October 25, 2018
Since the beginnings of UNCO in 2010, we have held fifteen UNCO gatherings, supported over ten new ministries, created both digital and physical space for conversations around innovative ministry and the future of the church, and countless side conversations about unicorns, Star Wars, and naked mole rats.
Over the course of these almost ten years, the vision of UNCO grew, shifted, and changed, just like Twitter (where many of these initial conversations began). Over two hundred people have been involved and attended an UNCO gathering!
Part of the beauty of being innovative and on the cutting edge of ministry is recognizing when our needs have shifted. The UNCO Board spent significant time at its retreat following UNCO West 2018 considering the passion that initially united us and the needs of our community now.
In those conversations, it became clear that while the community we have formed is still greatly needed (we can’t find any other space doing this as well as UNCO), the formal structure of a board is repetitive and unnecessary.
The UNCO Board has therefore voted to dissolve the corporation of UNCO. This will take approximately 6-12 months. We know there will be questions. In the next two months, we will share additional information and clarity about the details of that transition.
The two central passions of UNCO continue to be open-space gatherings and the community that is created through them, in person and online.
We hope that UNCO-style Gatherings will continue! The website will transform over the next few months into a resource with the information on how to lead an UNCO-style gathering hosted by other groups. There are many within our community who have the skills necessary to move forward with this generative conversation model without an official UNCO structure.
We have also voted to hire a community director to help build and facilitate our online conversations during this transition, and continue this vital part of who we are.
We know this news will bring grief. We love UNCO, this community, and the place it has held in our lives. We know many were saddened when UNCO East was cancelled this year due to lack of registrations. As we grieve the fulfillment of this chapter, we pray that this celebration of our shared passion will inspire new mission.
Following a very successful UNCO West, the Board felt that this was a good time to re-connect with our initial passion and move forward in a positive way.
UNCO is not going away. Just the formal structure, board meetings, reports, minutes, tax forms, and all that stuff will end, so we can keep doing what we love, with the people we love, and with the original purpose we still believe in: to provide open space for and about the future of the church.
We appreciate your prayers, your concern, your tears, as well as gifs and jokes as we enter this new chapter of UNCO.
Sincerely,
UNCO Board of Directors