"When does a church plant become just a church?"

"When does a church plant become just a church

?"

I've often seen this question floating around twitter, and I'll admit it's not an easy one to answer, but here goes In my opinion, the term "church plant" comes from the same formula as "human baby" (species + development stage). So, by that logic, I would be inclined to say the distinction is that a church plant can only survive when outside forces care for it (like a parent church) or when members must make unsustainable sacrifices to keep it afloat. Once the church grows enough that it is funded entirely from it's own members' tithes, and once there are enough members that one or two families don't find themselves donating half their income just to meet the church's rent payment, then you could argue that the "plant" part of it's designation should be dropped.

However, in the interest of healthy churches, I'd also like to take issue with one aspects of the question. When you think about it, any reference to developmental stages is inherently dependent upon relationship and context, but any question about the definition of a stage implies there is some outside standard by which all people can agree on the status of the church or person.

But, that's not true to reality. Imagine 16 year olds working a job. To their boss, they are more or less adultsaccountable for their actions, capable of contributing toward the progress of the economy, etc. To their schoolteachers, the 16 year olds are childrenable to care for themselves in the fundamental ways, but still in need of much training before they have kids and a mortgage. To their mom, they will always be her little baby, even when today's 16 year olds are 60 years old.

The reason I make this distinction is because the wide variety of definitions isn't just the result of other people's perceptions. It must also be reflected in how these 16 year olds sees themselves, or their lives will be miserable. If they refuse to act like an adult at work, they'll be fired. If they don't voluntarily take on the limitations of childhood while in the classroom, they won't learn and will never graduate. If even the 60 year olds don't permit their parents the unparalleled level of access that a baby gives his parents, then they'll be condemned to slogging through the same errors their own parents made, rather than accepting advice and avoiding the problems all together.

The same goes for church plants. After a few years, you may just be known as "that church down the street" to most, or even "that extremely large mega church down the street," but you should always have someone to whom your church is still just a baby plant preparing for the launch. Never stop being accountable to the pastor who sent you out. Never stop asking for advice. Never stop learning. When you stop learning, you set yourself up for failure. But, when you invite the parent church to always speak into your life, you set yourself up to receive wisdom and advanced warning before a problem arrives.

And, never forget that even on launch day, to someone, you're no less mature than any other church. To them, be an adult, fully confident as you meet their needs.

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