TEEN RANCH NEEDS YOUR HELP!
March 2009
Dear Friends of Teen Ranch,
During the past several years, Teen Ranch has been defending itself in an audit with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).
In short, the CRA is claiming that Teen Ranch does not really have as its central purpose the advancement of the gospel of Christ. Therefore, the CRA is taking the position that Teen Ranch is not eligible to be classed as a charity able to issue tax receipts.
The CRA claim Teen Ranch has a collateral purpose of being a sports camp (which is not charitable), that happens to have a small religious component to it (advancing religion is charitable) and should never have been given charitable status in the first place. Specifically, the CRA claims “there is no certainty that campers will gain a greater understanding of the Christian religion”………and, “we are unable to conclude that a tangible religious benefit will necessarily occur as a consequence of Teen Ranch’s actions”.
Our position is that Teen Ranch exists primarily to spread the gospel of Christ. We do this by using sports and other activities as means to attract young people to our ministry, giving us the opportunity to share the message of Jesus by all means possible.
The CRA’s plan is to annul our charitable status, even though we have a 40 year history of Christian camping advancing the gospel of Christ, following a well established pattern used by many Christian camps for well over 80 years. The implications of the CRA’s view that sports, in the context of Teen Ranch, cannot be a means to an end of advancing the Gospel will likely affect many Christian camps in Canada.
While we are currently working with legal counsel to respond to the CRA on these issues,
WE ALSO NEED YOUR HELP as quickly as possible.
If you or your family or your friends have been impacted by the religious ministry of Teen Ranch, we need to hear from you either by letter or email addressed to Teen Ranch, ideally in the next two or three weeks. If you think we’re too religious, we’d love to hear from you too. Please share your story in as much or little detail as you’d like.
Thanking you in advance as we stand together for God’s Kingdom work,
Tim Stevens
Executive Director
Teen Ranch
Box 77
Caledon, On.
L7K 3L3
Dear Friends of Teen Ranch,
During the past several years, Teen Ranch has been defending itself in an audit with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).
In short, the CRA is claiming that Teen Ranch does not really have as its central purpose the advancement of the gospel of Christ. Therefore, the CRA is taking the position that Teen Ranch is not eligible to be classed as a charity able to issue tax receipts.
The CRA claim Teen Ranch has a collateral purpose of being a sports camp (which is not charitable), that happens to have a small religious component to it (advancing religion is charitable) and should never have been given charitable status in the first place. Specifically, the CRA claims “there is no certainty that campers will gain a greater understanding of the Christian religion”………and, “we are unable to conclude that a tangible religious benefit will necessarily occur as a consequence of Teen Ranch’s actions”.
Our position is that Teen Ranch exists primarily to spread the gospel of Christ. We do this by using sports and other activities as means to attract young people to our ministry, giving us the opportunity to share the message of Jesus by all means possible.
The CRA’s plan is to annul our charitable status, even though we have a 40 year history of Christian camping advancing the gospel of Christ, following a well established pattern used by many Christian camps for well over 80 years. The implications of the CRA’s view that sports, in the context of Teen Ranch, cannot be a means to an end of advancing the Gospel will likely affect many Christian camps in Canada.
While we are currently working with legal counsel to respond to the CRA on these issues,
WE ALSO NEED YOUR HELP as quickly as possible.
If you or your family or your friends have been impacted by the religious ministry of Teen Ranch, we need to hear from you either by letter or email addressed to Teen Ranch, ideally in the next two or three weeks. If you think we’re too religious, we’d love to hear from you too. Please share your story in as much or little detail as you’d like.
Thanking you in advance as we stand together for God’s Kingdom work,
Tim Stevens
Executive Director
Teen Ranch
Box 77
Caledon, On.
L7K 3L3