Creating a Spiritual Formation Hub Work Begins on Martin Institute Center

Workers have begun constructing a new $7 million building on Westmont’s campus north of the Global Leadership Center to house the Martin Institute for Christianity and Culture. Crews expect to complete the 3,700-square-foot complex and 1,500-square-foot deck in about 15 months, replacing the existing structure at 909 La Paz Road. Private donors are funding construction of the new center.

“The project will take full advantage of the mild Santa Barbara climate with a large, covered deck suitable for outdoor meetings, receptions and other gatherings,” says Doug Jones, vice president for finance. “An extensive number of windows, glass doors and glass walls will pull natural light into the entire building.”

The Martin Institute for Christianity and Culture and Dallas Willard Research Center seeks to help establish Christian spiritual formation as a field of publicly available knowledge and to support emerging generations of leading thinkers in the area of Christian spiritual formation.

“The new building will help Christians and organizations understand, share and follow practical, trustworthy ways to become more like Christ and serve the world,” says Steve Porter, Martin Institute senior research fellow and executive director. “It will provide an enduring reminder and resource for Westmont’s commitment to the Christian formation of its students, staff, faculty and broader Christian community.”

For the past decade, the Martin Institute has conducted spiritual formation work with students, faculty and staff at various locations across campus. “This outstanding new facility will bring the team together into a building worthy of their good work,” Jones says. 

Porter says he’s excited that the new space will support all Westmont professors pursuing scholarship and research connected to understanding and applying Christian spiritual formation. The facility will host small groups (Capex Dei), prayer retreats, visiting lecturers, the annual Christian Formation Workshop, the training of resident chaplains and the annual Dallas Willard Book Award lecture, to name a few. 

“If any gathering would help people become more faithful followers of Jesus, we want to host it in the new building,” Porter says. “It will highlight the importance of engaging Christ’s presence and power in all that we do at Westmont.”