Who We Are
We are senior church leaders learning to grow in Christ together. We are youth leaders learning to Be Jesus to our students together. We are praise leaders learning to worship our Father together. We are prayer warriors learning to enter the King's throne room together. We are Anglicans and Baptists. We are Churches of Christ and Assemblies of God. We are Methodists and Friends. We are, above all else, lovers of Jesus Christ learning to pursue His Kingdom through unity.
History of Unity in Northeast Ohio
The movement today known as Unity of Northeast Ohio (UNO) is truly an answer to prayer. In late summer of 2006, Gordon Densmore, a retired pastor working for Pastor Care Network, started getting a vision of churches “put[ing] aside [their] own pet platforms for a time and seek the Lord together in Harmony, Unity and Maturity”.
In coordination with pastors such as Kelly Irish (St. Anne’s Anglican Church, Madison), Bob Higgins (Here’s Hope Baptist, Madison) and others, a letter was sent to area pastors to come together at the Lantern (Madison) on August 10, 2006.
About 13 gathered that day to pray together and be challenged by Gordon’s message. He challenged the group to:
Get on board with His plan & purpose.
To build His Kingdom.
To help prepare our people for His return.
Out of that meeting the group committed to gathering together regularly to pray. They crafted a prayer that would be central to its purpose:
“Lord, we pray for a God-given, Jesus centered, Holy Spirit empowered move of Yours. Such a move that will send Your fire on us. That it would:
FALL on us with your Manifest Presence;
FILL us with Your mighty power;
FIRE us with your merciful Passion to save the lost, heal the sick and deliver the oppressed.
Lord, not just a spark – not just a little flame of revival here and there. But we dare pray for Your Fire to fall on this whole area of Northeastern Ohio.
And, Lord, let it begin with me”
Coupled with the regular pastors’ prayer time came several praise evenings called Concerts in the Park held in downtown Madison in the summer of 2007.
At the same time there was another prayer gathering happening among pastors in the Mentor area called Transformation Lake County. Led by pastors Don Knipp (Christian L.I.F.E, Mentor), Jeff Sivyer (now at The Grove, Painesville), Jim Porostosky (Lakeshore Assembly of God), Gayle Neuman (Jubilant Remnant) and Fred Golding (Living Waters, Mentor), this group gathered local clergy together regularly for prayer dating back to 2006.
Likewise a group of pastors in the Painesville area started gathering together for prayer in 2007. Led by Pastors Pete McCurdy (1st Baptist of Painesville), Jeff Pierce (Leroy Community Chapel, Leroy) and others, the group began rotating their meetings to several churches in the area and praying on a monthly basis. In the fall of 2008, this group held a weekend event in Painesville that brought many churches together for a weekend of praise.
Incredibly, all of these groups were unaware of each other.
In the early spring of 2008, David Negin, a local middle school teacher and basketball coach, had a vision to get churches together. He put together a team of lay leaders from 5 area churches to organize a praise night in April at Cornerstone Friends Church in Madison. During the planning of the event, the group was introduced to the many Madison area pastors who had been praying for 2 years.
Over 500 people attended from at least a dozen local churches. The message was clear from God through His people who showed that night: “we must do more of this, please!” The planning group decided to stay together after the night and called itself Unity in the Community.
After organizing a praise event in the Madison Square later that summer, the Unity in the Community group embraced a posture of “let’s sit back and see what God wants to do with this.” A few months later Rev. McCurdy, a Madison resident himself, heard about the movement in Madison and made a phone call. The connection spurred another praise night in Madison in May 2009 at Madison High School, which drew over 900 people. Combining the Madison and Painesville area groups together, the group renamed itself Unity in Northeast Ohio, or UNO.
Another praise event (UNO Praise: Trust the Word) happened in October 2009, where 1400 people from at least 50 area churches gathered at the Mentor Fine Arts Center. Pastors from 16 churches delivered passages from the Word of God, dozens of area mission agencies filled the hallways and praise leaders from several area churches lead praise that night. Of all that occurred that night the most important piece was launching the vision to begin serving together and taking the love of God into the community.
Northeast Ohio Convoy of Hope was launched.
The summers of 2010, 2011, and 2012 saw thousands of God’s people (from over 60 churches each year) partner with many community service agencies to serve thousands; free groceries, clothes, haircuts, pet supplies, dental and medical checkups and much more. Hundreds of people made decisions to trust Christ and get connected to local churches.
Throughout the years a Steering Team was formed to guide the UNO movement. After much prayer, a statement of faith as well as a mission statement was established to help lead this move of God:
UNO exists to pursue Unity for the sake of revival and the fame of Jesus.
Within UNO we recognize that relationship is the foundation of revival: relationship first with our Father through Jesus and second with our brothers and sisters in Christ. We still have weekly prayer meetings of local church leaders with a new prayer gathering having launched in the Willoughby area in the spring of 2013. We have churches joining to do mission in poverty areas within our area. We have seen the church come together to serve the youth in our schools and community. Local leaders in youth, praise, prayer, outreach, etc., have begun meeting throughout the year to pray and collaborate with each other. From this foundation of deep relationships UNO has also been able to support local churches who have experienced some tough times.
While our pursuit of Unity does not guarantee revival, we anticipate great things to continue as we come together in One Accord, humbly seeking our Father’s Kingdom.
In coordination with pastors such as Kelly Irish (St. Anne’s Anglican Church, Madison), Bob Higgins (Here’s Hope Baptist, Madison) and others, a letter was sent to area pastors to come together at the Lantern (Madison) on August 10, 2006.
About 13 gathered that day to pray together and be challenged by Gordon’s message. He challenged the group to:
Get on board with His plan & purpose.
To build His Kingdom.
To help prepare our people for His return.
Out of that meeting the group committed to gathering together regularly to pray. They crafted a prayer that would be central to its purpose:
“Lord, we pray for a God-given, Jesus centered, Holy Spirit empowered move of Yours. Such a move that will send Your fire on us. That it would:
FALL on us with your Manifest Presence;
FILL us with Your mighty power;
FIRE us with your merciful Passion to save the lost, heal the sick and deliver the oppressed.
Lord, not just a spark – not just a little flame of revival here and there. But we dare pray for Your Fire to fall on this whole area of Northeastern Ohio.
And, Lord, let it begin with me”
Coupled with the regular pastors’ prayer time came several praise evenings called Concerts in the Park held in downtown Madison in the summer of 2007.
At the same time there was another prayer gathering happening among pastors in the Mentor area called Transformation Lake County. Led by pastors Don Knipp (Christian L.I.F.E, Mentor), Jeff Sivyer (now at The Grove, Painesville), Jim Porostosky (Lakeshore Assembly of God), Gayle Neuman (Jubilant Remnant) and Fred Golding (Living Waters, Mentor), this group gathered local clergy together regularly for prayer dating back to 2006.
Likewise a group of pastors in the Painesville area started gathering together for prayer in 2007. Led by Pastors Pete McCurdy (1st Baptist of Painesville), Jeff Pierce (Leroy Community Chapel, Leroy) and others, the group began rotating their meetings to several churches in the area and praying on a monthly basis. In the fall of 2008, this group held a weekend event in Painesville that brought many churches together for a weekend of praise.
Incredibly, all of these groups were unaware of each other.
In the early spring of 2008, David Negin, a local middle school teacher and basketball coach, had a vision to get churches together. He put together a team of lay leaders from 5 area churches to organize a praise night in April at Cornerstone Friends Church in Madison. During the planning of the event, the group was introduced to the many Madison area pastors who had been praying for 2 years.
Over 500 people attended from at least a dozen local churches. The message was clear from God through His people who showed that night: “we must do more of this, please!” The planning group decided to stay together after the night and called itself Unity in the Community.
After organizing a praise event in the Madison Square later that summer, the Unity in the Community group embraced a posture of “let’s sit back and see what God wants to do with this.” A few months later Rev. McCurdy, a Madison resident himself, heard about the movement in Madison and made a phone call. The connection spurred another praise night in Madison in May 2009 at Madison High School, which drew over 900 people. Combining the Madison and Painesville area groups together, the group renamed itself Unity in Northeast Ohio, or UNO.
Another praise event (UNO Praise: Trust the Word) happened in October 2009, where 1400 people from at least 50 area churches gathered at the Mentor Fine Arts Center. Pastors from 16 churches delivered passages from the Word of God, dozens of area mission agencies filled the hallways and praise leaders from several area churches lead praise that night. Of all that occurred that night the most important piece was launching the vision to begin serving together and taking the love of God into the community.
Northeast Ohio Convoy of Hope was launched.
The summers of 2010, 2011, and 2012 saw thousands of God’s people (from over 60 churches each year) partner with many community service agencies to serve thousands; free groceries, clothes, haircuts, pet supplies, dental and medical checkups and much more. Hundreds of people made decisions to trust Christ and get connected to local churches.
Throughout the years a Steering Team was formed to guide the UNO movement. After much prayer, a statement of faith as well as a mission statement was established to help lead this move of God:
UNO exists to pursue Unity for the sake of revival and the fame of Jesus.
Within UNO we recognize that relationship is the foundation of revival: relationship first with our Father through Jesus and second with our brothers and sisters in Christ. We still have weekly prayer meetings of local church leaders with a new prayer gathering having launched in the Willoughby area in the spring of 2013. We have churches joining to do mission in poverty areas within our area. We have seen the church come together to serve the youth in our schools and community. Local leaders in youth, praise, prayer, outreach, etc., have begun meeting throughout the year to pray and collaborate with each other. From this foundation of deep relationships UNO has also been able to support local churches who have experienced some tough times.
While our pursuit of Unity does not guarantee revival, we anticipate great things to continue as we come together in One Accord, humbly seeking our Father’s Kingdom.