Our rally cry is to raise moms to new heights, arm in arm, side-by-side.

Here at The MomCo by MOPS International, we are on a mission to call moms to elevate themselves and motherhood, and ultimately, help them to find freedom in Jesus.

Our mission isn’t changing… we are renaming to be better able to fulfill our mission.

From MOPS to The MomCo

Ten years ago, we began to discover challenges with our name. The acronym MOPS immediately conjures a vision of cleaning supplies, which was increasingly derailing compelling conversations about the value of a mothering community. The context of the phrase “mothers of preschoolers” has narrowed over the past 10-15 years to mean only moms who have “3-5-year-olds who attend school”, not the broader inclusion of all moms with children ages newborn to 5, that it previously meant in our society. As we expand globally, the name “MOPS” is not often translatable, and when it is has extremely negative connotations. For example, in German MOPS at best, means “mother of pugs” or, at worst, is derogatory slang for breast – not ideal for a mothering organization.

In 2017, our board commissioned our staff to begin an extensive research journey. We conducted focus groups, pastor interviews, meetings with branding experts and other non-profits to determine if our name was becoming a barrier to our mission of engaging moms with the message of Jesus. We asked thousands of questions and spent intense hours in prayer, seeking God’s direction at each decision point. As we compiled all the feedback, it became clear that as God has grown this ministry and the organization has expanded, we have outgrown the name MOPS.

And at that point, we mourned because the thought of a name change felt sad and scary. There is so much legacy connected with the name. But we also knew that we needed to be brave if we wanted to continue to be the pioneering movement that God created us to be. So, we said Yes. And we also started asking God for the perfect new name that would lead us into our next 50 years.

We had three goals for the new name:

Our mission remains the same as it was in 1973 when seven women gathered in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. Our focus on Jesus is at the forefront of all we do. Our mission is not changing. The only change is a name refresh that brings more clarity about what we do.

The central focus of MOPS has always been to create a mom community that provides opportunities to encounter Jesus. We were pioneering mom community with this mission, the first of its kind.

We grew a U.S. based mom community into a global mom community, a military mom community, a mentor mom community, a MomsNext mom community, a teen mom community and even an online mom community. Our specialty is creating a transformational mom community. Therefore, our new name is shorthand for The Mom Community.

Announcing The MomCo by MOPS International.

THIS IS MOTHERHOOD

As a mom community, we:

Raise our kids & one another.

Boldly elevate motherhood.

Embrace the unexpected & imperfect.

Understand our direction is more important than our speed.

Celebrate often & loudly.

Know every mom has a place with us.

Follow Jesus and invite others to journey with us.

Who We Are

JESUS FOLLOWERS

We are compelled by the movement of Jesus Christ and invite others to explore their own faith journey toward him.

John 14:6

KNOWN BY WHAT WE ARE FOR

We look to Jesus’ footsteps for how to walk through the world, which allows us to be radically gracious in expression and association.

Matthew 22:36-40

ADVOCATES

We are passionate proponents for the value of motherhood and the influence of women.

Proverbs 31:8-9

SISTERHOOD CULTIVATORS

We build circles of women who love each other like family because we believe in the transformative potential of relationships and mentoring.

Hebrews 10:25

KINGDOM ENTHUSIASTS

We believe in God’s redemptive work in the world which encourages us to be playful in spirit, generous at heart, and faith-filled in confession.

Matthew 6:33

MULTILINGUAL

We lead communication of a timeless message to a culture of many voices, dialects and backgrounds.

1 Corinthians 9:22

EXPANSIVE

Every mom has a place with us. We uphold a boldness of inclusion because we know there is room for a vast collage of women who thirst for Jesus.

Luke 5:31-32

Rebrand Timeline

From September to April, you’ll see us gradually change over to The MomCo

September 8

REBRAND ANNOUNCEMENT

November 7

MOMCON WEBSITE LAUNCHES

February 13

SOCIAL MEDIA CHANGES TO THE MOMCO

March 26

THE MOMCO WEBSITE LAUNCHES

August 2024

MOPS GROUPS BECOME MOMCO MEETUPS

Rebrand Timeline

From September to April, you’ll see us gradually change over to The MomCo

Color Spot _3

September 8

REBRAND ANNOUNCEMENT

Color Spot _1

November 7

MOMCON WEBSITE LAUNCHES

Color Spot _2

February 13, 2024

SOCIAL MEDIA CHANGES

Color Spot _4

March 26, 2024

THE MOMCO WEBSITE LAUNCHES
Color Spot _5

August 2024

MOPS GROUPS BECOME MOMCO MEETUPS

FAQ

Our mission remains the same as it was in 1973 when seven women gathered in Wheat Ridge, Colorado. Our focus on Jesus is at the forefront of all we do. Our mission is not changing. The only change is a name refresh that brings more clarity about what we do.   

No, our Statement of Christain Character, Statement of Faith, Ministry Values and We Are Statements remain unchanged.  

“Co” in The MomCo is always short for Community.  

Due to trademark limitations, we must stick with “MomCo” when referring to the brand. 

The word “company” began as description for a “large group of people” and over time morphed into our modern concept that offers “company” as an employer. We reclaim the early French word “compagnie” which is defined as “society, friendship, intimacy” which is interchangeable with community.  

The central focus of MOPS has always been to create a mom community that provides opportunities to encounter Jesus. We began as the pioneering mom community with this mission, the first of its kind.   

MOPS groups will transition to The MomCo Meetups by the Fall 2024.  

As we have done with the MOPS name, we ask that all MOPS groups use The MomCo brand name in your own meetup name.  We want your name to represent the uniqueness of your community, so we only offer suggestions for how to best name your meetup.  
ex: The MomCo of Cookeville, MomCo of Cookeville, or Cookeville MomCo 

We are asking all MOPS Groups to transition to The MomCo brand name no later than Fall 2024.   

Thank you for joining the The MomCo! We are excited to walk alongside you during this transition. We will be by your side every step of the way! We will offer a series of webinars and open forums over the coming months to help resource all of our leaders for these changes. We’ve posted several videos on mops.org/themomco to help tell the story of the rebrand. We encourage you to share this page as questions come up. If you are a coordinator, please reach out to your cohort leader for any questions. If you are a church, leader or mom, please connect with us at service@mops.org. 

Yes, we will be sunsetting the term “MOMSnextin the future. The new name was carefully chosen to be inclusive of all moms. We recognize that we had outgrown our name and were unintentionally excluding moms with the term “mothers of preschoolers”. We offer belonging for all moms. We serve pregnant moms through moms of school-aged kids, but now under one name. 

Yes, when you have available today will continue to be accessible when we launch the new website in April of 2023. Most importantly, we are overhauling the “Finda A Group” process to make it easier.  

These trademarked names are still held by The MomCo.  

Yes, mops.org/themomco is designed to be your hub of information and resources to share. Please share this page with anyone seeking more information. 

The MomCo name and brand is designed with every country in mind. The only change for our Global moms is that if you live in the United Kingdom, Australia or selected countries in Africa, the name is The MumCo.  

The short answer, both. Treat “MomCo” as a noun that can stand alone with “the” in many cases. However, if you do have a “the” proceeding “MomCo,” capitalize the “the.” Both versions are trademarked and so either is acceptable. You will see logos and products using both versions.
The term “MOMSnext” will be sunset in the next few years. As groups consider naming their MomCo Meetups, we encourage leaders to update their affinities and group descriptions to highlight the demographics their meetups serve. We recognize that some groups meet together as MOPS & MOMSnext, while other groups meet separately. Either option is still available. Please determine what best serves your community.  We encourage leaders to consider adding additional groups to broaden the audiences they serve. Starting in April of 2023, any group leader can add a group to their church (or host organization) for free inside Group Management. We would encourage Cohort Leaders to demonstrate the ability to add groups for free and to edit their groups affinities and descriptions.
The proper designation in the new naming convention is “meetup,” you’ll see HQ begin to migrate all uses of “group” to “meetup.”
We suggest leaders begin planning their rebrand in February, this will allow ample time to launch pre-registration for the upcoming year under the new brand.

Press Release

MOPS International announces Rebrand at 50th Anniversary Event 
For Release Sept 8, 2023 

MOPS International, a Denver-based Christian ministry providing a mom community to mothers of young children around the globe, announced on Friday that it will rebrand to “TheMomCo by MOPS International” in Spring 2024 at the start of the new ministry planning year.  

President and CEO Mandy Arioto announced the news to a crowd of 5,000 MOPS leaders, mentors and member moms in Chicago for the annual leadership conference. 

“The steadfast piece of MOPS has always been to create a mom community that offers mothering resources and the opportunity to encounter Jesus. We were the pioneering mom community with this mission in the 1970s. We grew to a USA-reach mom community and then into a global mom community, a military mom community, a mentor mom community, a MOMSnext mom community, a working mom community and even an online mom community. We introduce moms to Jesus through mom community, where moms of little ones can thrive. Therefore, our new name is shorthand for The MomCommunity. We are ‘The MomCo by MOPS International!’” 

Two of the Denver women who founded MOPS in 1973 endorsed the news via video message: 

“MOPS has always been a safe place to admit you have needs,” stated Maxine Schideler.  

“God, you have done such work, and you can tell he’s not done yet, at all,” commented Jan Horner.  

“Get ready for something new,” commented Jan Horner.   

Also, voicing support for the rebrand were current and former leaders and employees of the 50-year-old women’s ministry that has groups in all 50 states across America and in 75 countries around the world, with materials translated into 20 languages. The group initially focused only on MOPS (Mothers Of Preschoolers), meaning mothers with children younger than age 5. Now, it includes gatherings of moms of school-age children through a subgroup called MomsNext, and has a mentoring role for moms in later seasons. 

“Essentially, we have outgrown our original acronym” explained Arioto. “Our board and staff have been aware for nearly 10 years that there was a growing disconnect between our name and our actual reach, and confusion regarding “who is a mom of preschoolers,” as more children start school early. Moms of newborns were not understanding that our groups included them and moms with school-aged children requested the additional reach into those next mothering years. Pastors wanted a more intuitive connection to serving the mothers of their communities that did not imply mopping a floor! All of this and translation challenges impacting our global groups, led us to consider updating our name to fully reflect who we are and what we do while still retaining our legacy.”  

“Our mission has not changed” added board chairman, Greg Bowlin. “We still exist to encourage and equip moms of young children to reach their potential as moms, women and leaders, in relationship with Jesus and in partnership with the local church. We will continue this trusted partnership with churches around the world as we move into the next 50 years. This new name is built on a strong legacy of biblical integrity and community building.”  

MOPS leaders and churches will be receiving all the transition information they need over the next few months, and “The MomCo by MOPS International” will be implemented by all MOPS groups starting in April 2024.  

For more information or to schedule interviews, please contact Kelly Williams at kwilliams@mops.org