Church Separates from Kanakuk Kamps until “Truth Openly Confessed”
We were deceived. We didn’t know. That’s Kanakuk Kamps official position on the sex crimes committed against dozens of children at its camps and elsewhere by camp director Pete Newman, who was sent to prison in 2009.
But depositions show that camp leaders knew about the abuse a decade earlier, and now a Missouri church has announced it will cancel a planned event and no longer partner with Kanakuk “until the truth of their knowledge about what happened with Pete Newman is openly confessed.”
“We believe in grace and that God can and will heal,” wrote senior pastor John King in a letter released to the congregation of First Baptist Church in West Plains, Missouri, on Tuesday. “The process of healing is being delayed because of the lie that Kanakuk tells claiming they did not know what was taking place until 2009.”
The letter cites the following reasons for the decision:
1. We do not want to introduce people from our community to an organization that we no longer feel we can trust.
2. We want to send a message to the victims of the original abuse that we hear them and that their voice matters and their healing is of great importance to us.
3. We want to send a message to those who have suffered harm in other situations that this is not God’s intention and that the church is to be a place of refuge from abuse.
Before pastoring at First Baptist, King was pastor of a church in Branson, where Kanakuk is headquartered. “During that time I knew and loved many of the victims of Pete Newman,” he told MinistryWatch.
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King thought Kanakuk had “resolved” its issues with abuse, but First Baptist decided to sever ties with Kanakuk after one of its members who had been abused there told the church that its willingness to host a Kanakuk event was a source of further wounding.
In a statement on the Kanakuk website, Kanakuk CEO Joe White blames everything on Newman: “We were devastated by the deceptive practices of this individual.”
White has traveled the country meeting with families of victims, offering cash payments for settlements and non-disclosure agreements, resulting in “the worst Christian sex abuse scandal you’ve never heard of,” according to a lengthy report by David and Nancy French. One abuse victim took his own life in 2019.
Kanakuk has even turned its experience with sexual abuse into a new revenue stream. The Kanakuk Child Protection Plan offers seminars and resources designed to “Train your organization to recognize and prevent abuse in youth and children’s programming.”
The CCP website says “1,600 leaders representing over 600 youth-serving organizations nationwide have completed the CPP Seminar training.” The CCP webpages do not mention Kanakuk’s history of sexual abuse.
Pastor King said his church’s commitment to truth, transparency, and healing required it to end its relationship with Kanakuk.
He’s not alone.
More than 25,000 people have signed a petition asking Kanakuk to release survivors from non-disclosure agreements they signed. Victims and families also created the FactsAboutKanakuk.com website to collect and publish information about the long-running abuse. MinistryWatch reported on the scandal and cover-up last year.
“While we hope for the restoration of the reputation of Kanakuk, we feel more strongly about standing in truth with those who were victimized by the abuse allowed to occur due to the indecision and negligence of the leadership of Kanakuk,” said King, who urged others to follow his lead.
“We invite every church who cares for the abused to take similar actions in protecting and standing with those who have been wounded.”
Read Pastor John King’s Letter Here:
Due to information that has recently been made clear to the leadership of First Baptist Church West Plains, our church has made the decision to not partner with Kanakuk Kamps for ministry until the truth of their knowledge about what happened with Pete Newman is openly confessed. We believe in grace and that God can and will heal. The process of healing is being delayed because of the lie that Kanakuk tells claiming they did not know what was taking place until 2009. Based on depositions we now know that the leadership of Kanakuk certainly knew that there were felonies against children committed in 1999 and in 2003.
While we hope for the restoration of the reputation of Kanakuk, we feel more strongly about standing in truth with those who were victimized by the abuse allowed to occur due to the indecision and negligence of the leadership of the Kanakuk facility. Kanakuk leadership continues to lack transparency in order to step aside from the responsibility that they carry in what happened to the young men who were victimized after they learned of Pete Newman’s actions. Those young men are still reeling from these consequences while Kanakuk tells the world that they didn’t know until 2009 while, in reality, they knew in 1999.
We have made this decision for four reasons:
1. We do not want to introduce people from our community to an organization that we no longer feel we can trust.
2. We want to send a message to the victims of the original abuse that we hear them and that their voice matters and their healing is of great importance to us.
3. We want to send a message to those who have suffered harm in other situations that this is not God’s intentions and that the church is to be a place of refuge from abuse. Our church is a refuge and will not stand for abuse or with those who hide it.
4. Finally, and with clarity we want to invite every church to stand for truth. We invite Kanakuk to see what happened with the victims between 1999-2009. We ask that they take responsibility for that abuse that would not have happened if they had terminated Pete’s employment in 1999. We invite every church who cares for the abused to take similar actions in protecting and standing with those who have been wounded.
In Christ,
John King
FBC Senior Pastor
