Statement on Conversion Therapy – June 1, 2018
What exactly is Journey Canada?
What denomination are we?
Who comes to Journey?
Are Journey programs a form of counselling?
What kind of prayer does Journey practice?
What kind of “healing” does Journey promote?
Does Journey Canada try to change participants’ sexual orientation?
What is Journey’s view on sexuality?
As a charity, does Journey receive public money or government funding?
Statement on Conversion Therapy – June 1, 2018
Journey Canada is a discipleship ministry that is focused on helping people understand their identity in light of their Christian faith. As a discipleship ministry, we do not seek to change the sexual orientation of the people who participate in our programs.
Journey Canada understands the painful legacy of conversion or reparative therapy for sexual minorities. This means that while we are firmly committed to a traditional Christian understanding of sexuality, we reject any program that promises change in sexual orientation or makes orientation change a goal. Additionally, Journey Canada does not engage in any sort of public advocacy around issues of sexuality. Our focus is entirely on supporting people’s personal faith in community and in assisting individuals and the church in joyfully pursuing Jesus and His plans for them.
A critical part of what Journey seeks to provide to our participants is a safe and supportive environment where they can connect their faith to their experiences and we always regret any situation where this has not turned out to be the case. We are confident that most of the people who have been involved with our ministry over the years have felt that their experience has been worthwhile and that they have encountered Jesus’ love and care for them in a way that honours their personal dignity and respects their autonomy.
What exactly is Journey Canada?
Journey Canada is a faith-based, charitable organization whose mission is to provide a spiritually safe place for people to talk about their lives and receive the love of God and others. We do this through prayer, offering intensive discipleship courses, training and equipping church leaders, and partnering with churches and denominations.
What denomination are we?
Journey is registered in Canada as a religious society unaffiliated with any particular Christian denomination. Journey partners with various denominations and local churches, from Pentecostal to Roman Catholic, Mennonite Brethren to Baptist, Christian and Missionary Alliance to Anglican.
Who comes to Journey?
Journey helps people from many walks of life. Our primary goal is to help people deepen their spiritual lives and we think anyone would benefit from what we have to offer. People often come to Journey with areas of their lives where they’ve experienced significant shame — from sexual abuse to addiction, from anger problems to low self-esteem, from sexual identity to divorce.
Are Journey programs a form of counselling?
While drawing on the insights of psychology and therapeutic practice, the Journey program is primarily a spiritual ministry focused on community and prayer. Journey is a grass-roots ministry facilitated by local churches and led by trained volunteers. Journey Canada does not offer public or private mental health services, nor does it offer individual counselling, psychotherapy, group therapy, etc.
What kind of prayer does Journey Canada practice?
Journey Canada emphasizes listening prayer and the belief that God is presently speaking to and transforming His people. Journey programs create a safe, structured space for participants to experience listening prayer in small groups. It is our experience that God regularly uses prayer to speak words of emotional healing and spiritual renewal into the hearts of people.
What kind of “healing” does Journey promote?
Journey Canada aims to facilitate spiritual healing in the lives of participants. We define spiritual healing as, “coming to know God as Father, Jesus as our brother, and the Holy Spirit as our comforter—as the Triune God transforms us by ministering to our areas of need, wounding, and pain.” Spiritual healing involves replacing distorted images of oneself and of God with truthful images, cultivating emotional and voluntary openness towards God, and regaining personal empowerment through the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit.
Spiritual healing is foremost about our restored capacity to know and live in relationship with God. This does not guarantee total restoration or freedom from all the effects of wounding or sin in our lives. It does, however, mean we can face our struggles and life challenges from a new place of strength, assurance and hope.
Does Journey Canada try to change participants’ sexual orientation?
Journey Canada is a discipleship ministry and therefore does not seek to change same-sex sexual orientation/attraction.
What is Journey’s view on sexuality?
Journey Canada’s perspectives on sexuality and relationships are rooted in the Christian tradition and turns first to the Christian Scriptures for beliefs, values and ethics. Journey Canada follows an orthodox Christian understanding of sexuality, including God’s plan for sexual relations between a man and a woman within marriage.
As a charity, does Journey receive public money or government funding?
As a registered Canadian charity, donors to Journey Canada may claim donations as tax-exempt. However, Journey Canada does not receive any public money or government funding. Journey Canada is funded solely through program fees and the contributions of like-minded individuals and churches that share our mission.