ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, June 25, 1996 TAG: 9606250043
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: CONCORD, N.C.
SOURCE: STORIES BY CODY LOWE
Hearing repeated warnings that Satan was on the offensive, the 41,438 men registered for the Promise Keepers conference at the Charlotte Motor Speedway here must have thought "Old Scratch" was close indeed.
The temperature approached 100 degrees as the conference - an evangelical Christian gathering dedicated to inspiring men to be better husbands, fathers and church members - neared its climax Saturday afternoon.
The sun shone through clear skies, dehydrating dozens, burning the skin of countless others. But, hellish as the atmosphere might have seemed, the men acted as if they were in heaven.
They sang praises to Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They held hands and prayed. They hugged and cried. They seemed oblivious to differences of race, denomination, wealth, education or employment as they were encouraged to "Break Down the Walls" that could divide them.
They smiled and laughed and cheered.
As the day-and-a-half conference ended Saturday evening, small groups of men put their arms around each other and prayed. Bonsack Baptist Church's Curtis Heyward thanked God for an "awesome" event and asked for continued divine help as he and his fellow church members pursued their quest to become "godly men of integrity" - an oft-repeated Promise Keepers slogan summing up the national organization's goals.
It was a theme repeated throughout the stadium just before the crowd dispersed back across the Southeastern United States.
|n n| Friday morning at 11:30, Air Force Lt. Col. Alan Moyer - who likes for schedules to proceed on schedule - was calling for attention on the Abbott bus in the parking lot of Bonsack Baptist Church.
After weeks of planning, arranging and rearranging, his work coordinating this Promise Keepers trip was about to pay off. After a prayer seeking angelic protection for the bus and inspiration for the participants, the journey began.
Moyer, detachment commander for the Air Force ROTC program at Virginia Military Institute, was making his second trip to a regional Promise Keepers conference. These huge stadium gatherings are described as "catalytic events" intended to inspire men to commit themselves to the "Seven Promises of a Promise Keeper" and the organization's statement of faith. (See related stories on Page 6.)
They are then expected to return to their home churches and communities, bond with other men there in small groups and spread the gospel of commitment - to their Christian faith, their wives, their children and each other.
With the addition of several men who don't attend Bonsack Baptist, the bus was near capacity with almost three dozen on board - a mixture of first-timers and repeaters. The only woman was a newspaper photographer.
Moyer and more than a dozen other fellow members of Bonsack Baptist went to a similar regional meeting at RFK Stadium in Washington more than a year ago. For Moyer, who helps coordinate the men's programs at Bonsack Baptist, that rally was "a really moving experience" that inspired him to come back home and keep the fires it ignited burning. The Promise Keepers spark has rejuvenated the church's men's program, Moyer said.
Today, in addition to the Baptist Brotherhood and other denominational programs for men and boys, there are six small groups of men who meet weekly or biweekly to study Promise Keeper literature and to share the trials and joys of faith and daily life. They call themselves "covenant keeper" groups to avoid infringing on Promise Keeper copyrights.
Brian Murray, a real-estate appraiser, and Tim Lucas, a pharmacist, have been members at Bonsack for about two years and attend the same "covenant makers" group.
The group provides a format for structured devotional work based on Promise Keeper concepts and commitments, but more importantly, they say, it has helped them develop bonds with the other men. Every other week, the group meets for lunch, rather than a formal study session.
"It's a place where we can be open ... can share our problems," even when they don't seem on the surface to be spiritual, Murray said. In a recent meeting, for instance, the group spent most of its time discussing a member's car problems.
While that might seem like a purely secular issue, it "was causing stress in his life ... anxiety" that could affect his relationships and his spiritual life, Murray said - striking at the heart of why the men meet.
The group was able to offer advice, support and prayer to a brother in need, the men said.
The group also helped discipline the members' personal spiritual lives, Lucas said. It includes regular prayer for each other and, in particular, for their church and pastor.
While the groups address many issues relating to Promise Keepers' view of being committed, practicing Christians, the lion's share of attention is devoted to marriage and parenting.
In addition to teaching men that they have a responsibility to fulfill their obligations to marital sexual fidelity, the program - and the speakers at the Charlotte conference - stress men's commitments beyond that to be partners with their wives in household responsibilities, from washing the dishes to washing the children.
An extended conversation among numerous participants on the Bonsack Baptist bus, for instance, explored the finer points of dealing with soiled diapers - from changing techniques to a rundown on which foods are to be avoided to minimize the mess.
The participants gave every impression of being experts on the subject.
|n n| In March 1990, Bill McCartney, then head coach of the University of Colorado football team, and his friend Dave Wardell came up with the inspiration for Promise Keepers during a long drive to a regional meeting of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
If 50,000 people would fill a stadium to watch a college football game, they wondered, why couldn't thousands of men get together for Christian discipleship?
By the next summer, a meeting designed to teach men to "live a life of Christian integrity" was held at the University of Colorado basketball arena. Attendance was 4,200.
In 1992, they moved to Folsom Stadium - the university's football stadium - and 22,000 men showed up.
In 1993, McCartney and Wardell realized their goal of filling Folsom Stadium to capacity with 50,000 men.
The nondenominational movement has grown exponentially since McCartney has left coaching to serve as chairman of Promise Keepers - which now has a staff of 400 and an annual budget of about $115 million.
This year almost 1.2 million men are expected to meet in more than 20 sites around the country.
Charlotte's attendance of 41,000 was about a third smaller than expected - and far short of the speedway's 150,000 capacity - but it still caused three-mile traffic jams and seemed to please organizers.
The rallies begin on Friday evenings at 6:30 and run until about 10. They start up again the next morning at 8:30 and wrap up about 7 p.m.
The conference comes across as a combination pep rally, rock concert, revival, and motivational seminar. Concurrent seminars usually are held in two locations in the country on the same weekend, splitting appearances by some of the biggest names in evangelical Christianity.
The Charlotte meeting opened with an address by evangelist Greg Laurie, pastor of the 12,000-member Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, Calif. Laurie is widely considered the second-most influential crusade evangelist in the country, superceded only by Billy Graham.
Saturday's speakers included Charles Colson, once convicted of Watergate-related offenses and a self-described "hatchet man" for the Nixon White House. Colson now heads the national Prison Fellowship, concentrating on Christian ministry in the country's jails and prisons. He also is a best-selling author and radio commentator.
In keeping with Promise Keepers' commitment to breech barriers of race inside the church, three of the seven speakers in Charlotte were African-Americans. Troy Evans, co-founder and pastor of the 3,000 member Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, is a popular speaker who repeatedly brought crowd members to their feet and to tears as he challenged them to "turn your heart toward your children."
And Bishop Wellington Boone, a former Richmond resident and Pentecostal pastor who now heads an urban-focused ministry in Atlanta, sent the men on their way with an impassioned call to rid themselves of any remaining traces of racism or sexism or sectarianism.
|n n| Most on the bus from Bonsack Baptist were visibly drained as they climbed aboard for the trip home Saturday evening.
But, even after almost 12 hours of roasting in the central Carolina heat, they were smiling and joking and unfailingly polite.
The running gag to add to the seemingly endless list of potential uses for Cheez-Whiz - including Cheez-Whiz on a pretzel and Cheez-Whiz stuffed chicken - slowed down, but never really died.
As the hours passed, though, conversations tended to trail off. The ones that remained got quieter, and often included snippets of Scripture.
Finally, at midnight, the bus rolled into the Bonsack Baptist parking lot again.
The trip would end as it began, with prayer.
"Lord, when we began we asked you for a safe journey and an uplifting experience," Moyer prayed. "You have fulfilled our expectations ten-fold. We thank you."
LENGTH: Long : 184 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: 1. Racial and denominational barriers were crossed asby CNBPromise Keepers conference participants in Charlotte joined hands
across aisles (above). 2. Thousands also formed prayer huddles
thoughout the stands at the speedway (below).
3. Shade was scarce, the mercury climbed toward 100 degrees - and
water was in big demand at Charlotte Motor Speedway (above). 4.
Among the Roanoke Valley men attending the conference were (from
left in photo at right) Tim Poch, Ted McCallister and Billy Kessler
Jr., who joined the tens of thousands who sang along with hymn
lyrics projected onto a giant video screen.
5. (Kneeling, from left) Bill Thurman of Asheville, N.C., and
Warren McClure of Mount Pleasant, N.C., sang and prayed together as
the conference wound down late Saturday afternoon.
6. More then 40,000 men were registered for the Promise Keepers
conference Friday and Saturday at the Charlotte (N.C.) Motor
Speedway. color.< Photos by CINDY PINKSTON