Meet the Team

Aaron Bjerke

Head Pastor

A letter from the Pastor:

Having served our city as a pastor for more than ten years, I’ve come to understand many New Yorkers share a desire to find spiritual remedies for life’s everyday challenges. Our home is full of conflicting forces; it’s a myriad of grand opportunities and overstimulating priorities, and we long to find inner peace and achieve wholeness in the midst of it all. We want authentic spiritual experiences, but sometimes aren’t sure where to begin, what’s real, and what works.

I stepped into ministry in 2008, when I began serving as a pastoral intern, attending seminary and studying under veteran New York City pastor Tim Keller. I was ordained in 2013, and loved serving my community as an Assistant Pastor and Community Group Director at Redeemer Presbyterian Church East Side.

In November of 2018 my faith journey took a new direction. I developed a deep longing to experience God in fresh, unexpected ways. As a result I cultivated new rhythms of prayer, stillness and silence, through which I learned to connect with the Divine more deeply than I ever had before. That journey birthed the foundation on which we are now gathering a new community called The Well.

Together with my wife Erica, our children Joshua and Amelia and our amazing team, I look forward to welcoming you into our community.

If you find yourself searching for spiritual significance or desiring to draw closer to the Divine One, my sincere hope is that you’ll come to The Well and experience God for yourself in fresh, new ways.

Alison Maddox

Worship Director

Alison has led musical worship for over 15 years in various churches, gatherings, and retreats.

Passionate about the arts as a spiritual ministry, she is a singer/songwriter at The Well and has her own music label.

We asked Alison why she "does music" and this is what she shared:

For hope and for beauty.

Because I believe there's beauty in a lot of things, and not just in stuff like white and lace and rainbows. There's beauty in deep, soul-wrenching questions and doubts, there's beauty in the messy problems that keep you awake at night.

Because I've realized that life isn't just what's here on the surface, there's more.

Because I want to bring people to things in life that are beyond the daily grind. The world is complex and beautiful.

Because the soul needs feeding, too.

 
Alison and her husband, James, who is also a singer/songwriter and producer, live in Brooklyn together. 

Allison Woodfin

Children's Program Director

Allison has worked with kids for over 12 years. From churches and youth groups to refugee camps and inner city ministry. Allison seeks to walk alongside the next generation, providing resources and opportunities so they can be the best version of themselves.

In addition to serving at The Well, Allison is the Communications Manager at Street2Street, her family's non-profit, serving kids through basketball programs, tutoring, and mentorship. Allison lives with her sister and their rescue dog, Chance! 

Sarah McShane

Hospitality & Operations Manager

Sarah grew up going to church with her family every Sunday. It was there that she discovered her love of singing which led to a successful career in musical theatre.

While continuing her musical passion and raising a family, Sarah strives to live up to The Well’s mission by creating a space for all New Yorkers on Sunday mornings, at any point in their spiritual journey, to feel welcome and a sense of community.

And Also...

The Well was co-planted by Christa Chi and incorporated as a 501(c)(3) non-profit on September 23, 2019. Christa has since followed her calling into bi-vocational ministry.  At Hope for New York, she inspires acts of compassion and generosity to bring restoration and renewal to our city while continuing to help New Yorkers find their oasis and place to call home as a real estate broker at Elegran