Don t settle for cloning Too many new churches are clones rather than plants. A church plant shares the genetic make-up of the church or churches that gave birth to it, but it develops in ways that will make it significantly different from its parents. But a clone is an exact replica. . . . Establish light and flexible structures While the core values provide a necessary foundation and will not be revisited very often, the structures and programmes of a new church should be open to frequent review. It is much easier in church life to start a new activity than to stop one.
Many churches are far too busy.
Their members are exhausted by trying to keep a program running, several components of which are no longer serving a useful purpose. . . . It will release its members to relate to others in the community and it will regularly assess its activities to ensure they are still effective. Planting a new church gives you an opportunity not only to establish a light program and choose how many activities to run but also to establish a thorough review process. . . .