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mission shaped church
However, a more important factor in the way that church planting developed
was what was in the minds of church people, and the assumptions they
carried about inherited models of church.
maturity matters
In the 15 years of Anglican Church Planting Conferences, seminars on
`maturing church plants' were always well attended. Such issues were the
frequent subject of individual consultancy and even specialized additional
conferences.
Looking back, there has been a tendency for the life and vitality of fresh
expressions of church to be unduly influenced either by the controlling
instincts of `mother' churches, insecurity among incumbents in those
churches or by a change of incumbent. Sometimes there was lack of vision
in a diocese to see that a planted church could cease to be an `interesting
experiment', or a `mission project', and be welcomed as a fully fledged
member church of the diocese. The language and image of mother and
daughter churches was rejected in favour of sending and sent churches.
death after life
Not everything that was born in the flurry of church planting of the early
1990s survived. Frequent causes of failure included poor planning,
leadership issues, inward looking focus, cultural blindness, part time
leadership and lack of resources.
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It is thought that 90 per cent of Anglican church plants still continue, a
figure that compares favourably with some other denominations.
thinking moves on
Breaking New Ground, in a climate that sought tidiness, used language
with a certain innocent clarity:
Church planting normally involves the establishing of a new congregation
or worship centre and is to be encouraged as an important part of
Church Growth.
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Virtually every concept in that sentence is now challenged by the variety
that has emerged.
With the advent of Cell Church and Base Ecclesial communities (see
Chapter 4), the meaning of the word `congregation' cannot be assumed.
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