John over at planterblogs.com (which is a really cool concept by the way) asked me a question about when a church ceases to be a church plant and just becomes a church.  I’ve blogged about this before, but I want to offer a new idea to the mix and see if I’m a heretic or not. 

Here’s my latest theory:  Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, Greg Laurie, etc… – all of these guys planted their churches that are now 30 years old and I think we can agree that their churches are no longer church plants.  They are established ministries that god is using mightily.  But are these men still church planters by sheer fact that they did it and still have that "church planter spirit in them?"  Does this make sense or do you stop being a church planter after 2 years like a married couple stops being newlyweds?  I’m starting to think that the criteria we give for a person being a church planter or not applies more to the church than it does to the person. 

So what do you think?