Promise Keepers

The Promise Keepers (PK) is a Colorado-based conservative protestant, nondenominational organization. Founded in 1990 by former football coach Bill McCartney, PK focuses primarily upon Christian men's negotiation of gender roles, family, and spirituality. The group first drew major national attention with its 1993 Promise Keepers Conference, in Boulder, Colorado, which attracted over 52,000 men. The high point of the movement was the 1997 conference, “Stand in the Gap,” which boasted close to 1 million men in attendance.

Members of this group adhere to the seven “Promise Keepers Core Values” (listed below as retrieved from http://www.proinisekeepers.org/about/7promises):

• 1.
  A Promise Keeper is committed to honoring Jesus Christ through worship, prayer, and obedience to God's Word in the power of the Holy Spirit.
• 2.
  A Promise Keeper is committed to pursuing vital relationships with a few other men, understanding that he needs brothers to help him keep his promises.
• 3.
  A Promise Keeper is committed to practicing spiritual, moral, ethical, and sexual purity.
• 4.
  A Promise Keeper is committed to building strong marriages and families through love, protection, and biblical values.
• 5.
  A Promise Keeper is committed to supporting the mission of his church by honoring and praying for his pastor, and by actively giving his time and resources.
• 6.
  A Promise Keeper is committed to reaching beyond any racial and denominational barriers to demonstrate the power of biblical unity.
• 7.
  A Promise Keeper is committed to influencing his world, being obedient to the Great Commandment (see Mark 12:30-31) and the Great Commission (see Matthew 28:19-20).

Scholars such as Jean Hardisty, Michael Messner, and Rhys Williams claim that this movement fits within the broader context of the Christian Right and antifeminism. The Promise Keepers have been linked to James Dobson's Focus on the Family, as well as Operation Rescue. PK can also be understood as a part of a broader trend of Christian men in the last few centuries who have resisted the perceived feminizing of Christianity and Christian men.

The group claims on its Web site that it is not in any way affiliated with the “Religious Right” and that it is not political in nature. PK also maintains that it does not address women's roles, only men's. Sympathetic evangelicals feel that PK offers men a platform for change and a way to better respect and serve their wives and families. Within Protestantism, some fundamentalists have criticized the movement for its ecumenism, promotion of “self-love,” acceptance of Catholic fellowship, and the admittance of homosexual men to PK events.

Other critics have condemned the group's lip service to racial reconciliation, particularly because of its largely white membership. They claim PK leaders urge members to deal with racism on an individual level but fail to acknowledge institutional and political structures that uphold racism.

PK faced significant financial issues shortly after the “Stand in the Gap” conference. After a few years of organizational and financial restructuring, the group has reemerged. The movement still exists but is significantly less visible and holds much lower membership than in the previous decade.