A collection of links about viral church - not necessarily all agreeing on terms or reasoning:

• http://movementseverywhererant.blogspot.com/2008/05/ideas.html Doesn't explain viral church but suggests planting 50 of them: small little viral things with 21 year old elders and you as the master apostle - thats with a little 'a' in apostle btw
• http://viralchurch.10.forumer.com/ Was once an active forum about Viral church.  Asks questions like could the viral church work?  and Can a viral church movement sustain growth?  It's worth looking into their discussions because they were talking about this stuff back in 2005; most of these other links are from the last 12 months 2007-8.
  
• http://chriscochran.blogspot.com/2005/03/viral-church-part-deux.html Chris's definition of viral church means one which adopts viral marketing pinciples. 
• http://neozine.org/inside/viral-church/ - for Dr Joal Hughes, viral means organic... "Uber-organic. We need to become a church that refuses to grow at one location beyond a certain minimum critical mass. Once we reach enough people to host a good baptism and a class worth driving to, we'll start sending out church planters."  I don't think he really means viral; I think he means "seed-bearing".
• http://jonathanbrink.com/2008/05/22/viral-church-growth/ - great example from China, with link to video, where this is how the churches operate: "Once you get over fifteen you begin to get attention you know from the government, so you just (start a new one)."  Again this describes viral church as one which quickly spawns new churches.  Maybe in this case it is the "church growth" that is described as viral rather than the churches themselves?
• http://nathandiehl.com/2007/06/28/the-viral-church/ I like this post. Quoting from Seth Godin's "Small is the new big"
  
  

  What Makes an idea viral?
  No one sends an idea unless:
  1. they understand it
  2. they want to spread it
  3. they believe that spreading it will enhance their power (reputation, income, friendships) or their piece of mind
  4. the effort necessary to send the idea is less than the benefits

  No ones “get” an idea unless:
  1. the first impression demands further investigation
  2. they already understand the foundation ideas necessary to get the new idea
  3. they trust or respect the sender enough to invest the time.

  Then he asks: so the question i have been dealing with since i read this: Is church viral? if it’s not, why not? how can we assist people to make them want to spread the idea of attending a church? how can we help people “get” it?
  have we instituted barriers for entry? do we turn people off without even knowing it?
  
  I think this is interesting because Nathan does not want to spread "church" ... he wants to spread "the idea of attending a church".  I think there's a big difference. Again, maybe it's not viral "church" here exactly, but viral ... something else? ... I think he's asking the right questions though.

• http://therevolutionblog.blogspot.com/ Now we're talking!  Virus = an infectious agent of small size and simple composition that can multiply only in living cells… - Encyclopedia Britannica
  
  More from Ron Scheper's first entry on viral church:
  The life (Jesus) is attractive and contagious. Not only contagious, he is also infectious because 12 guys caught what Jesus was about and they themselves started to do the same things. Demons were cast out, the sick were healed, people were reconciled with God. These 12 guys then went on to infect numerous others. In fact in one day, 3000 men caught the virus.
  
  What is the virus? It is Jesus himself, in us and revealed to the world through us. How is the virus spread? Like any other virus, it spreads through personal contact or by ‘sneezing’ on people. It is spread through us being in the world, hanging around people, having the character and nature of Jesus. Not only will this cause others to become infected, it will build the church at the same time.
  
  Can we liken the church to a virus? If a virus can be defined as “an infectious agent of small size and simple composition that can multiply only in living cells”, then I think so. At the core of the church, and the secret to its growth, lies the simple fact that it is about us (living cells carrying an infectious agent) being the revelation of Jesus to the world. My desire is to spread that virus and help instigate a pandemic of organic Christianity and church!
  
  He also says: Viral church is not about shifting furniture but about an organic life form that we ‘sneeze’ or pass on to people. Its about the life of the church more so than the form – the life being first and foremost that which comes through the value and practice of Christlikeness.
  
  ... and Ron goes on to outline some values which he believes should underlie this kind of church.  I think Ron has really caught on to something. 
  Unfortunately for us, Ron's last post was in August 2007!  I'm avidly awaiting the next chapter.  Ron's understanding and approach to church (and he's doing it, not just blogging about it) - I think is going to be revolutionary for those brave enough to go with it.  The church as we know it I personally believe will in this century become mostly, if not almost exclusively "viral" in this way.  People with inner values, centered around Jesus, and relating to each other in a viral, "sneezy" way; I think this "formless form" of church is going to take off in amazing ways in the next 10-20 years.  Big meetings, "mega churches" will not die away, but I believe they will be "expressions of" th
• http://www.thirdquarterconsulting.com/images/RevViralChurchTomberlin.pdf  From the sublime to the incredible.  This man's idea of viral church is for a church of 10,000 to meet in 10 different places.  I have no more to say.
• http://aquidneckislandworship.wordpress.com/category/viral-church/ A couple of entries tagged viral church.  Lifts the 6 viral marketing strategies from Chris Cochran's page listed above, but more importantly gives this definition of viral church: A Viral Church is a believing community which eagerly adapts to the cultural context in order to share the good news. They want to be in the world but not of the world. They want to reach the lost and love the lost because they once were lost. Although they employ the tactics of a virus, it might be truer to say that they are in fact an antivirus for our diseased human condition.

I want to revisit the Revolution Blog, draw out some of his main thoughts about viral church, and blog about them at a future date. He comes close to what I am trying to get at with Bedouin Soul.