by Liz Daube
Staff Writer
International men’s ministry Promise Keepers is coming to the Veterans Memorial Arena July 21-22. The two-day “Unleashed” event is part of an annual, 19-city conference tour that seeks to prepare men for “greater spheres of influence in the home, church and marketplace,” according to a May press release.
Steve Chavis, a spokesman for Promise Keepers, said they expect 5,000-10,000 men to attend the event. The nonprofit organization encourages men to follow seven religious promises. These include pursuing meaningful relationships with other men, practicing “sexual purity” and influencing the world, among other promises listed on the Promise Keepers Web site.
“They (the conferences) are like recharging your batteries,” said Chavis. “Or sometimes a retrofit, or a whole auto rebuild. They’ll get a fresh perspective on the why of our daily battles.”
Promise Keepers began organizing men’s ministry conferences 16 years ago. Former University of Colorado football coach Bill McCartney formed the group with Dave Wardell, Ph.D. The pair organized prayer meetings and conferences that grew in popularity.
Their best-known event was a 1997 gathering in the Washington, D.C. National Mall. An estimated million men from a variety of religious and ethnic backgrounds came from all over the world for a day of prayer.
Last year, the national conferences drew about 175,000 men, according to spokeswoman Roe Ann Estevez. She said about 65,000 have registered for this year’s conference tour, which begins this weekend in Ft. Lauderdale.
The Jacksonville event will feature several speakers, an Israel and New Breed concert and dramatic performances. Chavis said Promise Keepers tries to make their events into dynamic, fast-paced weekend retreats to capture a male audience’s fleeting attentions.
“Any ministry or movement is in competition,” said Chavis. “There are so many things vying for our attention. In our spiritual work, we have to be creative and energetic. Like hyperactive boys, we have pretty much a six- to eight-minute attention span.”
Chavis said a few women sometimes come to the event, but they are designed for men because they are “certainly not any better than women, but absolutely different.”
Women’s rights organizations have taken a different stance on Promise Keepers. The National Organization for Women has been organizing protests against the group for more than a decade. In a 2004 press release, NOW has called Promise Keepers’ Christian organization status a facade for a male supremacy campaign. The press release says the men’s ministry threatens gender equality.
“In encouraging men to ‘take back’ their role as head of household, the group promotes an ideology placing women in inferior positions. The organization’s leaders advocate the submission of women with a much-quoted biblical passage, ‘Wives must submit to your husbands, as to the Lord.’”
The Promise Keepers encourage men to take political action on topics like gay marriage and abortion, according to NOW. Chavis said the purpose of the conferences’ all-male focus is to help men “get a sense of camaraderie” and talk openly about topics like sex.