We’re so glad you’re here, taking the time to learn about Wayfaring Companions.

Through our work as spiritual companions, we kept hearing these themes of pain emerging: 

  • “I am struggling with low energy, even while desiring to see justice, equity, and healing.” 
  • “I am struggling to find vocabulary for spiritual awakening and mystical experience.”
  • “I am struggling to be present to the internal and external reality of life.” 
  • “I feel called to action but I am overwhelmed or unable to find a place for this calling.”

If you have experienced these themes in your life, you’re certainly not alone. Many of us don’t know where to turn when these thoughts come up. We start to look around for people who are open to talking about our experiences, without judgment or quick fixes. 

Spiritual companionship offers people a safe space to wrestle with questions so they can move toward:

  • harnessing a benevolent force, Spirit, or energy moving through all things;
  • being at peace with something that can be partially known but cannot be fully known; 
  • practicing noticing and developing consciousness;
  • working up the nerve to be authentic and take bold action for the greater good.

We saw both the impact of spiritual companionship, the increasing need for companions, and we were meeting folks who felt called to more unconventional forms of spiritual support. 

These points converged, inspiring us to create Wayfaring Companions…

To educate and empower individuals in the craft of spiritual companionship so that they may help others, through deep listening, to bring inner wisdom to their own lives, rippling out to their relationships, their communities, and the world. 

Our style is playful, adventurous, and communal. In all our offerings: training retreats, webinars, or self-paced content, we seek to connect companions, foster lively discussions, share meaningful literature, cultivate curiosity, and engage experiential learning opportunities. 

Consistent with our understanding of spiritual companionship, we honor what each person brings to a gathering, trusting collective wisdom more than our individual knowledge. 

The seeds of Wayfaring Companions were sown when we (Matthew Johnson, Wendi Bernau and Ryan Roth-Klinck) began working together on a spiritual direction project at a nonprofit in 2017. This project focused specifically on intentional Christian communities. 

We discovered that there was a special kind of synergy, an x-factor, coming from the combination of our talents, energies and experiences. What else might we be able to do as a team? 

In addition, we could already see a place for spiritual companionship outside of formal Christian community settings and we wanted to make it available to a broader range of people. 

Everything came together when we launched Wayfaring Companions.

The work of a Wayfaring Companion draws upon four core elements: Vitality, Mystery, Presence, and Moxie. When integrated together a Wayfaring Companion discerns Vitality, honors Mystery, practices Presence, and embodies Moxie. Furthermore, they know how to companion others as they seek to do the same. 

Here is a thumbnail of each of those elements (to read a brief article about each one, click the link):  

  • Vitality is a benevolent energy, Divine grace, moving through all things toward the greater good.
  • Mystery, as it relates to the Divine, is something that can be partially known but not fully known. 
  • Presence is the ability to remain calm and firmly rooted in the moment.
  • Moxie is embodied when we authentically take bold action for the greater good. 

These four elements serve as bridges, upon which people can move toward wholeness. 

  • Vitality can help us move from languishing with low energy toward harnessing the energy of the Spirit for the greater good. 
  • Mystery can help us move from struggling to find vocabulary for spiritual awakening toward peace with the unknown. 
  • Presence moves us from being asleep internally and externally in life toward noticing and developing consciousness. 
  • Moxie moves us from being stuck in our call to action toward being able to take bold action for the greater good. 

The world is longing to be heard. Are you being invited to listen? 

  • Learn more about our Spiritual Companionship training program
  • Inquire about meeting with one of us as your spiritual companion 
  • Learn more about what makes Wayfaring Companions different from other spiritual direction programs. 

*Wayfaring Companions gratefully operates in association with The Neighboring Movement – our fiscal sponsor.