What does a quantum understanding of reality have to say to the practice of pastors and the ministry of the church? This is the guiding question for my research project. It is my thesis that we have moved beyond a “postmodern” understanding of culture and the world as we experience it; we are now firmly entrenched in a “quantum” world, a way of understanding that is rooted in the discoveries of physics and the hard sciences dating back to the beginning of the 20th century. (Think of names like Einstein, Bohr, and Schrödinger, for example.)

Based on my initial reading and 30+ years of experience in the parish, I believe that quantum understanding can inform the day-to-day practice of the pastor – providing insight for pastoral care, preaching, and administration, as well as increased ministry effectiveness by the church through understanding the ways that people’s lives are ordered in a quantum world.

I will further my own quantum understanding by consulting with Professor Catherine Keller of Drew University, whose work deals at length with the theological underpinnings of my thought. I will also spend time on the campus and in the library of Princeton Seminary, where I will write an initial article for journal submission.