FALL 2021

Westmont Magazine Living Our Theology: Highlighting the Work of the Martin Institute at Westmont

By Gary W. Moon, Founding Director of the Martin Institute, and Mariah Velasquez '10, Director of the Incarnatio Center for Formation, Integration and Renewal; Assistant Director of the Martin Institute

One of Thomas Merton’s best books, “Contemplative Prayer,” appeared a year after his death. The writer of a New York Times book review noted: “...Merton shows that all living theology needs to be rooted in exercises where [we] somehow happily establish contact with God.”

Those two words, “living theology,” echo the oft-quoted description of theology that grew out of the tradition of desert spirituality: “If you are a theologian, you truly pray. If you truly pray, you are a theologian.” (See Evagrius Ponticus, Treatise on Prayer, 61.)

This desire to help others establish or deepen an experiential theology — a transforming friendship with the Trinity — gave birth to the Martin Institute for Christianity and Culture and Dallas Willard Center for Spiritual Formation at Westmont. Established in 2011, the institute places an enduring emphasis on spiritual formation with a particular focus on the path of authentic transformation as an interactive, loving relationship with Jesus Christ.

As part of that quest, the Martin Institute strives to honor the legacy of Dallas Willard while placing his work in the context of other thinkers and leaders who have developed methods for authentic Christian formation that have stood the test of time.

A longtime professor of philosophy at USC, Willard wrote many spiritual formation books, including “Renovation of the Heart,” “The Spirit of the Disciplines” and “The Divine Conspiracy.”

THE FOUR CENTERS

The goals of each of its centers brings the purpose of the Martin Institute into clear focus.

Mark Nelson, Monroe professor of philosophy, directs the Dallas Willard Research Center (DWRC), which supports and engages in efforts to promote research and writing about Christian spiritual formation in four key ways.

  • Maintaining and offering access to the books and papers of Dallas Willard’s personal library, including online availability for many of these resources.

  • A senior fellows program.

  • Annual book and research awards.

  • Sponsoring faculty research retreats.

The Incarnatio Center for Formation, Integration and Renewal encourages the Westmont community to pursue development of the whole person, including authentic spiritual and character formation. Mariah Velasquez, who also serves as assistant director of the Martin Institute, leads this center. In addition to cultivating curricular and co-curricular partnerships, Incarnatio offers retreat space on campus, sponsors the student leadership Spiritual Formation Coordinators program, promotes the development of small groups, maintains a network of spiritual directors and provides support for Augustinian Scholar and chapel programs.

Cultura began after the Martin Institute’s 2018 academic conference celebrating the contributions of Dallas Willard and Richard J. Foster. The institute has developed a keen interest in supporting emerging leaders oriented toward spiritual formation. We focus particularly on individuals with strong, virtuous character eager to lead from that strength in fields such as academia, arts, law, etc. In December 2019, we launched a pilot jointly funded by the Martin family and the John Templeton Foundation to investigate various strategies for pursuing this aim.

Gary W. Moon, founding director of the Martin Institute, leads Conversatio Divina Center for Spiritual Renewal, which creates resources such as educational programs, retreats, written materials and curricula for small groups. Its focus spans the teachings of Dallas Willard, Ignatius of Loyola and ancient Christianity.

Current efforts include: establishing a 36-hour Doctor of Ministry cohort program in spiritual direction for Fuller Seminary; creating Next Frontiers, a Lilly-funded, 12-month program designed to help mid-career pastors thrive in congregational leadership during times of transition in ministry (As part of the broader Frontiers project, Next Frontiers focuses on mid-career pastors, while New Frontiers focuses on early-career pastors and is directed by the Gaede Institute.); conducting experiential retreats; and producing and maintaining the Conversatio.org website.

We encourage you to explore the wealth of resources for living theology on this website.

  • Media Room features thousands of hours of audio and video collections on spiritual formation.

  • Classroom includes many structured learning experiences.

  • Exercise Room offers a variety of suggestions for practical experiences.

Before you explore, keep turning the pages of this magazine to read the following three articles by Westmont professors Andrea Gurney, Helen Rhee and Jim Taylor, which you’ll also find on Conversatio.org.

For more information on the resources available through the Martin Institute, visit westmont.edu/martin-institute.

DEVELOPING A RULE OF LIFE RESOURCES FROM CONVERSATIO.ORG

This is a class for students of Christ who desire to make living with Jesus a pointed intention of their lives. In this class we will focus on one brief talk Dallas gave (about 24 minutes), titled: “Spending One Day with Jesus,” broken into two parts. The talks are buttressed by a series of complementary reading and study materials, as well as exercises designed to provide the means to make living with God a reality. One of the exercises includes taking stock of how we spend our day and suggestions on how God can become a part of it.

  • Introduction: Developing a Rule of Life Part I: Spending a Day with Jesus
  • Part I: Reflection on Scripture
  • Daily Scripture Readings Self-Assessment
  • Nine Steps for Spending More Time with the Trinity each Day
  • A New Planner of Living Awareness: Game with Minutes
  • 12 Steps to Spiritual Formation in the 23rd Psalm
  • Part II: Spending a Day with Jesus
  • Part II: Reflections on Scripture Notes