invited me into exploration.
Greg:And compassion for others who may be in that same space who may be questioning
Greg:or I think the kind of code or fad word right now is deconstruction of
Greg:your faith and then a reconstruction.
Greg:So been through that for sure.
Greg:And the Well there's been some lean years for sure as we have grown.
Greg:And we, talk about ourselves as an organism instead of an organization,
Greg:something living and growing and breathing and, and that's what it's felt like.
Greg:There's been times when.
Greg:It is felt like we've been on the brink of like, oh, I'm not sure how financially
Greg:we're gonna be able to make it.
Greg:But it's again, for me, leaning back into what I learned personally and
Greg:what we're learning collectively here at the well is leaning into
Greg:and listening to, and not getting ahead of the Spirit in our movement.
Greg:I am not a pie in the sky kind of faith person, like, you know but that's, I guess
Greg:Lauren, you're asking, being surprised.
Greg:That's where I've been surprised too.
Greg:That being patient and waiting, and that's hard to do at times
Greg:or that waiting things have.
Greg:Come about and have happened, not in ways that we have thought, but they've
Greg:happened to help keep the Well sustained both financially and as a community
Greg:too, so with energy and synergy.
Jon:So there's faith and trust there as well as keeping a practical eye on things.
Greg:Oh, for sure.
Greg:And I think that's the bigger part of it all is the faith and the trust that
Greg:goes into waiting and listening and moving through the world in that way.
Greg:And that's a way of, for me, of being different in the world,
Greg:which you all, I'm sure you, you practice as well and know well too
Greg:as deacons of the Episcopal diocese.
Lauren:Is there anything else that you want to tell us about
Lauren:the the Well for the Journey?
Greg:We have a mobile well that we take out to other communities.
Greg:For example we recently started doing some programming out at
Greg:Mercy Ridge retirement community.
Greg:There's a Lutheran retirement community in Catonsville that
Greg:we're starting to work with.
Greg:We work with Villa Assumpta.
Greg:The School Sisters of Notre Dame mother house there we worked with
Greg:congregations and actually even some businesses to provide some programming.
Greg:But we also through grant grants that we've been able to obtain work with
Greg:places like Marion House in the city.
Greg:Marion House is a.
Greg:Organization that provides residential housing for women coming
Greg:off of addiction, incarceration and trying to learn skills to
Greg:get back out into the world
Greg:. We've connected with
Greg:We're having a free program for caregivers taking care of our
Greg:caregivers to help people out and, and minister to people in that way.
Greg:We have a clergy program that is a, as a clergy person,
Greg:myself, knowing the need for.
Greg:Self-care.
Greg:We wanted to provide just a space where clergy could come and
Greg:they don't have to do anything.
Greg:And be a part of someone facilitating a program for them.
Greg:So there's a lot of things like that.
Greg:August 6th, we're going to have a Well in the Woods, since we have some
Greg:woods here, just a community event where people can come and we'll have
Greg:some music and sit and, and their lawn chairs bring something to eat.
Greg:And just enjoy some time together . So we just want to provide things like
Greg:that for our community as well.
Greg:Again, all driven by that desire to help change the world through people coming
Greg:to be more aware of themselves and the, their connection with their spirit.
Greg:And I call it The, deep conversation with the Spirit Capital S and our little
Greg:spirit, that's always, I believe, always going on within us, and the goal is to
Greg:help me, help myself, and to help others become more aware of that conversation
Greg:and live out of that conversation.
Lauren:And it's so wonderful that you're taking it out to a
Lauren:broad range of the community.
Lauren:It really is developing relationships all around.
Greg:Yeah, and, and Jon, you mentioned earlier about the pandemic and online,
Greg:and that was one of the challenges for sure is when the pandemic first hit,
Greg:because we were not online at all.
Greg:And we have such a great staff here, they help pivot pretty
Greg:quickly and get us online.
Greg:And now, we have online programs and in person programs and we are not surprised
Greg:when we have registrants from Washington.
Greg:British Columbia, Puerto Rico the northeast southwest
Greg:southeast, all from all over.
Greg:So that's been a, a gift for us and, and something we do not take lightly,
Greg:and a responsibility that we, have.
Jon:So anyone anywhere in the world, English speaking person, I assume
Jon:can participate in programming from the Well, that's fantastic.
Jon:Yeah.
Greg:Yeah.
Greg:We had actually one time we did a online pilgrimage with a person
Greg:that portrays Harriet Tubman.
Greg:And with that we had someone from Liberia join us online that was deaf.
Greg:And so there was an interpreter on screen that was interpreting
Greg:for her while she was joining us.
Greg:And that was another surprising thing.
Greg:It was like, again, a gift to us.
Greg:I mean, it's not that we're just helping people live into transformation, but
Greg:that's the way it's supposed to be.
Greg:Right?
Greg:We're being transformed too.
Greg:I know.
Greg:It's a, it's a mutual thing.
Greg:So,
Lauren:so everyone is growing in the spirit.
Lauren:Well for the Journey, the community and worldwide, the, relationships
Lauren:that are being forged are bringing the world together.
Lauren:Together in the spirit so that we, really can have hope in our world.
Lauren:I mean, what I'm hearing from you and what the well offers is just a
Lauren:lot of hope, so I'm really grateful.
Greg:And it, thanks Lauren.
Greg:And, and that's funny that you mentioned that.
Greg:Well, maybe not funny, but if we talk about spirit moving that just,
Greg:we have another series that we do.
Greg:It's called Well Said, it's, actually our fundraiser, a speaker
Greg:series, and this past April we had Maria Broom, who's in the city.
Greg:So I see you shaking your head.
Greg:She was our guest speaker and it was on the Dance of Hope.
Greg:And you're exactly right.
Greg:It was trying to help bring hope into the world.
Greg:And so she did a wonderful job with, and then great questions
Greg:from those who were there.
Greg:To help us think more deeply about what hope means and when things seem hopeless
Greg:sometimes, or when we bump up against what seems like something that may not be
Greg:able to change like in our system, but, but hope is what helps us move toward
Greg:that and make that change to keep going.
Greg:So, yes, yes, hope.
Greg:Yep.
Jon:You, this is changing the world.
Jon:One person at a time, one heart at a time.
Jon:I mean, that's how I think that is how it's supposed to be.
Jon:So
Greg:yeah.
Greg:Jon, thank you.
Greg:Yes.
Greg:Yeah.
Jon:And so, Greg, I did notice your speakers in the past.
Jon:You have that on your website and it, looks like an amazing collection.
Jon:I'm just wondering, I know some of our listeners and viewers are
Jon:probably thinking, gosh, I'd like to learn more about the, Well, or,
Jon:I'd like to participate in some way, maybe volunteer or donate or attend
Jon:a program or suggest a program?
Jon:How, what's the best way for people to learn and to give?
Greg:Sure, sure.
Greg:We have a website, Well for the Journey.org.
Greg:So that's the best way to first start with us.
Greg:On that you're able to sign up.
Greg:We have a weekly e-newsletter comes out Wednesday evenings around seven o'clock.
Greg:That gives a list of what's coming up on the Well's docket what
Greg:programming we have coming up.
Greg:And also we have a weekday daily faith reflection that comes out at
Greg:6:00 AM . So when you get up, you're welcome to read that, and you can
Greg:sign up for the e-newsletter and for the daily faith reflection.
Greg:For free.
Greg:And it is just a quote that comes out in the morning, so
Greg:you can do that there as well.
Greg:And we have a Wellbeing Wednesday.
Greg:It's a weekly reflection through a call in.
Greg:It's just all you do is dial a number and you're on mute, and
Greg:all you have to do is listen.
Greg:It's at 8:00 AM on Wednesday mornings for 15 minutes.
Greg:And just hopefully to start your day that way.
Greg:And right now our theme is compassion and self-compassion.
Greg:And you can find out that information as well on the website.
Jon:Great.
Jon:Yeah.
Jon:So one place to go, Well for the Journey, and we'll put the link in the show
Jon:notes so people can find you easily.
Jon:And Greg, I've gotta tell you, this has just been, this has been great.
Jon:I feel I feel better.
Jon:I'm getting well.
Greg:Thank you all.
Greg:Truly, truly.
Greg:Thank you all for what you do as well, because again, Right.
Greg:It takes a village and when people like you work with others and get out
Greg:the word about others, like the Well and others places too that helps.
Greg:Right.
Greg:That one, one person at a time.
Greg:Well, thank you for what you both do.
Jon:Thanks so much for being here, Greg.
Greg:Oh, thank you.
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