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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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