Promise Keepers

Promise Keepers is an Evangelical Christian parachurch organization for men. While it originated in the United States, independent branches have also been established in Canada and New Zealand.

Not to be confused with Oath Keepers.
Promise Keepers
FoundedDecember 3, 1990 (1990-12-03)
FounderBill McCartney
Founded atBoulder, Colorado
TypeNonprofit
HeadquartersColorado Springs, Colorado, United States
Area served
International
Key people
Ken Harrison, Chairman; Judge Vance Day, President
Budget
$2 million (2020)[1]
Employees
28 (2020)[1]
Websitepromisekeepers.org

Promise Keepers describes its goal as "to bring about revival through a global movement that calls men back to courageous, bold, leadership. We will be the spark that calls men back to God’s Word, sharing their faith and caring for the poor and oppressed throughout the world." [2] Promise Keepers is a non-profit organization, not affiliated with any Christian church or denomination. It opposes same-sex marriage, and champions chastity and marital fidelity and the man as being head of the household. Their most widely publicized events tend to be mass rallies held at football stadiums and similar venues.

History

Promise Keepers was founded in 1990 by Bill McCartney, then the head football coach at the University of Colorado Boulder.[3][4] The organization was incorporated as a nonprofit in the state of Colorado on December 3, 1990.[5]

What Makes a Man?, Promise Keepers' first hardbound book written for the organization, was published by The Navigators' Navpress publishing arm in 1992 for its first Folsom Field gathering in June of that year. James Dobson had McCartney on his Focus on the Family nationwide radio program that same month. McCartney resigned his coaching position in 1994 in order to focus his attention on the organization.

Promise Keepers' most notable event was its Stand in the Gap: A Sacred Assembly of Men open-air gathering at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. on October 4, 1997. C-SPAN carried the event live in its entirety. Attendance figures vary but have been estimated to be between 600,000 and 800,000. This was probably its peak, with the organisation halving its office staff four months later due to financial problems and the admission fee of $60 for regional rallies dropped in a number of regions. Rally attendance and finances continued to suffer and a planned millennial march to take part at the capital of every state was cancelled.[6]

Promise Keepers has at the same time extended its organization outside the United States, setting up Promise Keepers International which holds "Summit Meetings" in at least seven languages and has set up chapters in other countries.[6]

McCartney resigned as president on October 1, 2003, after a personal leave of absence to take care of his ailing wife, who had a severe respiratory illness.[7]

Promise Keepers relaunch

Under Harrison's leadership, Promise Keepers then began a "relaunch" campaign with a new approach focused on having one stadium event per year and following up with Bible studies and other resources. [8]

Feminism, manhood, and race

Feminism

The National Organization for Women (NOW), an American feminist organization, has expressed the view that the Promise Keepers pose a threat to women's rights. NOW alleges that the group encourages inequality within marriages and teaches a doctrine of male superiority.[9]

In August, 2020, Promise Keepers chairman Ken Harrison spoke on the topic of Promise Keepers and how it relates to women. "We’re really calling men to be humble, proactive leaders in their homes. I don’t feel like it’s my role to tell women how they should be. That is for their pastor and other people." [1]

According to Amy Schindler, "the discourse of masculinity found within conservative religious movements, such as the Promise Keepers and the Victorian era movement 'muscular Christianity,' is inherently political. Any masculinity project aimed at restoring or reclaiming a 'traditional' male role for privileged white, heterosexual males has a political impact within the tapestry of class, race, and gender power."[10] Academic Browyn Kara Conrad argues that the organization reproduces problematic sexual scripts such as the Madonna/whore view of female sexuality and a view of the male sex drive as uncontrollable.[11] Other scholars argue that, despite their initial appearance to be pro-feminist, the Promise Keepers build upon patriarchal assumptions, including having the man as the actor in the family, church, and world, and that they expect women to be passively dependent.[12]

The group was also criticized for doctrinal compromises and inconsistent doctrines. Raymond Hartwig, a former president of the South Dakota District of the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, commented: "They use the Bible in a very simplistic form, as a springboard to jump into the law."[13]

Manhood

The organization places particular emphasis on godly manhood, with an emphasis on fatherhood. John Bartkowski sees Promise Keepers' leadership evoking two types of manhood: first, is an essentialist appeal to gender difference advocated by Edwin Louis Cole that emphasizes aggression, strength, and rationality; second, is Gary Oliver's "expressive manhood," which says that all of the traits now traditionally attributed to women were practiced by Jesus, and that men should re-connect with their sensitive side.[14] According to a Yeshiva University study, when it comes to fatherhood, the organization tends to be more conservative, still supporting heterosexist, male predominance in the family.[15]

Race

Patrick Glynn notes that the Promise Keepers succeed in racial reconciliation where politics has seemed to fail.[16] Scholar Siphiwe Dude notes that the organization has open discussions of race that promote racial reconciliation.[17] L. Dean Allen finds that while the organizations' leaders primarily claim that Satan is responsible for fostering racism in individuals and that the best way to counter racism is for people to personally repent and go to confession, PK participants see racism as a more multifaceted issue, citing historical animosity, economic differences, and racial fear. Further, while both leaders and participants see forming relationships with members of other races as important to battling racism, participants do not see PK events as valuable in developing these relationships.[18] Andrea Smith also notes that race relations between Promise Keepers and Native communities is more open.[19]

Following the killing of George Floyd, Promise Keepers launched Promise 6 Sunday, an event aimed toward "building unity" among churches. The event included resources from various evangelical leaders and American public figures including Samuel Rodriguez, Tony Dungy, Alveda King, Donald Burgs, Jr., Chad Hennings, and Ken Harrison.[20]

See also

References
  1. Banks, Adelle (31 July 2020). "Promise Keepers Christian organization to hold two-day virtual event". Washington Post. Retrieved 21 December 2020. The organization, founded by former University of Colorado coach Bill McCartney — now diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and unable to participate in the virtual event — has cut its staff from a high of 345 to 28. Its budget, not including events, is $2 million, compared with about $30 million 20 years ago.
  2. "About Us > Vision". promisekeepers.org. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  3. Randall Herbert Balmer, Encyclopedia of Evangelicalism, Westminster John Knox Press, USA, 2002, p. 561
  4. Barry Hankins, American Evangelicals: A Contemporary History of a Mainstream Religious Movement, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, USA, 2009, p. 129
  5. "Summary". Colorado Secretary of State. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  6. Bartkowski, John P. (2004). The Promise Keepers: Servants, Soldiers, and Godly Men. Rutgers University Press. pp. 2–4, 7. ISBN 978-0813533360. Archived from the original on 2016-03-06. Retrieved 4 November 2015.
  7. Gorski, Ed (10 September 2003). "Promise Keepers head to step down". Denver Post. Archived from the original on 2016-06-01. Retrieved 2 October 2018.
  8. Mwaura, Maina (9 August 2020). "New Promise Keepers CEO ready to see a revival among men". Georgia Baptist Mission Board. The Christian Index. Retrieved 21 December 2020.
  9. "Viewpoint:Promise Keepers Pose A Real Threat" Archived 2006-11-20 at the Wayback Machine. National Organization for Women. Retrieved on February 29, 2012.
  10. Schindler, Amy. 1998. "Power, Patriarchy, and the Promise Keepers: The Pleasure of Religious Ecstasy." Paper, annual meeting, American Sociological Association, Toronto.
  11. Conrad, Browyn Kara (2006). "Neo-Institutionalism, Social Movements, and the Cultural Reproducation of a Mentalité: Promise Keepers Reconstruct the Madonna/Whore Complex". The Sociological Quarterly. 47 (2): 305–331. doi:10.1111/j.1533-8525.2006.00047.x. S2CID 146568812.
  12. Eldén, Sara (2002). "Gender politics in conservative men's movements: Beyond complexity, ambiguity and pragmatism". Nordic Journal of Feminist and Gender Research. 10: 38–48. doi:10.1080/080387402317533871. S2CID 145712635.
  13. "Promise Keepers (PK), Pro and Con: PART 1". "Some Christian Fundamentalists have criticized PK for being too ecumenical, too New Age and too 'sissified.' 4 PK has been criticized for its 'unionism', 'anti-denominationalism' and 'watering down of doctrine.'" - Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
  14. Bartkowski, John (2000). "Breaking Walls, Raising Fences: Masculinity, Intimacy, and Accountability among the Promise Keepers". Sociology of Religion. 61 (1): 33–53. doi:10.2307/3712089. JSTOR 3712089.
  15. Silverstein, Louise B.; Auerbach, Carl F.; Grieco, Loretta; Dunkel, Faith (1999). "Do Promise Keepers Dream of Feminist Sheep?". Sex Roles. 40 (9/10): 665–688. doi:10.1023/a:1018852500604. S2CID 146524040.
  16. Glynn, Patrick (1998). "Racial Reconciliation: Can Religion Work Where Politics Has Failed?". American Behavioral Scientist. 41 (6): 834–841. doi:10.1177/0002764298041006005. S2CID 145220785.
  17. Dube, Siphiwe (2016). "Race, whiteness and transformation in the Promise Keepers America and the Mighty Men Conference: A comparative analysis". HTS Teologiese Studies. 72. doi:10.4102/hts.v72i1.3476.
  18. Allen, L. Dean (2000). "Promise Keepers and Racism: Frame Resonance as an Indicator of Organizational Vitality". Sociology of Religion. 61 (1): 55–72. doi:10.2307/3712090. JSTOR 3712090.
  19. Smith, Andrea (2006). "The One Who Did Not Break His Promises: Native Americans in the Evangelical Race Reconciliation Movement". American Behavioral Scientist. 50 (4): 478–509. doi:10.1177/0002764206294058. S2CID 144773802.
  20. https://www.klove.com/news/faith/free-resources-from-promise-keepers-to-challenge-racism-and-the-power-of-racial-reconciliation-16110

Further reading

Books
  • Brickner, Bryan W. (1999). The Promise Keepers: Politics and Promises. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books. ISBN 978-0-7391-0008-0.
  • Bartkowski, John P. (2004). The Promise Keepers: Servants, Soldiers, and Godly Men. Piscataway, NJ: Rutgers University Press. ISBN 978-0-8135-3335-3.
  • Claussen, Dane S. (1999). Standing on the Promises: The Promise Keepers and the Revival of Manhood. Cleveland, OH: The Pilgrim Press. ISBN 978-0-8298-1307-4.
  • Claussen, Dane S. (2000). The Promise Keepers: Essays on Masculinity & Christianity. Jefferson, NC: McFarland. ISBN 978-0-7864-0700-2.
  • Hardisty, Jean V. (1999). Mobilizing Resentment: Conservative Resurgence from the John Birch Society to the Promise Keepers. Boston: Beacon Press. ISBN 978-0-8070-4316-5.
  • Novosad, Nancy (2000). Promise Keepers: Playing God. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 2000.
  • Williams, Rhys H. (2001). Promise Keepers and the New Masculinity: Private Lives and Public Morality. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books. ISBN 978-0-7391-0230-5.

Other
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