A Wall of Separation · Episode 10 of 14 · 37 min
Promise Keepers: The 1990s Movement That Filled Stadiums With Men
In the 1990s evangelical energy filled football stadiums rather than voting booths. Bill McCartney's Promise Keepers drew millions of men to rallies and, in 1997, hundreds of thousands to the National Mall, then collapsed almost as fast as it rose. Critics came from the left and from within conservative Protestantism.
Who's who
- Bill McCartneyUniversity of Colorado football coach who founded Promise Keepers
- Dave WardellMcCartney's friend and co-founder
- Randy PhillipsEarly Promise Keepers president
- Tony EvansAfrican American pastor and Promise Keepers speaker
- Wayne JacksonChurches of Christ editor who led the doctrinal critique
Where it happens
- National Mall, Washington, D.C.+1 more episodeSite of the 1997 Stand in the Gap assembly
- Folsom Stadium, Boulder, ColoradoHosted early Promise Keepers rallies
Timeline
- 1990McCartney founds Promise Keepers
- 1991First gathering in Boulder draws roughly 4,200 men
- 1994McCartney resigns as coach to lead the movement full-time
- October 4, 1997Stand in the Gap fills the National Mall with an estimated 600,000 to 800,000
- February 18, 1998Promise Keepers tells staff they will go unpaid after March 31
- 2000Further layoffs leave about 200 staff and end the mass-rally era
Still debated
The Stand in the Gap crowd is disputed, with no authoritative count, ranging from about 600,000 to over a million claimed. The doctrinal critique came from Restoration Movement Protestants, not all conservative Christians, many of whom embraced the movement.
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