"The Respect Movement", Sun Devil Survivor, Outlaw Comedy, Sun Devils Wear Prada, and Sun Devils 4 Christ as "Front Groups" of Hope Church ASU

(**Note: If it is your first time visiting this page, please read the first post from July 6, 2016, on this same page)

We wanted to provide a special word (and some proof) on Hope Church ASU and their use of "front groups", which has been of great interest to ASU administration in the investigation, with Lisa Porter and Carla Mahnke (from Student Rights/Responsibilities) multiple times requesting more information on this issue. 

This is important because the ASU students who are met by Hope Church are deceived as to the nature of what they are getting into, and the real purpose of the "clubs" they are joining, and in addition, ASU admin is deceived in approving the clubs, as well as granting them time, space, and even money for their operations. Essentially, ASU is an unknowing party to the recruitment of Hope Church. While all of our contributors believe sharing and representing the Gospel is a great thing, we likewise believe in boldness and authenticity in doing so, not deception. 

Below, we have several pieces of proof detailing Hope's use of these clubs as front groups, these are:

1. A Prezi presentation by the Outreach Coordinator at Hope, showing how the clubs contribute toward Hope recruitment goals (The Pastor took the Prezi down, so we have now provided screenshots instead)

2. A picture from Hope Church's website, which names Outlaw Comedy as an Outreach of Hope Church (although the students they engage do now know this, nor does ASU)

3. A copy of the 2015 "Hope Magazine" which references all the clubs.

Prezi:

Screenshot from Hope's Website:

"Hope Magazine" 2015:

Relevant ASU Administration and News Media Contacts for Hope Church ASU Investigation

*NOTE: If it is your first time visiting this page, please read through the first post from July 16, 2016.*

Hi, we wanted to share some contacts with any:

1. Parents, family, friends, current students, alumni, etc who would like to file individual complaints (separate from the report filed by this group) regarding Hope Church ASU.

2. Current members of Hope Church ASU who have been fed the narrative that "there is no investigation" and would like to verify it's existence.


ASU Administrators

Dean's Office: Jennifer.stults@asu.edu

Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities: Carla.Mahnke@asu.edu , Lisa.A.Porter@asu.edu

Council of Religious Advisers (CORA): Amy.golden@asu.edu

Student Organizations: Kimberly.Scatton@asu.edu (We have not had direct contact with this office as of yet)


News Reporters:
AZ Daily Star (covered Hope's mother-church in 2015): Caalaimo@tucson.com

ABC 15: Chris.Gros@abc15.com

ASU State Press: Ryanerica4me@yahoo.com

Update on Hope Church ASU Open Investigation

We have a few updates regarding the open investigation of Hope Church ASU (see original post on this page from July 16, 2016). The updates are as follows:

1. Three offices of ASU administration are now involved (Student Rights/Responsibilities, Student Orgs, Council of Religious Advisers) as well as the Dean's who we originally reached out to. All three offices are jointly meeting next week to discuss next steps.

2. Hope Church somehow got ahold of our report a while back, and has since tried to undermine the effort in various ways, including contacting one of our contributors employers, bad-mouthing him, and trying to get him in trouble. This was unsuccessful.

3. About 60 current members have been notified of the situation (Hope had not notified them themselves), but best we can tell, Hope Church is attempting to convince them that, in the words of one current member, "there is no investigation and you (this group) falsified information".

4. Hope has also rebranded as just "Hope Church" (formerly Hope Christian Church) and has changed all of their artwork and other branding elements. We are trying to keep our materials up to date with these changes.

Hope Church ASU Open Investigation

Hope Christian Church ASU, located on the Tempe campus of America's largest University, is currently under investigation by Arizona State University and local news media for violating University rules and regulations and engaging in cult-practices. Updates will continue to be posted on this site as they become available.

The investigation was prompted when, on July 6, 2016 a large group of former members, including current students, alumni, a former pastor at Hope Christian Church ASU, and family of former members, submitted a formal report with the Dean's Office and Council of Religious Advisers at ASU (CORA), after two of their number had previously met with ASU administration. While this is not the first time people have spoken out about Hope Christian ASU and their activities, this is the first time ASU has received complaints from current students, and thus the first time they have launched a real investigation. The experiences covered date from 2005 until the current year.

The report has also been submitted to several local news outlets, who are interested in publishing stories about Hope Christian Church ASU, and investigating their unethical cult practices. So far, the organizations include:

• The Tucson Metro, who covered the controversy surrounding Hope's mother-Church in 2015
• ABC 15 Phoenix
• CBS 5 Phoenix

The report submitted totaled over 120 pages in length, and detailed:

• 4 categories of ASU code of conduct violations
• 6 practices that, while not explicitly covered in the code of conduct, nonetheless create an unhealthy campus environment at ASU
• Much of which regards Hope Christian Church ASU and their use of campus clubs as "front groups"
• 8 categories of psychological manipulation and abuse
• The roots of Hope Christian Church ASU, which stem from groups on the first, second, and third levels who are widely considered by evangelical leaders and scholars to be religious cults. 
• 44 indicators of religious cult-groups (per research from social psychologists, sociologists, and evangelical leaders) which are embodied by Hope Christian Church ASU
• 4 From Steve Hassan's work, "Releasing the Bonds"
• 14 From the Non-Profit Organization, "Families Against Cult Teachings"
• 6 Tendencies listed as "Red Flags" by the University of Arizona Religious Council
• 12 from Dr. Kathleen Taylor's "Brainwashing: The Science of Thought Control", 8 of which are "Lifton's 8 Totalist Themes", derived from his work "Thought Reform: The Psychology of Totalism"
• 7 From Shawn Nelson's work, "Spiritual Abuse: Unspoken Crisis"
• 7 Categories of scriptural and Biblical distortion, undertaken by Hope Christian Church ASU to advance the interests and agenda of the Church 

Each of these sub-categories of the investigative report is presented as it's own page on this website, without disclosing the identities of the individuals behind the experiences. You can navigate to each page below the header.

In our estimation, the facts and experiences which have come to light regarding Hope Christian Church ASU demonstrate beyond a reasonable doubt that they are more than just a Christian church, but in fact a bona fide religious cult, whose practices are often harmful to ASU and it's students.

We pray that the information on this site will be enlightening, and will stir in each reader whatever response God's Holy Spirit wishes to evoke in them.

God bless.