
Promise Keepers (PK),
Pro and Con: PART 2

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This is a continuation of Part 1 of
this essay

Response of United Methodist Men
At their meeting in Nashville TN on 1997-SEP-27, the United Methodist Church's Commission
on United Methodist Men gave a qualified endorsement of the Promise Keepers movement.
1 The commission noted some points of conflict between the two organizations in the
following areas:
 |
"United Methodist broad theological diversity contrasted with Promise Keepers
theological parameters; |
 |
United Methodist affirmation of women in ministry and church leadership contrasted with
Promise Keepers diversity of opinion; |
 |
Emphasis of the United Methodist Church on global missions, evangelism and nurture
contrasted to Promise Keepers emphasis as a 'catalytic ministry that motivates and trains
men for men's ministry in the local church; |
 |
United Methodist connectional structure contrasted with Promise Keepers predominate
congregational nature." |
They plan to work with Promise Keepers and other groups where goals and objectives are
not in conflict.

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The 1997 Washington Rally
A record-breaking rally "Stand in the Gap: A Sacred Assembly of Men"
was expected to include 700,000 men on 1997-OCT-4 in the National Mall of Washington DC.
The rally was originally scheduled for 1996, but was delayed one year. Organizers were
concerned that it would have been politicized by being associated with the 1996 elections.
The name of the rally is taken from Ezekiel 22:30, in which God looks for a man who
will "...stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to
destroy it..." (NIV) One initial attendance estimate was that over 1 million men
came - the largest gathering of men anywhere. (Louis Farrakhan's Million Man March
attracted 400,000 to 870,000. A 1993 Mass conducted by Pope John Paul II in Denver CO
attracted an estimated 600,000 people.) The Metro subway system reported that 702,000
people had passed through its turnstiles by 9 p.m. Ridership on a typical Saturday is
about 200,000. Both Promise Keepers and the National Park Service did not make estimates
of the crowd size, but most professional estimators gave figures in the range of 500,000
to 1 million. The crowd covered an area 300 yards wide and 1 mile long. The rally was
covered live on the CSPAN cable network.
PK founder Bill McCartney called for rallies on 2000-JAN-1 at every state capitol to
take "a roll call" for Jesus Christ. It is worth noting that these
rallies will inevitably be interpreted as political because of the elections later that
year. If the rallies were to be associated with the beginning of the new millennium, they
would have been be scheduled for 2001-JAN-1. He urged "an end to racism inside the
church of Jesus Christ" by the year 2000. He made no similar call for an end to
sexism or homophobia. He promised 37 free events over the next two years. He expected to
expand the ministry globally.
A group of pro-life activists has synchronized the start of their billboard campaign
with the PK rally. They will be erecting large portable anti-abortion billboards across
the US. One will show the remains of an aborted fetus beside pictures of lynched blacks
and emaciated corpses from concentration camps. Another billboard consists of four large
photographs of a (rare) second-trimester abortion in progress. A leader, Gregg Cunningham,
said: "We have been systematically denied access to every forum. We can’t get
onto television, we can’t get into newspapers, we can’t get onto billboards,
[and] we can’t get into churches or classrooms or civic organizations. The last forum
open to us is the public square." Helen Alvare, who played a major role
in the anti-abortion campaign by US Catholic Bishops, predicted that the
billboard campaign would probably alienate more people than it wins. 2
The Lesbian Avengers were there in full force. They had been told that they could
not make a political statement, so they removed their shirts and went topless instead. The
men generally averted their eyes; there were no whistles or catcalls. The Avengers said
that the Promise Keepers are racist, homophobic and want a return to patriarchy. They
offered seven of their own promises, including fighting this "perversion of
Christianity." Katie Tobler, a young woman dressed only in shorts, said "Promise
Keepers has an agenda to put women back in the kitchen, to have babies and stay at home.
They are a fraud."
Laura Montgomery Rutt, Executive Director of the Alliance for Tolerance and Freedom
attended the rally. She reported that The Family Research Council, a Religious
Right political organization put on an advertising blitz to convince the rally attendees
to join their group. They offered a free picture of the Mall in return for a name and
address to add to their data base. In violation of the rules, PK solicited money at the
Mall; they gave out Bbibles which included envelopes for donations. Ms. Rutt reported that:
"They had minorities from many nationalities and races take the stand and
'absolve' them from their sins of bigotry, including Hispanic, African American, Native
American...The Atheists held signs that said 'Real men don't pray'. NOW had a press
rally." She attended a pre-event interfaith service that promoted inclusion and
tolerance for all people.
Rally speakers concentrated on three weaknesses of Christian men: 3
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forsaking God by disregarding the Bible, failing in prayer and falling into sexual sins. |
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Evading spiritual leadership by abusing and abandoning their families. |
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Fostering disunity in the body of Christ through racism and denominational pride. |
These were combined into a single statement, called the "D.C. Covenant" which the crowd recited at the end of the rally.
4
Equal Partners in Faith is a "broad-based coalition of people of faith
committed to equality among all people regardless of gender, race,or sexual
orientation." They promote and celebrate diversity. The group organized a "Weekend
of Witness" in Washington DC, as a response to the PK rally. They held a
"Prayer Vigil for Unity and Equality" at the US Capitol on the Friday afternoon,
and an "InterFaith Worship Service for Unity and Equality" on the Saturday
morning of the PK rally.

1998 Financial Crisis
Promise Keepers laid off its entire US staff of 345 employees, effective 1998-MAR-31,
and become an all-volunteer agency. 200 of them are in their head office in Denver, CO. In
their press release they commented that this "represents a transition of a
magnitude unique in the history of nonprofit organizations."
The financial difficulties apparently arose because attendance at 1997 regional rallies
had dropped by about 50%. Many men did not go, preferring to attend the massive Washington
DC meeting instead. Admission to regular meetings cost $60; the Washington rally was free.
Another cause was the decision to lower admission fees in order to make it possible for
more low income Christians to attend and to attract more non-Christian men.
The layoffs were announced at a staff meeting on FEB-18. They asked each church across
the US to donate $1,000 to Promise Keepers. Founder Bill McCartney said "it's the
will of God for churches to give this money...If the church fails to do this, they will
have missed the heart of God If they're a small church, that doesn't let them off the
hook. They need to ask a large church for the money." 5
Christianity Today (1998-MAY-18) announced that about 1,500 churches had given
$1,000 or more; others gave smaller donations. Some 35,000 individuals contributed money,
making the total receipts equal to 4 million dollars by APR-9. They recalled their
employees; unfortunately 70 had already found alternative employment.
Their 1997 budget has been variously reported as $90 to 112 million; the 1998 budget
will be $45 million
During 1998-OCT, they reduced their full time staff again, from 250 to 180. They are
basing future conferences on the Billy Graham crusade model. That involves an invitation
from a local churches, who will do much of the organizing.

Promise Keepers in Canada
Canada has about 10% of the population of the US. Thus, one would expect to see the
numbers of PK rallies and the total turnout to be 1/10 of the corresponding US figures.
But the demographics, the religious makeup and social culture of the two countries are
quite different; this makes comparisons difficult. PK Canada had 3 meetings in 1996 and 6
in 1997. (20) They had hoped to attract about 80,000 men to the 1997 meetings, but managed
fewer than 30,000. Their most recent rally, in Edmonton AL, attracted 12,000 men. Their
budget is less than $1 million; PK in the US has a budget more than 116 times larger.
Ken McGeorge, CEO of PK Canada said: "We have an uphill battle; we know that.
This is definitely a more secular society."
There are major differences between
the US and Canada:
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the largest Protestant denominations are the Anglican Church and the United Church, both
from the liberal wing of Christianity. 80% of Canadians belong to the Anglican,
Presbyterian, Roman Catholic, or United Churches. |
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regular church attendance is about 20% of the adult population, much lower than in the
US. |
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there are very few Evangelical Christian radio stations in Canada. |
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the percentage of Evangelical Christians is much lower than that in the US. |
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the people are more laid-back; homicide rates are much lower; gun controls are strict. |
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abortion is freely available, although not always conveniently accessible. There are
very few protests by pro-life groups. |
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discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is banned; sexual orientation is a
protected class, similar to gender, age, nationality, etc. |
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gay and lesbian partnerships are recognized in one province, British Columbia. |
Earl Waugh, head of religious studies at the University of Alberta said that a major
religious difference between the US and Canada relates to the ties between religion and
the state. He reasons that religious organizations in Canada are less likely to criticize
government policy or get involved in the political process compared with the US. "While
we do not have a state church, we have a number of semi-state churches. They're less
radical." Canadians have not followed the tradition of inter-denominational
worship that is common in the US.

Recent developmnets:
 |
Attendance at 1998 rallies: Promise Keepers reported a severe reduction in attendance in its 1998 rallies compared
to previous years. In the 12 months ending 1998-OCT-10, 454,000 men attended 19 PK events.
One year previously, attendees totaled 638,000 at 19 events in stadiums and arenas plus
the 500,000 to 1 million men who attended the rally at the Washington DC mall. About 15
rallies are planned for 1999. 6 |
 |
Cancellation of 2000-JAN rallies: Promise Keepers had planned to hold rallies at the capitol buildings of all 50 states in
the U.S. on 2000-JAN-1. They have since canceled these plans because of concern over the Y2K problem. Many conservative Christian leaders had
prophesied
that computer program failures on that day will devastate the world. Neither
the rallies nor the disasters happened. |
 |
2000-FEB-7: PK has started a series of daily three-minute
commentaries called "4th and Goal: Coaching for life's tough
calls." It was originally broadcast over 145 stations in the U.S. |
 |
2000-MAR layoffs: A news item dated as 2000-MAR-15
by the Calvary Contender, but received in MAR-6 stated that PK has
undergone a major restructuring. This included staff layoffs and the
closing of eight regional offices. |
 |
2000-JUN: PK held its first rally of the year in Lynchburg,
VA during JUN-3/4. Attendance was down compared to previous years.
Fifteen more rallies are planned during 2000, starting with one at
Pittsburgh on JUN-23/24. |
 |
2001-DEC: PK conducted "Passage," an all-day conference in
Columbus OH. An unknown number of teenage males, ages 13 to 17 were
taught about "integrity, courage, humility and faith." They conducted
conferences in 17 cities during 2001. 7 |

References:
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Linda Green, "United Methodist Men's Commission clarifies relationship to
Promise Keepers movement", United Methodist News Service, 1997-SEP-30 http://www.umc.org/umns/news97/sep/gumen.htm
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Ruth Padawer, "Anti-abortion guerrillas get graphic", MSNBC.
Essay is at: http://www.msnbc.com/news/114731.asp
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"Promise Keepers make history with reconciliation rally in D.C.",
Associated Baptist Press, 1997-OCT-5.
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The DC Covenant is available on-line at: http://www2.promisekeepers.org/manual/sitg/covenant.htm
- Article by Jennifer Dixon, Detroit Free Press, Detroit, MI, 1998-FEB-19
-
George Bullard, "How do we resolve the issue of homosexuality,?"
The Detroit News, at: http://www.detnews.com/1998/religion/9810/24/10240034.htm
-
"Promise Keepers Holds First-of-its-kind 'Passage' Youth Event,"
ReligionToday summaries, 2001-DEC-18.
Copyright © 1998 to 2001 incl. by Ontario Consultants on
Religious Tolerance
Latest update: 2001-DEC-18
Author: B.A. Robinson 

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