What makes a group effective?

A friend went to UNCO (short for Unconference) to see how it worked. She had been a part of numerous “future of the church” conferences who paid the best and the brightest speakers and leaders to impart their wisdom. Everyone attended and talked about how the church was changing. They took notes and went home and tried to implement their ideas in their congregations. Though the gatherings were informative, they didn’t translate to much action.

“What’s so unique is that UNCO is getting things done,” she said as we walked around the rooms during free time. Pastors were breaking pots and gluing them back together into different forms and sculptures--a spiritual practice that Katie Mulligan taught us. “How does it happen?”

It was a great question and one I’ve been asked many times. UNCO has been meeting since 2010. We’re a gathering of church leaders, from all different denominations and non-denominations. Out of the three intense days that we spend with one another, we have become a laboratory, creating different ministries, communities and projects. For instance, when church planters realized that they needed a different way of raising money, they began IMP. (I wrote about the Innovative Ministry Percolator in my column recently.) When we felt a hole in publishing, because there were so few practical books for entrepreneurial ministries, we began Unshelved. (We will be publishing our first book in May.) When we felt frustration because pastors weren’t getting the pastoral care that they needed, they formed Unburdened. Some of the participants go home and start ministries with their denominations or other partners, but find a support network of like-minded people at UNCO.