At the end of last May, the Martin Institute and Dallas Willard Research Center’s 3rd annual Christian Formation Workshop took place at Westmont College. The workshop gathered biblical, theological, philosophical, and psychological evidence to refine Christian understandings of the role of spiritual practices in virtue formation, and sought to consider the practical application of such knowledge to Christian life and ministry. The goal of these workshops is to help further practical understanding of the need and nature of spiritual formation in Christ.
This week, we have videos from part two of the workshop, titled “Models of Spiritual Practice and Virtue Formation.” These sessions discuss Augustinian, Thomistic, and interpersonal-contemplative models of the relationship between practice and formation. Participants are: William Mattison (Notre Dame), Joseph Clair (George Fox University), Kent Dunnington (Biola University), Angela Knobel (University of Dallas), Andrew Pinsent (Athenaeum of Ohio), Adam Pelser (U.S. Air Force Academy), Douglas E. Christie (Loyola Marymount), Bruce Hindmarsh (Regent College), Helen Rhee (Westmont College), Trey Clark (Princeton Theological Seminary), Carmel Saad (Westmont College), Pamela King (Fuller Theological Seminary), Charlotte Wveitlet (Belmont University), Robert Garcia (Baylor University), Sabrina Little (Ohio State University), and Jason Baehr (Loyola Marymount).
For context, each presenter prepared a pre-written paper that was distributed and read by all workshop participants ahead of time. The first videos are 10-minute summaries of those papers, which are followed by 20-minute responses from their respective commentators. At the workshop, the two talks from each session were followed by over 40 minutes of small and large group discussion. While we did not record the discussion period, we encourage you to find a way to process your own thoughts in response to what you hear. More videos to come in the weeks ahead!
Steve Porter, on behalf of the Editorial Team