By Angela Ryo

I am not a science person. Science never really made much sense to me. However, I have come to appreciate science and the role it can play in our faith formation, leadership development and relationship building endeavors. This realization came pretty late in my life.

Just a few years ago, I was introduced to a leadership book titled, Leadership and the New Science. It was written in the 90s, but I found the insights and lessons the author draws from science quite relevant and helpful.

The author, Margaret Wheatly, explains the difference between Newtonian science and quantum physics. She states the following:

Newtonian science is also materialistic—it seeks to comprehend the world by focusing on what can be known through our physical senses. Anything real has visible and tangible physical form. In the history of physics and even to this day, many scientists keep searching for the basic “building blocks” of matter, the physical forms from which everything originates. One of the first differences between new science and Newtonianism is a focus on holism rather than parts. Systems are understood as whole systems, and attention is given to relationships within those networks. Donella Meadows, an ecologist and author, quotes an ancient Sufi teaching that captures this shift in focus: “You think because you understand one you must understand two, because one and one makes two. But you must also understand and” (1982, 23). When we view systems from this perspective, we enter an entirely new landscape of connections, of phenomena that cannot be reduced to simple cause and effect, or explained by studying the parts as isolated contributors. We move into a land where it becomes critical to sense the constant workings of dynamic processes, and then to notice how these processes materialize as visible behaviors and forms. (10)

As I read her words, I had a newfound respect and awe for the “new science” she was talking about. I am fascinated by relationships! And if science is not only about numbers ,such as one and two, but is about understanding the connecting word, “and,” I could totally get excited about science!

I am grateful for this book that gave me so much insight into church and ministry when seen through the lens of quantum physics. In one of the chapters, she talks about change. She starts the chapter with a geologist’s answer when asked what he would expect to find after a devastating hurricane in the east coast. Instead of a litany of disastrous things he would expect to see — felled trees, demolished homes, eroded shoreline — his response is, “I expect to find a new beach.” That really gave me hope. With all the decline that’s happening in the churches in my denomination, what would we find 20-30 years from now? Perhaps, the answer is, “we expect to find a new church.”

She goes on to explain that in Newtonian physics, we’re concerned with mass, while in quantum physics, we’re more concerned with energy. This really helped me to understand that rather than size, it’s the meaning that we infuse into our church that matters more. What would happen if we try to work with the forces of change (new science) rather than manage and keep change under control (old science)? What if we read the Bible through the principles found in quantum physics rather than Newtonian science? A whole new set of possibilities might open up for us.

I never knew understanding differences between Newtonian and quantum physics and applying the latter into my ministry and life would prove to be so beneficial. If you’re at all interested in quantum physics, the word “and” and how to apply it to your ministry, I highly encourage you to check out this book!

Angela Ryo currently serves as the Associate Pastor for Christian Formation at Kirk in the Hills in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. She enjoys taking long walks, reading, listening to NPR, and drinking good coffee with friends and strangers alike.