Our History
Who We Are Our History Meet Our Leaders Values What We Believe
Ryan and Paul had known each other for years. In 2004, while Ryan was working at a church in Woodbury, Minnesota and Paul at a church in Lakewood, Colorado, they kept in contact regularly. Through this conversation, they realized that although they loved the churches they were serving, they needed to be doing something different. Through much prayer, Ryan and Paul believed they needed to remain in full-time ministry but also work full-time "normal" jobs within the community.
So, after completing their seminary education, they were ordained and called by the Texas District of the LCMS to come back to Texas and do just that. They worked for a year at a local home improvement store, just "doing life" with the people they had met within the community.
This is how The Well began; people just started to meet. It began as a community of people - some of whom were Christians, some of whom were not.
The gatherings at The Well began in Ryan's backyard. They involved hanging out, playing volleyball, eating, and very candid, honest talks about who Jesus is.
Ryan and Paul then started working at schools in the Hays CISD and The Well started to meet at a rented facility. Soon, people started to consider The Well to be their family. God continues to overcome barriers, stereotypes, and even self-images by drawing people (even those who consider themselves unlikely followers of Jesus) to himself.
About the name..."The Well" is a name inspired by Jesus' meeting with woman as she fills her water jar at a well. Jesus overcomes barriers of ethnicity, social status, and gender to compassionately, gently, yet unabashedly talk with the woman about her life and offer her the freedom that only he can give. The woman went to the well that day to quench her physical thirst, but walked away with the answer to her spiritual thirst. The Well seeks to do what Jesus did: overcome barriers of ethnicity, social status, gender, and anything else to love people and live in honest, real relationships that are founded on the humble, selfless, diligent, relentless, rugged love that is in Jesus.