OUR MISSION
OUR WORK
OUR PEOPLE
OUR NAME
OUR BELIEFS
OUR MISSION
We’re committed to the advancement of the Christian worldview for the reformation and renewal of the church and culture throughout the West.
ABOUT US
We began in 2020, working out of a small office and a corner of warehouse space in a barn. Since then, God has steadily grown our work, granting us the privilege of serving His people at our new Wellandport campus and reaching the world through our expanding online resources.
OUR VISION
We believe that when the church returns to Scripture as her ultimate authority and applies God’s truth to all of life, her missiological work will bring about the renewal of the human person and the reformation of culture.
OUR WORK
We inherit a rich Christian worldview—one that informs how we see and understand the world and inspires faithful living in every part of life.
We inherit our Protestant tradition through research, writing, and teaching that shows how the Christian worldview speaks to all of life.
We inform how we see and understand the world by equipping the church through conferences, translation work, and accessible print and digital resources.
We inspire faithful living in every part of life by helping believers discover how God’s Word shapes and renews both church and culture.
Paideia Study Center
Our study center offers monthly lectures, an expansive library, and study space to equip believers with biblical wisdom and cultural discernment.
La Fuente Journal
Our bilingual Ibero-American Christian worldview journal provides thoughtful essays and biblical reflection for the church from a Reformed perspective.
Paideia Press
We publish accessible works rooted in Scripture and shaped by the Reformational insights of Dooyeweerd, Runner, and other Christian thinkers.
Podcasts
Through shows like The Confederation Report and The Apologist, we offer biblical teaching and cultural insight for everyday Christian life.
Cántaro Publications
We produce books and discipleship resources that equip individuals, families, and churches to think and live from a fully biblical worldview.
Haven of Light
Our Wellandport ministry campus is a shared home for the Cántaro Institute and partner charities, dedicated to study, training, and gospel-driven outreach.
OUR PEOPLE
Steven R. Martins
Rev. Steven R. Martins is the founding director of the Cántaro Institute and the founding pastor of Sevilla Chapel in St. Catharines. He holds a Master’s degree summa cum laude in Theological Studies with a focus on Christian apologetics from Veritas International University (Santa Ana, CA, USA), and a Bachelor of Human Resource Management from York University (Toronto, ON, Canada). He is the General Editor of La Fuente: Iberoamerican Journal for Christian Worldview and has authored or coedited numerous books, including Apologetics, Lectures on Reformation & Culture, and Canada: The Introduction of Christianity in Early Canada. He has translated several sixteenth-century works of the Spanish Protestant reformers and has contributed articles to various journals and periodicals. Steven is married to Cindy, and they live in the Niagara region with their children Matthias, Timothy, Nehemías, and Raquel.
FEATURED BOOKS
The Cántaro Institute Associates
Our Associates bring scholarly depth, pastoral experience, and a shared commitment to a Reformational, biblical worldview. They help us remain faithful to our founding vision and strengthen the Institute’s teaching, research, and outreach. We are grateful for these men and women whose gifts enrich our mission across church and culture.
Ryan Lauterio
Associate for Christian Art & Aesthetics,
The Maker Institute
Ryan Lauterio is a multi-award-winning studio artist, educator, and founder whose work centers on the intersection of art, theology, and aesthetics under Christ’s lordship. He is the founder and CEO of The Maker Institute of Studio Art and Theology and co-founder of Made Makers, a K–12 Christian art and design curriculum and streaming platform. Ryan holds a B.A. and M.A. in Studio Art from CSU Sacramento and an M.F.A. in Painting and Printmaking from Virginia Commonwealth University, where he later served as Assistant Professor and Drawing Studio Area Head from 2007 to 2024. He also founded and directs Shockoe Artspace, a contemporary gallery in Richmond, VA. His work has been exhibited nationally and internationally. Ryan and his wife, Laura, homeschool their four children and are members of Remnant Church in Richmond.
Adolfo García de la Sienra Guajardo
Associate for Reformational Economics and Philosophy,
Universidad Veracruzana
Dr. Adolfo García de la Sienra Guajardo has been a research fellow at the Institute of Philosophical Research of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) (1986-1993); research fellow and professor of microeconomics at the Center for Teaching and Research of Economics (CIDE) (1993-1998); research fellow at the Philosophy Institute of the Veracruzana University since 2002, and professor of Microeconomics and Mathematical Economics at the Faculty of Economics of the same university since 1998. Dr. García de la Sienra has published more than one hundred papers and books in international journals and publishing houses. He has published A Structuralist Theory of Economics in the prestigious house Routledge of London. He is considered an expert in Reformational philosophy internationally.
Joe Owen
Associate for Biblical Cosmology,
Answers in Genesis Worldwide
Joe (Joseph) Owen is the director and chief-speaker of Answers in Genesis Worldwide. He has a Bachelor in Theology from the Seminario Bautista Dominicano (Dominican Baptist Seminary) and is currently working towards obtaining his Master’s degree in Christian Studies from Southeastern Theological Baptist Seminary. He teaches subjects relating to creationism in various seminaries and universities in Latin America and the USA, and serves as a professor and academic director of SEBAM seminary in Querétaro, Mexico. He has also authored The Gospel according to Marx: Stripping Political Rhetoric from the Kingship of Jesus (Cántaro Publications, 2026), and several other books. Joe lives in Querétaro, Mexico, with his wife.
Vishal Mangalwadi
Associate for Biblical Worldview,
Truth & Transformation
Vishal Mangalwadi is an Indian Christian philosopher, social reformer, writer, and lecturer. Educated in philosophy at the Universities of Allahabad and Indore, he later studied Hinduism in several ashrams and spent six months in Switzerland under Christian apologist Francis Schaeffer. Described by Christianity Today as “India’s foremost Christian intellectual,” he has become a leading voice in a global movement for the renewal of the church. Vishal is the author of Truth and Transformation and The Book That Made Your World, along with several other works. His ideas on the church and internet-based higher education have shaped consultations across multiple continents. He and his wife, Ruth, continue to travel widely for research and speaking.
Scott Masson
Associate for Public Theology & Pedagogy,
Tyndale University
Dr. Scott Masson is an Associate Professor of English Literature at Tyndale University in Toronto, teaching subjects ranging from classical and biblical literature to Shakespeare, Milton, Romanticism, and the works of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien. He earned his PhD from the University of Durham in 2001 after three years of study in Düsseldorf, where he developed a love for languages and worked as a German translator while learning Classical Greek and Latin. Dr. Masson founded Westminster Classical Christian Academy and led a thriving College and Careers ministry in Toronto from 2008 to 2015. He lives in Toronto with his wife and two children.
Josué Reichow
Associate for Reformational Philosophy,
L’Abri Fellowship Brazil
Josué Reichow was born in Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, where he studied Social Sciences with a focus on sociology, modernity/postmodernity, and critical theory. From 2012 to 2014 he pursued studies in Philosophy at Unisinos and Theology at Faculdades EST, concentrating on the philosophy of Herman Dooyeweerd in the Brazilian context. He has taught theology, philosophy, worldview, and the social sciences in seminaries and at Colégio Sinodal in São Leopoldo. In 2016, Josué and his wife Lili moved to the UK to join the work of L’Abri, where he welcomed students from around the world, led discussions, lectured on a wide range of themes, and assisted in community life. He now operates and resides in Brazil.
OUR NAME
What does Cántaro mean?
In Spanish, a cántaro is a large handcrafted earthen vessel made to carry and pour water. It evokes receptivity, responsibility, and faithful stewardship. The symbol gained special significance in the sixteenth century when the reformer Cipriano de Valera placed it on the cover of his revised Bible translation (1602), portraying Scripture as the fountain of living water entrusted to the church.
Our Institute draws on this heritage: to be a vessel formed by the Word, filled with the truth of Christ, and poured out for the renewal of the church and culture.
OUR BELIEFS
The Cántaro Institute affirms the enduring truths of the Christian tradition as articulated in the early creeds, the solas of the Reformation, and the common testimony of the historic Reformed confessions.
THE INSTITUTE IS DONOR SUPPORTED
Your support advances the work of the gospel—thank you for your faithful giving.