The First Church of Integral - Farewell to the Boulder Integral Center, 2007 - 2019

By Jeff Salzman

In September 2007, I along with partners Nomali Perera, Ross Hostetter and Jason Lange, co-founded Boulder Integral in a sweet old church in Boulder, Colorado. Four years later our group passed the baton to Robert MacNaughton and his team, who renamed it The Integral Center.

The Integral Center hosted thousands of people from all over the world at hundreds of retreats and events.

Although our approaches were different, Robert’s and my goals were the same: first, to provide a bricks-and-mortar center for the study and practice of integral theory, attracting integral teachers and practitioners from all over the world. The second goal was to create a place for local integral enthusiasts in Colorado to take root and grow into … well, whatever a community of integralists can grow into.

After a dozen years of significant success in the first goal and many wild and wooly attempts at the second, our integral adventure has come to an end. Or, better yet, it goes forward, as the fire of integral consciousness that was lit and continues to shine through the many thousands of people who sojourned to the Integral Church.

In this conversation, Robert and I commiserate and commemorate the life of the Boulder Integral Center, and share some of the lessons we learned from our intense, surprising and ultimately fruitful experiment in integral community-building.

Robert MacNaughton is a leadership consultant and facilitator who specializes in the fields of Integral business and experiential education. Robert focuses on supporting leaders with execution strategies, designing work culture, and navigating interpersonal conflict both personally and professionally.

Robert is leading an Aletheia, Integral Circling Intensive in Boulder, June 21-23rd. This Aletheia is unique in that it’s limited to only 8 participants. Learn more and apply here: http://integralcentered.com/Aletheia.