© 1995 Meredith Sprunger
© 1995 The Christian Fellowship of Students of The Urantia Book
by Margaret J. Wheatley
Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc. 1994, pp.166
Margaret Wheatley uses insights derived from quantum physics, self-organizing systems, and chaos theory to reshape our world view. She has written a “breakthough” book regarding the dynamics of human organizations which has interesting applications for church polity and administration.
The Newtonian model of the world, she points out, is characterized by materialism and reductionism. “In new science, the underlying currents are a movement toward holism, toward understanding the system as a system and giving primary value to the relationship that exists among seemingly discrete parts.” (p. 9) Quantum physics suggests that these seemingly separate entities may be influenced by unseen connections. Space is not empty but is filled with invisible fields which shape behavior. There is a “contextualism” in universe phenomena which establishes a participative process in nature. This is more a world of process than a world of things. “It would seem that the more participants we engage in this participative universe, the more we can access its potentials and the wiser we can become… ‘Whatever we call reality,’ Prigogine and Stengers advise, ‘it is revealed to us only through an active construction in which we participate.’” (p. 65) We live in an intriguing network of interactions and potential relationships.
Living systems demonstrate that disequilibrium is the necessary condition for growth. Self-organizing systems teach us that the sure way to stagnation and death is to maintain the security of a closed, dogmatic organization. The distinguishing feature of self-organizing and self-renewing systems is their resiliency. The basic characteristic of this resiliency is self-reference. “Self-reference is what facilitates orderly change in turbulent environments. In human organizations, a clear sense of identity — of the values, traditions, aspirations, competencies, and culture that guide the operation — is the real source of independence from the environment.” (p.94) Erich Jantsch, in The Self-Organizing Universe, speaks of a profound teaching embedded in self-renewing systems. “The natural dynamics of simple dissipative structures teach the optimistic principle of which we tend to despair in the human world: the more freedom in self-organization, the more order.” (p.40)
Information is the creative energy of all organizations. It is the basic ingredient of self-renewal. Often information is guarded and given only to the elite in institutions. Mainline Christian Churches are an example of organizations which are suffering because of a lack of information. They have been steadily declining in numbers and vitality for decades. Most ministers, for example, have not shared unsettling knowledge about the origin and nature of the Bible or the blood atonement doctrine that they learned in seminary. Sharing this information would, indeed, shock many of the faithful. But it would also lay the foundations for restructuring the church into a more relevant and vital spiritual fellowship. These same mainline clergy have, by and large, refused to seriously examine The Urantia Book. Although the book’s message will someday revitalize the church and transform our world, church leaders are afraid of facing this possibility. New information is the life-blood of all of our institutions. If we are to grow, it must be shared with the rank and file of society.