Campus Crusade for Christ Canada P2C follows its American counterpart into the social gospel

For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.
Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Acts 20:29-30

Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?
And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.
And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. II Corinthians 6:14-18

I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:
Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.
But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. Galatians 1:6-9

Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. II Timothy 3:5

"Most people are devoted to causes which are neither significant nor lasting."
--Howard Hendricks, from the promotional film for the Campus Crusade for Christ conference KC '83.

Sites such as the blog Enemies Within the Church and the YouTube channel Conversations That Matter have done excellent work in recent months in reporting on the rapidly-increasing liberalism of the U.S. campus ministry Cru, formerly known as Campus Crusade for Christ. Submitted for your approval, the following items from those sites and others:

Jeff Maples
Campus Crusade Social Justice Agenda Exposed in New Video (September 27, 2019)

The Social Justice Movement Takes Over CRU19 (September 27, 2019)

Conversations That Matter (Jon Harris)
The Month in Review: CRU, Josh Harris, SBC Seminaries, and Approaching Your Pastor



Trevor Loudon
The Social Justice Movement Takes Over CRU19 (September 27, 2019)



Conversations That Matter (Jon Harris)
CRU Goes Down the Woke Hole (September 27, 2019)



Breaking: Cru Leaders Soft-Peddling Homosexuality, Pushing Marxism (October 3, 2019)

Conversations That Matter (Jon Harris)
A Deeper Dive into Cru's Decline (October 3, 2019)



Internal Documents Prove Cru Leaders Officially Promoting Social Gospel (October 8, 2019)

Conversations That Matter (Jon Harris)
King David a Rapist? & Confirmed: Cru Endorses Social Gospel (October 8, 2019)



Cru’s “Social Justice Bible Studies” (October 15, 2019)

Whistleblower Speaks Out on Cru’s Leftward Drift (October 29, 2019)

Conversations That Matter (Jon Harris)
Former Cru Intern Shares Story about Ministry's Leftward Drift (October 28, 2019)



Giving Tuesday, Cru Staff Speaks Out, & Matthew Hall on CRT (December 3, 2019)
Conversations That Matter (Jon Harris)



It comes as a disappointment, but no surprise to this blogger, that Power to Change, (P2C for short), the Canadian offspring of Cru, is following its parent organization into social gospel apostasy. I've been warning about this since the Canadian organization announced its "new paradigm" in May 2006. I was involved with Campus Crusade for Christ as a student in the 1980s; I eventually developed misgivings about some of their methods and characteristics, but I have fond memories of my involvement with the movement and of the people I was associated with, and at least Campus Crusade was reasonably clear on what the gospel is.

In those days, there were separate Christmas Conferences in eastern and western Canada, with the exception of 1983, when there was one big North American conference in Kansas City known as "K.C. '83." I went to several Christmas Conferences in western Canada, as well as K.C. '83. The keynote speakers at all the conferences I attended were distinguished Bible teachers such as Ralph Alexander, J.I. Packer, and Howard Hendricks, and their talks generally consisted of examining characters from the Bible, and looking at characteristics that we should emulate (or avoid). The group sessions were on topics such as sharing your faith and having a successful discipleship group, i.e., topics associated with the gospel and the Great Commission.

Some years ago, P2C dropped the word "Christmas" from its conferences, and began calling them "Winter Conferences." Now, they don't even do that anymore, and just have one national annual conference. The one for 2019, known as "P2C Plus," is taking place in Toronto from December 28-31, with the apparent theme "first." A quick glance at the list of speakers and topics shows more emphasis on the social gospel and less on the true gospel and the Great Commission:

Workshops
Our workshops encourage students to take a deep dive into a broad range of focused topics that intersect faith and culture like: leadership and mentorship, spiritual growth and disciplines, prayer, discernment, discipleship, evangelism in local and global contexts, personal growth, relationships, mental health, gender identity, addictions, trauma, shame, suffering, grief and loss, healing, health, humanization, racism, world religions, financial stewardship, hospitality, vocation, technology and design, creativity, apologetics, and the church.

The "lesser" speakers (I don't mean that as a derogatory term) seem mostly okay, but some (not all) of the keynote speakers rang some alarm bells with me, such as the following examples.

Alison Buchan, MSW, RSW, CSAT

Alison is a recognized skilled clinical social worker, in the strengths-based approach in the treatment of mental health issues, addictions & trauma. She has been in practice for over 15 years and has assisted adults and adolescents experiencing a wide range of emotional, relational and behavioural difficulties...

...She has completed training at Toronto Institute of Relational Psychotherapy (TIRP), Sensorimotor Psychotherapy Institute and The Ferentz Institute. Additionally she has enhanced training in trauma treatment in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing), cognitive behavioural therapy, Internal Family Systems therapy; and specialized training from the International Centre of Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) and has received certification in smoking cessation from the Centre for Addictions and Mental Health.

In terms of her clinical orientation, she uses a insight-oriented cognitive-behavioural psychodynamic, solution-focused psychotherapy. Integrating mindfulness-based approaches in all her work.

"Mindfulness" comes from Buddhism. I see no Christian content of any kind in Ms. Buchan's resume.

John Van Sloten

About me

I am a pastor, teacher and writer who lives in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. All I want in life is to know God more (and to read everything he’s written). For the past 20 years I’ve been exploring a worldview that seeks to discern God's voice in all things: the Bible, the arts, sport, science, film, music, literature, history, mathematics, nature and human nature. My first book, The Day Metallica Came to Church: Seeing the Everywhere God in Everything (Square Inch, 2010), listened for God's whispers in pop culture. My second book, Every Job a Parable; What Walmart Greeters, Nurses and Astronauts tell us about God (Navpress/Tyndale (US) and Hodder and Stoughton (UK), 2017), listens for God's words at work. I have been awarded two John Templeton Foundation sub-grants to explore the intersection of faith and science in the context of preaching, and am currently writing my third book on how science can help us know God more.

There are things that Mr. Van Sloten says that I agree with. However, it concerns me when I read that he's received grants from the John Templeton foundation (at least Mr. Van Sloten is honest enough to say where he's obtaining his funding--there are those in evangelical circles who aren't as forthcoming). Mr. Van Sloten's grants are for something called The Steam Project, funded by the John Templeton Foundation and Fuller Theological Seminary:

The John Templeton Foundation serves as a philanthropic catalyst for discoveries relating to the Big Questions of human purpose and ultimate reality. We support research on subjects ranging from complexity, evolution, and infinity to creativity, forgiveness, love, and free will. We encourage civil, informed dialogue among scientists, philosophers, and theologians and between such experts and the public at large, for the purposes of definitional clarity and new insights.

STEAM is also supported by Fuller Theological Seminary, the host organization also committed to the integration of Christian faith and science.

Jon Corbin

According to his website:

Jon Corbin is a Canadian hip-hop artist, spoken word poet, speaker, band leader, writer and DJ based in Milton, ON. Since 2001, first under the name The Runaway, Jon has blessed stages big and small with lyrical themes of faith, love, family, social justice, and personal growth.

Corbin is a veteran artist who has quietly carved a niche in Canada’s hip-hop community, collaborating with multiple Polaris Music Prize nominee Shad, Juno Award winner Caroline Brooks of The Good Lovelies, and many other revered emcees on both sides of the border.

As a speaker, Corbin speaks passionately on topics of identity, race and racism, mental health and community connections. As a musician, Jon provides a dynamic show that stays true to the basic tenets of hip-hop: peace, love, unity, and having fun!

I don't know if Mr. Corbin is a Christian or not, but I certainly don't see any Christian content on his site.

Katharine Hayhoe

Katharine Hayhoe, the wife of pastor Andrew Farley, is a climate scientist, who on her site, goes on and on about her qualifications until the MEGO (My Eyes Glaze Over) syndrome sets in. She's presumably at the conference to promote action on climate change as a priority for Christians. As I said in a recent post, if you're on the same side of an issue as Justin Trudeau and George Soros, I suggest you rethink your position; and Christians should beware of those who are on the same side as Justin Trudeau and George Soros.

Alyssa Esperaz

This young woman particularly inspires a negative reaction from me. According to her website:

I am Chinese-Filipino-Canadian and live in Toronto, Canada.

I am studying International Development at the University of Toronto’s Centre for Critical Development Studies.

Another alarm bell went off for me when I saw the name of the place where Miss Esperaz is studying. The word "critical" used in an academic context is usually a synonym for Marxist, and a quick glance at their website confirms my suspicions (look at the course content).

She has a blog; I read just two entries--this one and this one--and that was enough to give me an idea of what she's about. Miss Esperaz tells so many falsehoods that it's only the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit that's restraining me from using foul language to describe this lying little [insert pejorative term here]. It would take too much time to go into a detailed account of Miss Esperanza's false propaganda, but one in particular sticks out at me, when she says that all kinds of people fought for Canada in two world wars. She's right in saying that Canadian Indians fought for the country, but it's absolutely not true to say that all kinds of people did, because the country wasn't composed of all kinds of people. The men who fought for Canada in World Wars I and II were overwhelmingly white Europeans, mainly of British ancestry, because that's what Canada was. They were fighting to preserve the country they had then, not to produce the non-nation that passes for Canada now. The "greatest generation" made the horrible mistake, a quarter-century after World War II, of handing the country over to Pierre Trudeau, who refused to fight in the war. He's the one who turned Canada into a multicultural monstrosity, which should really be renamed "Trudeaupia" to reflect its post-1968 reality.

Blogger Vox Day's third law of social justice warriors is: They always project. This especially manifests itself in accusing others of what the SJWs themselves are guilty. SJWs love to hurl nasty names at people, so I'm pulling the Jerry Seinfeld trick of heckling the heckler. I accuse Miss Esperaz of not only being a liar, but a racist. She refers to her "Asian-Canadian identity" and supports racist immigration and refugee policies which favour those of her and other non-white groups, with the intention of making Canada less white, more like the lands of her ancestors, and less like the country that those who fought in the world wars were fighting to preserve (see above comment regarding Justin Trudeau and George Soros). I'm not going to mention that one of the countries of her ancestors--let's call it "China"--has never been known for being openly welcome to foreigners. From the SJW point of view, it's okay for Miss Esperaz and those of her ilk to support anti-white policies; but if I support policies designed to preserve the country I was born into, I'm a "racist," without Christian compassion. As a Canadian whose roots in this country go back more than 240 years, I can't tell you how much I appreciate Miss Esperaz, a "first generation Canadian," presuming to give lessons in history and tolerance to real Canadians. If this is what Campus Crusade for Christ Canada Power to Change has become, I want no part of it.

It should be kept in mind that Campus Crusade for Christ P2C conferences have traditionally been used to recruit people to go on summer projects, which in turn, are used to recruit prospective staff members; which is to say, these conferences are where the future leaders of the movement receive training in addition to that which they receive in their regular campus activities. If Campus Crusade for Christ Canada P2C continues in this direction, they'll end up as liberal--and irrelevant--as the thoroughly apostate Student Christian Movement of Canada, which is associated with mainline liberal "Christianity," is irrelevant to God's purposes, and is now ignored. If you're moving in the same direction, you'll end up in the same place.

July 19, 2022 update: Jon Harris conducts another interview with former Cru staffer John Anderson:



See also my posts:

Campus Crusaders, Sodomites, and Potheads Together (January 13, 2009)

Campus Crusaders and Atheists Together (March 1, 2009)

Campus Crusade's Power to Change's mission is to boldly go where the United Church of Canada has gone before (May 8, 2010)

More social gospel, works-based righteousness from Campus Crusade for Christ Power to Change: shaming people into supporting humanitarian aid (September 24, 2010)

Campus Crusade for Christ Power to Change Canada uses its 2019 Canadian summer project to promote contemplative spirituality (December 31, 2018)

Campus Crusade for Christ Cru19 staff conference promotes enneagram, contemplative spirituality, secular psychology, native spirituality, and social gospel (August 16, 2019)