Coffee with: Rev. Dr. Brian R. Rajcok

Avon Pastor explores "Spiritually Significant Psychedelic Experiences."

By Carl Wiser

Staff Writer

Photography by Carl Wiser and submitted

Pastor Brian (full title: Rev. Dr. Brian R. Rajcok, PhD), the lead pastor at St. Matthew Lutheran Church on Lovely Street in Avon, thinks psychedelics can be a pathway to the divine. 

“Psychedelics have been used for thousands of years for spiritual purposes,” he says. “It’s not just a discovery from the ‘60s. It goes back to the peyote ceremony, the ayahuasca ceremonies. And what can indigenous spiritualities teach Western people? That’s something I think could be really valuable.”

Pastor Brian with his white stole, which is worn during the season of Easter.

He was studying theology at Valparaiso University when a Native American Church peyote ceremony led him down this path. “That was the most amazing spiritual experience of my life,” he says. “After that, I knew I wanted to pursue some kind of higher education in psychedelic spirituality.”

After earning his Master of Divinity at Luther Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota, he got his PhD at Neumann University in Pennsylvania, where his dissertation was on “spiritually significant psychedelic experiences.”

Pastor Brian during a service at St. Matthew where they were closing the sanctuary before a renovation.

“I always had an interest in God, the universe, the mysteries of life,” he says. “That spiritual curiosity is really what drove me to want to be a pastor. The peyote ceremony fed that same curiosity, and when I was thinking about dissertation work, I knew that psychedelic-assisted therapy was becoming more well-known - there are FDA trials and things going on. One of the major reasons people believe it’s so helpful is that those who’ve been through this therapy say they had spiritual or mystical experiences, and that was such a prominent part of their healing.”

For his dissertation, Pastor Brian interviewed counselors, psychiatrists and social workers who had found some kind of healing or enlightenment through psychedelic experiences. One subject used ayahuasca to process childhood trauma; another found peace through the use of mushrooms. “As a pastor, I see those experiences as genuinely helpful for people’s spiritual growth, therapeutic healing, and psychological development,” he says.

This is fire extinguisher training for the staff led by the Avon Fire Department.

Centering Prayer

A big part of Pastor Brian’s personal practice is Centering Prayer, a form of Christian meditation he does twice a day. He describes it as “a prayer method which prepares a person to receive the gift of contemplation.”

“The practice itself involves sitting in silence for 20-30 minutes with the intention to consent to whatever the Holy Spirit will bring to your awareness during that time,” he says. “Before you begin, choose a sacred word which will be the symbol of your intention to dedicate these 20 minutes to God. Begin by gently saying the sacred word in your mind and rest in interior silence. Whenever you find yourself distracted or lost in thought, repeat the sacred word silently to yourself. After your time is up, remain in silence for a couple minutes before returning to your daily routine.”

Centering Prayer is relatively new - it was created by three monks in the 1970s - and integrates modern psychology. 

“It’s good to have that kind of daily practice to stay grounded,” Brian says. “And then if there’s a psychedelic experience that’s a real mountaintop spiritual moment, they complement each other - a daily practice and an occasional really deep spiritual experience. I think they work on the same healing dynamic, the same transformative dynamic.”

A Year of Discernment

Pastor Brian was born and raised in Bethlehem, the little town in Litchfield County where a lot of people mail their Christmas cards. In 2015, he became associate pastor at a Lutheran church in Cherryville, Pennsylvania, where he began work on his PhD. In January 2019, he moved to Avon and started at St. Matthew in that same role. 

Pastor Brian at the St. Matthew Trunk or Treat in October.

He finished his dissertation in 2022, the same year the senior pastor at St. Matthew (Pastor Julie) left. This was his “year of discernment,” when he considered becoming a professor or pursuing a career in psychedelics research and counseling.

“I was genuinely unsure - praying, weighing options, talking to people - and then it became clear that I’m called to stay here and continue the psychedelic spirituality work I care about, writing articles and so on. Then in March of 2023, I was called as the senior pastor. By that point everyone was aware of my research interests, and people are genuinely curious. People here have been very accepting. They’re a pretty open-minded group, spiritually curious, and interested in topics like psychedelic spirituality, Christian mysticism, world religions, science and religion, and consciousness.”

Finding an Elevated Spiritual State

A deeper experience of the divine, often achieved through psychedelics, can come in many forms. “It can be a mystical unity experience, or something more peaceful, or more joyful and energetic, or not even an emotional state but a more integrated devotion, a spiritual maturity that develops after the experience,” Pastor Brian says. “There’s both the experience itself and what follows. But I think the experience of the holy - however it forms - is what music facilitates, what chanting and drumming facilitate. And I think psychedelics can help facilitate that too.”

OK, but how does God fit into this?

“It’s all God, in its own way,” he says. “But sometimes it can be more about healing, the therapeutic experience, and that kind of breakthrough can come in a psychedelic experience. Some people might want a deeply religious, mystical experience and end up working through childhood trauma instead. That’s still something really healing and meaningful that will help them on their journey. Whenever that kind of experience comes, it’s always a gift we can’t really initiate in ourselves. It’s a gift of grace coming to us. But we can do practices to prepare ourselves to receive it.”

Meditation is a great place to start - Pastor Brian leads a centering prayer group on Zoom every Thursday at 2:00 p.m. that anyone can attend. Finding a retreat is more of a challenge, especially if you’re looking for psychedelics, which are illegal in most states, including Connecticut. 

“There are psilocybin retreats, some specifically Christian, some more interfaith,” Pastor Brian explains. “There’s also international options, like ayahuasca in South America, or going to the Netherlands or other places where psychedelics are legal. There are also legally protected churches in the United States - the Native American Church uses peyote - and there are ayahuasca churches. I’ve been to some of them, which has been a real blessing. Then there are groups that may not have gone through all the court cases and legal proceedings to be fully legitimized, but still meet, and that gets into more questionable legal territory. So I think pursuing the legally protected routes is the better option.

“There are efforts to decriminalize psilocybin now in Connecticut, so that’s hopeful. Being prepared to travel is part of it, but there are also retreats that don’t use psychedelics at all that can be really helpful. Some people look to the psychedelic as the key thing. I don’t. I see it as a tool to help you encounter the key thing, which is God - or the ultimate mystery, the ground of being.”

Getting to know Pastor Brian:

What do you like to do when you’re not working?

I love seeing my brother and his family, my niece and nephew, and my mom and dad down in Woodbury/Bethlehem. Spending time with family is a big one.

I follow sports a lot. I’m a big UConn Huskies fan, and also the Patriots and Red Sox. I love spending time outside. I read a lot. Between the reading and writing, I stay pretty well occupied. I don’t watch much TV. I had it for a month during March Madness to catch some basketball, but then I canceled it - I don’t have time to watch TV.

One big thing I like to do is travel. Last summer I had a sabbatical and finished off the continental 48 states - I needed 11 states and hit 13. I still need Hawaii and Alaska, but I’ve seen the rest. I’m going to Brazil later this month, which will be exciting.

What are some of your favorite places in the area?

Heublein Tower is really cool. Hiking up there and seeing the views is just beautiful.

I also do karate in Canton - Level Up Karate. I got my black belt when I was about 13 or 14, then took a long break. I got back into it a couple years ago after being away for about a decade.

What’s something you’d like to learn?

I went to Honduras this past February with our synod, and I really felt the desire to learn Spanish. In college I took Greek and Hebrew - the biblical languages - but I don’t really speak them. I can look at the words and use a lexicon, but that’s about it. So Spanish is a concrete goal.

And on a deeper level, I’d like to learn the truth about the universe. I’ve always had an interest in science and religion, quantum physics, astrophysics, and I read a lot of those kinds of books. I think what drives my spiritual curiosity is a desire for wisdom about reality. What is going on in this life? In this existence, this universe, this multiverse? That desire to understand the truth of reality is a real driving force in my life. Part of me recognizes that it’s probably beyond me, something I’ll never fully grasp. But that journey is a real and important part of my life.

Is there a book that had a big impact on you?

The first Thomas Keating book I read was called Manifesting God. It introduced me to centering prayer and contemporary Christian spiritual practice. His key book on centering prayer is Open Mind, Open Heart, but Manifesting God was a wonderful overview.

What would you like to accomplish in your time at St. Matthew?

I think about that a lot. In terms of research, I have concrete goals: write a book, publish articles. But what does accomplishment look like for a church? I really want to help people grow closer to God. I want to help people deepen their own spiritual journeys and cultivate an interest in digging deep in their relationship with God, what I like to call alignment with the divine flow of the universe.

Every pastor wants their church to grow in numbers - that’s quantitative growth. But there’s also qualitative growth, the deepening of spirituality for the people who are here. And I think one helps the other. I feel really called to deepen my own spiritual journey and help others to deepen theirs. That’s my big goal.

To join Brian’s centering prayer group or learn more about St. Matthew, visit https://www.stmatthewavon.org/ or call or email the office:

(860) 673-3301

office@stmatthewavon.org