Bro Time in the Arena

Promise Keepers... is ba-ack

Paid readers: I’ve added an AI audio track down below. Let me know what you think and if this is worthwhile… or just another sign the robots have taken over.

Promise Keepers THE MAKING OF A GODLY MAN Rally at RFK Stadium in SE Washington, D.C., 1997; Photo by: Elvert Barnes

The first man I knew who was involved with Promise Keepers was the father of a kid I babysat after school as a teenager. The man’s wife had recently died, and his emotions were raw and at the surface. He often hugged me goodbye with effusive thanks. One time he came in to kiss me, and I turned my face so it landed on my cheek. Then I went home and arranged for a no-nonsense retiree from the church to take over. I was so mortified, I pretended I needed to quit to have more time for school drama club.

I’m realizing that this personal association may have made me slow to really dig into Promise Keepers, an organization that sought to bring together “godly men” and train them in becoming strong family leaders. For all I knew, this dad could have been worse off without it. Promise Keepers wasn’t as fringey as some other ministries from the nineties and it was popular. Well over 3 million men attended their events that decade.

Promise Keepers’ popularity is less a reason to normalize it and instead another reason to study the movement more carefully.

This summer, while covering the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting, I found myself at an event where the relaunch of Promise Keepers was promoted.