Toronto christian program

Exodus International, an American group, shut down in July and publicly apologized to those it had counselled. At Living Waters Toronto, the program is led by a team of volunteers, including a preschool teacher, a personal trainer and a pastor.

But some of those former participants told the Star stories of personal anguish and spiritual crisis when their attempts to become straight failed. Their stories appear in Part 2 of the investigation.. In a recent group, two of four male participants sought healing for their homosexual desires.

As a government-registered charity under the Canada Revenue Agency, Living Waters collects the bulk of its revenue in tax-receipted donations. This money has helped Living Waters establish programs in churches across Canada, from Charlottetown to Winnipeg to Edmonton to Vancouver, where a chic brownstone serves as national headquarters. Living Waters has posted several statements on its website since the Star investigation began.

In the most recent statement, on Sept. I took the subway each Thursday night to the Evangel Temple, a large church known for its young and hip congregation — the church advertises its iPad app and Twitter account on an electric sign facing Yonge St. The Evangel Temple has allowed Living Waters to use its premises ever since Barry Lee, a self-described psychotherapist counsellor and former pastor of the church, founded the program more than 10 years ago.

Lee has since retired from his leadership role, but still provides one-on-one counselling for Living Waters participants seeking more healing. The program began on a frigid January night.

Bundled in winter jackets and boots, about 20 strangers — all Christian, mostly Evangelical — trudged into the church and upstairs to a small, plain room. It was inside this room that we would pray together, cry together and share our deepest struggles — marital problems, childhood sexual abuse, suppressed sexual fantasies — for three hours once a week. If we developed attractions toward another participant, we were told to inform a leader immediately.

Lawson started by sharing his own story. When he was in his early 20s, many years before becoming Christian, he had frivolous sexual relationships with other men. During this period he helped pay his rent by making donations at a sperm bank.

One night he got a voice mail from the clinic telling him to come in first thing the next morning. Lawson said he panicked, assuming he had tested positive for the AIDS virus. In that moment he decided he would rather die than suffer through a diagnosis. He walked out of his apartment, hopped on his yellow speed bike and pedalled down a ramp on to the highway. As the headlights hurtled toward him in the darkness, he waited for impact.

But Jesus was with him that night, he said. Realizing he had hit rock bottom, Lawson reached out to a Christian friend for guidance. His journey of faith eventually led him to Living Waters, where he found the answers he so desperately wanted. With the guidance of leaders, Lawson scoured his past for the cause of his homosexuality — a tenet of Living Waters.

He eventually unearthed memories of childhood bullying and a yearning for a closer relationship with his father. He claimed that, over time, God released him of his gay desires. Our first weeks in Living Waters were spent hunting for the causes of our own sexual brokenness.

Once we discovered the root, leaders encouraged us to forgive the person responsible for the damage. Social and Political Philosophy. Theology and Biblical Studies. Courses that fulfill PhD program requirements can come from several sources.

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