Theory U and Church Purpose Statements

At the end of section two, Scharmer lists eight keys to effective learning infrastructures / environments. One key, sharing purpose and principles, is particularly helpful when thinking of purpose statements for organized communities, which includes churches. Scharmer writes that "[t]he quality of purpose depends on (a) its content and (b) its connection to people. A learning community that serves only the future business of its center is a bad example. A learning community that builds on the highest aspirations of all its participants is the counterexample" (226).

Scharmer has made the critical point that language does not simply describe, but creates. Words do not just describe ideas; they are ideas. Purpose statements do not simply capture a church's purpose, they form it. However, this point must quickly be chastened by point (b). Too many purpose statements create nothing because they have no context in the history or personality of the church. One way this gets played out is by being too long. Some purpose statements have no connection to the people because the people have never done everything the purpose statement says this church is about. The flipside of this problem is being about a future that is not yet coming. The purpose statement is really a vision statement in disguise. This does not mean that purpose is disconnected from vision. They are connected. But they are not the same. One's purpose should help achieve one's vision, even in its language, but both from flow from the highest but present potential of the people.