New faith

Declining attendance at their stadium spirituals prompts Promise Keepers to scale back. But members pledge to continue to bring the pro-family, Christian doctrine to more men.

by Surina Khan

Since 1991 Promise Keepers have held large rallies at stadiums across the country, attracting tens of thousands of men. A July 26 rally at Worcester's Centrum Centre is the conservative Christian group's first smaller arena-sized conference as well as their first event in Massachusetts. Founded in 1990 by former University of Colorado football coach Bill McCartney, Promise Keepers have grown rapidly from 4200 men at their first rally in 1991 to 1.1 million men at 22 stadium gatherings across the country in 1996.

But 1997 attendance at Promise Keepers stadium events seems to be slowing down. Attendance at all conferences is down from about 50,000 last year to less than 37,000 at the first nine events of 1997, prompting critics to say the movement's time has passed.

"I think they've maxed out their audience. Their market has always been limited to the white evangelical movement," says Fred Clarkson, Northampton-based author of Eternal Hostility: The Struggle Between Democracy and Theocracy which includes a chapter on the Promise Keepers. "Their big- scale events are on the wane. Smaller events are more manageable and easier to book."

The Worcester event will no doubt help spread Promise Keepers' message throughout New England, and, organizers hope, recruit new men to the movement. "It is our hope that every church in New England will have a men's ministry," says Brian Doyle, manager of the group's New England office, which is based in Hartford, Connecticut. Doyle, the only Promise Keepers paid staff member in New England, has urged the national office to hold arena-sized events in smaller cities.

Worcester is the group's first such event, and according to Doyle, Promise Keepers will hold a series of events, based on the Worcester model, across the country this year. And if indeed Promise Keepers membership has peaked, the smaller rallies epitomize a shift in strategy for the group in order to continue to reach out to men through smaller venues in smaller cities.

Promise Keepers are named for their manifesto, Seven Promises of a Promise Keeper, a book published by Colorado-based Focus on the Family, one of the largest Christian Right organizations in the US. "Promise Keepers is a Christ-centered ministry dedicated to uniting men through vital relationships to become godly influences in their world," the group's mission statement reads. But beyond thousands of men coming together in a search for truth and meaning through Christianity lies a fundamentalist organization that opposes homosexuality and advocates the "submission" of women to men.

Evangelist Tony Evans, in his contributing essay to Seven Promises, explains how men should "reclaim" authority from their wives. "The first thing you do is sit down with your wife and say something like this: `Honey, I've made a terrible mistake. I've given you my role. I gave up leading this family, and I forced you to take my place. Now I must reclaim that role.' Don't misunderstand what I'm saying here. I'm not suggesting you ask for your role back, I'm urging you to take it back." Evans insists there is to be "no compromise" on authority and suggests that women "submit" for the "survival of our culture."

While mainstream media have painted a positive picture of Promise Keepers as a spiritual revival, critics point to elements of the movement that are divisive and potentially dangerous. Equal Partners in Faith, a national network of clergy concerned with the public image of Promise Keepers, notes, "Despite the spiritual satisfaction that participants may gain from Promise Keepers mass events, its agenda challenges premises that we hold dear that we are all created equal in God's image and equal in God's sight, and that, as members of a democratic society, we are all equally worthy of opportunity."

Toni Troop, president of the Greater Boston National Organization for Women, agrees. "Promise Keepers has cleverly crafted its message in a way which confines women to certain limited roles undermining true equality between the sexes," she says. "Their undeniable political ties to the Christian Right pose a serious threat to the gains made by the women's movement."

In fact, Promise Keepers' position on women, gays and lesbians, and racial justice is cause for concern. Founder Bill McCartney was a major proponent of the 1992 Amendment 2, a proposed amendment to the Colorado State Constitution that would deny legal recourse to gays, lesbians, and bisexuals who were discriminated against on the job and when looking for housing. The amendment was later declared unconstitutional by the US Supreme Court. McCartney has publicly referred to homosexuals as "an abomination."

Bill Bright, head of Campus Crusade for Christ and a key Promise Keepers backer, has also made anti-gay comments: "Despite their relatively few numbers, militant homosexuality has exploded onto the American scene, abetted by network media," he wrote in The Coming Revival. "Arrogantly demanding their `rights,' activist gays and lesbians have become a militant voice in American politics, influencing elections and affecting the policies of high government leaders."

In addition to the opposition to homosexuality by Promise Keepers' leadership, the rallies promote organizations such as Exodus International that focus on converting gays and lesbians into heterosexuals.

"The Promise Keepers pledge to strengthen families while scapegoating lesbian and gay people, blaming us for the collapse of family and community," says Sue Hyde, New England field organizer for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. "If Promise Keepers has their way they will lead us into the 21st century as a Christian nation of men dedicated to perpetuating homophobia."

And though the Promise Keepers' leadership speaks of racial reconciliation, critics charge that Promise Keepers do not have a commitment to overcoming institutionalized racism. Loretta Williams, a Boston University sociologist and community activist, describes Promise Keepers' attempts to recruit blacks and Latinos as a "side-show addition of color to a status-quo backdrop and a dangerously regressive agenda." Williams adds, "Their words and their actions just don't match. The Promise Keepers don't act to end white advantage in the way things operate; in fact, they're aligned with the `take-back' public policies that are devastating communities of color."

"Promise Keepers certainly has the right to say whatever they want. But I am concerned about their views on the role of women and on homosexuality," says Ronal Madnick, a Worcester-based civil-liberties activist. "It's an exclusive group. It excludes women and seems to exclude non-Christians. Many of the things Promise Keepers say are ambiguous, and that concerns me."

The Promise Keepers' leadership is closely linked with leaders of the Christian Right. Pat Robertson of the Christian Coalition, who has promoted a theocratic government, and Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family, have promoted the Promise Keepers and urged their members to support the movement. Other Christian Right leaders linked closely with Promise Keepers include Randall Terry, founder of Operation Rescue; Bill Bright, leader of Campus Crusade for Christ; and Gary Bauer, executive director of the Family Research Council.

Despite the group's popularity among the Christian Right, Promise Keepers have experienced financial problems after the recent decline in attendance at many of their rallies, notes Clarkson.

According to Randy Mason, an event organizer with the national Promise Keepers office, the decline in attendance can be attributed to Stand in the Gap, a national gathering in Washington, DC scheduled for October 4, 1997 that is expected to attract one million men. The stated goal for Stand in the Gap is "to take back this nation for Jesus."

Adds Mason, "Because we're doing Stand in the Gap, guys are having to make a decision between attending the larger national event and local rallies." He explains that some men are opting to attend the larger Washington, DC rally rather than the various stadium events, citing time off from work and cost as reasons why men are choosing one rally over another.

Doyle has been organizing the Worcester event since early April by recruiting volunteers and distributing fliers. And now, he says, they are ready to do media work, which includes sending out press releases to local papers and buying radio advertising time to further promote the event.

In preparation for their rallies, Promise Keepers send in a support staff a week before the event. For the Worcester rally the support staff consists of a volunteer manager who will oversee the local team of volunteers who serve as "leadership people." These volunteers then go out and recruit additional volunteers from their communities. According to Mason, the Worcester event will have approximately 200 to 300 volunteers compared with 2500 volunteers for the larger stadium events.

But even with declining numbers, Mason expects to sell out the Worcester event. "We always have an expectation to sell out," he says. Either way, the Worcester event will provide a much needed base in New England for the Promise Keepers and just in time for their "million man march."

"They need to turn out the Northeast corridor for their march on Washington," explains Clarkson. And New England has historically been their weakest area.

And now, all eyes are pointing to Worcester. If Promise Keepers are successful in Worcester, the group will take their message to smaller communities and smaller venues throughout the country recruiting men to a movement based on a return to patriarchy. But Clarkson cautions, "Promise Keepers represents a real destabilization of Democracy."

Surina Khan is an associate analyst with Political Research Associates, a research center in Somerville that studies the US political right.