LTRP Note: After confirming the information in this email, we have added Westmont College to the list of Christian schools that are going down the contemplative/emerging spirituality path. (Our list)
Dear Lighthouse Trails:
I have benefited from your Lighthouse Web site, especially in researching Spiritual Formation. Our _________ graduated from Westmont, where we were very involved via Parents Council. Under Gayle Beebe, the college began taking a different direction that has clearly alarmed us. Beebe has co-written a book with Richard Foster, who has spoken at chapel more than once, along with John Eldredge and Bill Hybels, who probably spoke because their children matriculated there.
(Beebe is also one of the evangelicals who signed a document in support of a Palestinian state, and is a signer of the evangelical green movement as well, documented in articles available on the internet.)
Now I also see that Houghton College is on your list, and I am sad. Shirley Mullen was an extremely popular and effective teacher and Dean, before becoming President of Houghton.
Below is [an article with ] the latest concerning Westmont. I have printed out the list of colleges and ministries from your site. Now you must add one more.
Sincerely, L.
Article about Westmont from Westmont College media relations department
Gift to Create Institute for Christianity, Culture at Westmont
Patty and Eff Martin also pledge to fund a Center for Spiritual Formation
By Scott Craig Trustee
Patty Martin and her husband, Eff, have made a significant pledge to Westmont College establish the Martin Family Institute for Christianity and Culture and the Dallas Willard Center for Spiritual Formation.
Patty Martin
President Gayle Beebe announced the gift Oct. 25 at the college’s Board of Trustees meeting.
“The purpose of the Willard Center is preparing a new generation of Christian leaders to articulate the philosophical, theological and biblical rationale for developing an interactive relationship with Christ,” Martin said. “We hope the center will help create an undergraduate major and minor in Philosophy, Psychology and Spiritual Formation.”
“We’re thrilled with this gift and expect the new institute and center to make a significant impact on our students and help Westmont become a leader in the discipline of spiritual formation,” Beebe said. “Our Gaede Institute for the Liberal Arts has focused new attention on the value of a liberal arts education, and we expect the Martin Family Institute and the Willard Center to also draw leading scholars nationwide to its conferences and conversations.”
The couple will fund the institute and center over a three-year period, and a search for a qualified director to oversee the center begins soon. Dallas Willard, noted author and professor at USC for whom the center is named, will lead a discussion by the presidents of Westmont, Azusa Pacific University, Pepperdine University and Gordon College in January 2011 to promote coordination of spiritual formation programs.
The Willard Center will launch a visiting fellow program in spring 2012 and begin planning a conference to be held in 2013. Other activities will include offering retreats and providing training in spiritual mentoring.
Martin joined the Westmont Board of Trustees in 2005. She and her husband learned about the college through the students and alumni they met at their church.
“Westmont graduates impress me and my husband with their vibrant faith and Christ-like character,” Martin says.
She became acquainted with former presidents David Winter and Stan Gaede and met Beebe through the Renovare organization.
A certified spiritual director who teaches classes in spiritual formation at Menlo Park Presbyterian Church, Martin earned a bachelor’s degree at San Jose State University and master’s degrees in education and counseling psychology at Notre Dame de Namur University.
She and her husband, Eff, have been married for 35 years and have three grown children. Eff Martin is a retired investment banker.
— Scott Craig is the media relations manager for Westmont College.
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