An inspired Christian layman catches a vision for men, encourages them with a dual call to conversion and godly living, and along the way launches a Christian men’s movement. Soon, pastors and organizations around the country join the effort, which sends teams of speakers to major American cities, reaching more than a million men.
Is this movement the now-famous Promise Keepers organization? No. It is a description of the largely forgotten Men and Religion Forward Movement, founded in Maine nearly 100 years ago. Throughout the twentieth century, that group and many others like it have proclaimed the message that men need to be committed to God. Or as Promise Keepers (PK) founder Bill McCartney often says, “A man’s man is a godly man.”
It is a theme that inspired the athletic evangelism of Billy Sunday, the businessmen’s crusades of Dwight L. Moody, and England’s “muscular Christianity” movement. And in today’s topsy-turvy, post-feminist, 12-step, gender-bending world, masculine ministry is a big, brawny success, influencing America’s major denominations and changing the focus of Christian retailing. It is also spawning dozens of parachurch groups such as the Christian Men’s Network, Dad’s University, National Center for Fathering, Career Impact Ministries, Business Life Management, Men Reaching Men, Fathers and Brothers, and Dad the Family Shepherd.
“There is a growing number of men today who are recognizing that success in business, achieving all their goals, and making huge amounts of money are not going to satisfy them,” says James Dobson, founder and president of Focus on the Family. Dobson’s 1980 book “Straight Talk to Men and Their Wives” and Edwin Louis Cole’s 1982 book “Maximized Manhood” marked the opening salvos in the contemporary Christian men’s movement.
Robert Tamasy, spokesperson for the 66-year-old Christian Business Men’s Committee (CBMC), adds that today’s economic insecurities, epitomized by corporate downsizing, look a lot like the Depression era, when CBMC began amid a heightened spiritual need.
“Suddenly, men realize–hey, I have a need in my life,” Tamasy says. “And through Promise Keepers and various men’s ministries, maybe they realize it’s not a worldly need, but a spiritual need.”
Historian Timothy Weber says the Christian men’s movement represents an effort to put the brakes on some of the twentieth century’s more destructive trends, such as escalating divorce and illegitimacy rates.
“It’s a new way of negotiating all of society’s competing tensions,” says Weber, professor of church history at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. “The old equilibrium has been disrupted, and people are trying to find a new one.”
PROMISE KEEPERS’ IMPACT: Even before 39,000 men attended PK’s February clergy conference in Atlanta (CT, April 9, 1996, p. 88), the ministry had made a big impact on American laymen (CT, Feb. 6, 1995, p. 20). In recent months, increasing numbers of denominational leaders have been rethinking the way they minister to men.
PK has had a huge impact on the North American Conference of Church Men’s Staff, a fellowship of ministers from 22 denominations that gained prominence in the early 1960s.
“There’s probably been no more major topic of conversation for all men’s ministries the last few years than how we deal with the phenomenon of Promise Keepers,” says Doug Haugen, president of the conference, and director of Lutheran Men in Missions for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
PK’s explosive growth has made it a major player in the parachurch ministry arena, with its 300 employees, $65 million annual budget, and national network of representatives and offices. This year it will reach a projected 1.5 million men in 26 stadium events.
“Promise Keepers has forced the church to address men’s needs, and it has provided a very positive challenge for all of us to determine and develop our own niche in men’s ministry,” Haugen says. He admits that he and other denominational leaders who have been quietly working in men’s ministry for decades have had to deal with conflicting emotions over PK’s overnight success, including bouts of resentment, defensiveness, and jealousy. Haugen says he and other ELCA pastors at the PK clergy conference in Atlanta confessed and repented of their jealousies.
Ministry leaders have seen the fruits of PK in their own denominations, including a renewed attention to the spiritual needs of men, a greater prominence given to men’s ministry on a national level, and a heightened level of participation by men in the lives of their local congregations.
SOUTHERN BAPTISTS RESPOND: The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), which with 15 million members is the nation’s largest Protestant denomination, made its first formal response to PK in 1994 by urging church leaders to lend their support “to encourage the men of our churches to become involved in the Promise Keepers men’s ministry, which is sweeping our land in such a powerful way.”
Jim Burton of the denomination’s Brotherhood Commission attended a PK rally in Boulder, Colorado, that summer and came away impressed. “I had some concerns, and really listened, frankly, with a critical ear,” Burton says. “But I didn’t hear anything that I had a problem with.”
At its 1995 convention, the SBC approved a Brotherhood Commission recommendation to “acknowledge and endorse Promise Keepers as a movement of God significantly impacting the lives of many men and churches across the country,” to affirm participation in PK events by Baptist men, and to continue the development of church-based men’s ministries and programs.
Last October, after meetings with PK leaders, the SBC’s Brotherhood Commission launched its new Men’s Ministries effort, which has cooperative agreements with both PK and Dad the Family Shepherd. The SBC program creates its own materials and programs for Baptist men.
Burton says the denomination’s new Men’s Ministries effort will promote large rallies, medium-sized retreats, and smaller accountability groups; publish a wide range of curriculum and take-home materials for men; and focus on three major areas of a man’s life–home, church, and marketplace.
Burton says PK’s desire to be a catalyst to men’s ministry within denominations rather than the creator of competing programs is a key factor in the 89-year-old Brotherhood Commission’s cooperation. “I choose not to question the activity of God. I choose to join it,” Burton says.
FIRST CHURCH OF THE PK? But that does not mean Burton and PK see eye-to-eye on everything. Specifically, Burton has concerns about PK’s attempt to blur denominational lines, and he worries about the shifting loyalties of men who attend PK’s large rallies.
Burton notes that McCartney, in an Arizona Republic article last year, said PK would work to oppose “racism and denominationalism.” In the interview, McCartney said, “You will see Promise Keepers whacking away at those two giants like you’ve never seen before.”
“Statements like this are very confusing to us,” Burton says. While he believes McCartney’s purpose is to condemn divisions that separate denominations, Burton says it does not come off that way. “We try not to be defensive, but it’s hard to digest that.” PK did not respond to numerous requests to be interviewed for this story.
Another concern of Burton’s is misplaced loyalties after men attend a PK rally. “Some of our guys come home wearing shirts and hats, and they want to start Promise Keepers groups rather than work as a member of their local church,” Burton says. “Some of these guys identify themselves as Promise Keepers, and they see themselves as separate from other men’s ministries in the church.”
SUPPORTIVE, WARY MAINLINERS: Other denominations are carefully selecting which parts of the Promise Keepers agenda to embrace and adapt.
“We are grateful for what Promise Keepers is doing to evangelize men, build strong families, and point them to strong Bible-believing churches,” says Wayde Goodall, national coordinator of ministerial enrichment for the Assemblies of God (AG). The AG recently appointed a new Men’s Ministries secretary to work with Promise Keepers leaders in setting up discipleship programs and accountability groups for AG men.
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod members have been discussing an 11-page denominational study of PK, which praises the organization’s focus on godly male leadership and encourages church members and pastors to attend its rallies. But the study raises concerns about the organization’s “propensity toward ecclesiastical unity based on dynamics other than a common faith confessed” as well as its tendency to induce “pietism–causing men to look inward, dwelling upon their own successes and failures rather than looking outward to Christ.”
The sometimes liberal Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is developing a new men’s Bible-study series, which will examine biblical models for dealing with men’s issues. “This will be an excellent tool for men who have returned from Promise Keepers events excited about their faith and looking for a good way to connect to the local congregation,” says Curtis Miller, an associate for men’s ministry in the denomination.
Although Miller applauds PK for its efforts to evangelize men and recharge the batteries of unexcited churched men, he is concerned about the organization’s hierarchical approach toward male leadership, its “relationship with gay men,” and its statement of faith that implies the primacy of conservative theological views.
REVIVED CATHOLICS: Promise Keepers has inspired laymen beyond Protestant ranks. The Catholic church has developed two separate new men’s groups: Saint Joseph’s Covenant Keepers, which focuses on small groups and obedience to eight commitments; and Ministry to Black Catholic Men, which accentuates personal and community change through a message of responsibility for rebuilding relationships, families, and communities.
“Promise Keepers re-ignites in men an awareness of the spiritual dimension in life and offers them a safe place in which to find support and encouragement for Christian values and virtues,” says Rick McCord of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Secretariat for Family, Laity, Women, and Youth. But McCord says he is concerned about PK’s potential for leading men away from Catholic parishes to evangelical congregations, as well as its teaching on male “headship” and its “prejudice and discrimination against homosexuals.” Nonetheless, PK representatives will be among the speakers at a May 31 to June 2 Catholic men’s conference in Steubenville, Ohio.
MARKETING A MOVEMENT: While the men’s movement has changed the face of local congregations, it is also causing a minor revolution in the Christian publishing and retailing industry, which has long been dominated by products for its predominantly female clientele.
“We are seeing more men in the stores, partly because there is more product,” says Bill Anderson, president of the Christian Booksellers Association (CBA). “Publishers are creating better displays for men’s product, and some stores are even devoting whole sections to men’s materials.” Anderson says nearly a quarter of shoppers in Christian stores are men, compared to one in six 15 years ago.
Another change is the increased visibility of African-American authors in CBA stores. Raleigh Washington, Tony Evans, and Wellington Boone, who are popular PK speakers, all have major releases in Christian stores. In April, T. D. Jakes became the first black author to have a number-one Christian book, “Woman, Thou Art Loosed.”
Colorado Springs-based publishers jumped on the PK bandwagon when it began as a regional phenomenon before going national with conferences in 1994. Focus on the Family scored an immediate bestseller with Seven Promises of a Promise Keeper two years ago. NavPress has published McCartney’s What Makes a Man collection and four new study guides for men’s small groups.
Nashville-based Thomas Nelson has nearly two-dozen titles on the market for men, including a revised version of McCartney’s autobiography, “From Ashes to Glory.” Nelson is coming out with new titles from PK speakers and is offering retailers merchandising aids to help direct male customers to newly expanded men’s sections.
Zondervan has nearly a dozen men’s books out and is publishing eight more this year, including “Double Bind,” by Promise Keepers national education director Rod Cooper. Zondervan’s “Men’s Devotional Bible” has become one of the best-selling study Bibles. Tyndale House, Moody Press, Broadman & Holman, Crossway Books, Vision House, HarperSanFrancisco, and Concordia also are planning additional men’s titles in 1996.
Cook Communications Ministries, the country’s leading publisher of church curriculum products, also is developing products designed to help young males develop biblical approaches toward manhood. And Victor Books, recently acquired by Cook, is publishing “Encouragers for Men,” a series of six small-group study books; “Thank God, It’s Monday,” a resource for serving God in the marketplace; and “Rediscovering the Soul of Leadership,” which focuses on the inner disciplines of the leader.
In addition, “New Man,” a bimonthly Christian men’s magazine published by Promise Keepers and Strang Communications, has become one of the most successful launches in Christian publishing history. The magazine debuted in May 1994 and now has 320,000 paid subscribers, according to editor Brian Peterson.
The Colorado-based LJ & Company is test marketing a line of men’s books, praise music, and clothing, which, if successful, will be available at all of the PK conferences this year and promoted through Christian bookstores.
FROM HERE TO ETERNITY? Will future historians refer to Promise Keepers as the 1990s version of the Men and Religion Forward Movement: a group that made a big but short-lived splash? Or will PK and the burgeoning men’s movement it has unleashed bring significant change to the church? A lot depends on how effectively PK assists denominations in developing programs that focus on men’s perceived needs.
For now, some critics say the contemporary Christian men’s movements focus too much attention on the rah-rah-rah of arena-stretching rallies and not enough attention on the complex and challenging work of emotional healing.
“Bill McCartney comes from a football orientation, and the language Promise Keepers uses relies heavily on coaching metaphors and exhortations,” says Rick Koepcke, a psychotherapist who counsels men in Thousand Oaks, California. “There’s another whole part of the men’s movement that emphasizes woundedness, brokenness, and the need for healing, but that side has pretty much been overshadowed by the emphasis on behavior.”
Nevertheless, Haugen, of the Church Men’s Staff, says that while denominational men’s ministry leaders may not agree about PK’s theology, all are desperately trying to ride the wave the organization has created. “The mission of Promise Keepers is to light the fire, and our role is to fan the flame and be there when the guys get home from the big conferences,” Haugen says.
PK has assumed a role as the leading organization working to revitalize the slumbering men’s movement. Despite the criticisms and perceived shortcomings, a ministry that can rally 1.5 million men in a given year in the name of God and goodness is quite an achievement.
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