Storm troopers in the culture war - Promise Keepers; includes related articles on the new Christian right and the pledges of of Promise Keeper - Cover Story

Humanist, Sept-Oct, 1997 by John M. Swomley

There are at least three major facets to Promise Keepers. The first of these is implicit in its religious origin, leadership, and goal. PK originated in a charismatic group of Vineyard Christian churches that feature emotionally charged services, rock music, and what John Wimber, an influential Vineyard leader, calls power evangelism." PK's top officials -- President Randy Phillips; cofounder, chief executive officer, and former University of Colorado head football coach Bill McCartney; and cofounder and pastor James Ryle -- are members of the Valley Vineyard Church in Boulder, Colorado.

PK's stated goal is to be the instrument of "biblical unity" or breaking down the walls" of denominational and doctrinal distinction by building a new denomination or para-church. According to its fact sheet:

PK is not a membership or dues-paying organization, but

is part of a larger movement of Christian men becoming

more active throughout their local churches.... Through

stadium conferences, educational seminars, resource

materials, and local churches ... Promise Keepers seeks

to unite Christian men . . . believing that accountable

relationships among men are critical in helping one

another... PK is not a political or partisan organization,

nor is it affiliated with any denomination. Finally, Promise

Keepers. does not promote a self-help or self-improvement

philosophy, but encourages men to commit every

aspect of their lives to Jesus Christ.

Obviously, PK does not want to alert existing churches and denominations to its intent to supplant them, but it has developed a centralized headquarters with thirty-six regional offices serving all fifty states and about 16,000 local groups; "independently run spin-offs" in Australia, New Zealand, and Canada; a daily radio program; and other features of a "nondenominational" organization -- including a fundamentalist theology based upon biblical inerrancy.

Promise Keepers competes with the Southern Baptists in targeting Jews for conversion. It speaks of this as "the next frontier in reconciliation" and recently convened a meeting of Messianic Jewish leaders in Atlanta, Georgia. According to its July 1997 Promise Keepers News, PK claims "approximately 150 Messianic Jewish congregations and nearly 200,000 Messianic believers across the United States." Justin Kron, a Messianic Jew, is PK's Illinois field representative.

Promise Keepers has also begun efforts to penetrate Roman Catholic churches. For example, in Buffalo, New York, where Catholics are the largest denomination, PK organized a Roman Catholic mass as part of its Rich Stadium conference in June 1997. Although not well attended despite its prior publicity (only about fifty men took part), the mass was designed to prepare Catholic men for participation in the PK conference. That same afternoon, Catholic clergy were among other local clergy at a PK luncheon.

The key to PK's para-church is in its local groups, which meet weekly. In its literature, PK says, Since 1996 more than 120,000 men have been trained by Promise Keepers to lead small groups of men in local communities." Each group is led by a "key man" chosen by the national organization. One of the seven promises of a Promise Keeper requires active participation in a small group of other men who monitor all aspects of each other's behavior, including their sexual relations, family life, business practices, and financial affairs. The key men report to "ambassadors" who, in turn, report to headquarters.

Olin Henneman is PK's Upstate New York field representative, whose territory includes most of the state, from Newburgh and Poughkeepsie west to Buffalo and Jamestown. Henneman says his job is "to start and assist task forces for PK, training men to become ambassadors, who make up the task forces and cover the community." Ambassadors then train key men 'to represent PK with men and local churches [in] prayer and in a relationship with them by phone or contact." He says PK provides no donations to local churches, but local churches "sometimes donate to Promise Keepers."

Henneman says there are different levels of key man training: "Key man level one is more or less discussing the characteristics of a man, and why a man does things, and why he's different than women, and why his feelings are certain ways versus why women feel certain ways. We talk about what the Promise Keepers vision is and goals, and how to discuss these items with other men in his church." He says key man level two training is actually showing and teaching men how to start a men's ministry and small groups.

Henneman says PK likes to have two key men in each church, sometimes three if a church is large enough. As of June 1997, he reports there were 192 key men in some 250 Upstate New York churches, with another 100 "waiting for certification." "With our relationship now with the Assemblies of God churches and a couple of other denominations that have agreements with Promise Keepers," he says, "we will be training key men in each church."