DATE: Wednesday, October 22, 1997           TAG: 9710220032

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E7   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Book Review 

SOURCE: BY BILL WILLIAMS, THE HARTFORD COURANT 

                                            LENGTH:   72 lines

AUTHOR BARELY SCRATCHES SURFACE OF PK MOVEMENT

PROMISE KEEPERS drew 4,200 men to its first conference, in Boulder, Colo., in 1991. Five years later, it was filling football stadiums in cities across the nation. In 1996 alone, more than 1 million men attended Promise Keepers' events.

What accounts for the popularity of this surging Christian men's group, founded by a football coach? Free-lance writer Ken Abraham says Promise Keepers is satisfying a spiritual and emotional hunger among men who, until now, have had no close male friends they could talk to about family, church and personal matters.

Abraham provides the reader with basic information about the movement's history and beliefs. For anyone curious about Promise Keepers - and many are after their mass gathering Oct. 4 in Washington - this is a good starting point, although it is by no means definitive.

``Who Are the Promise Keepers?'' reads more like a long newspaper story than a well-researched book - lots of facts, lots of quotes, but short on analysis of what it all means. And the book's tone is mixed. At times, Abraham sounds like a writer after a good story. At other points, he comes across more like a promoter for Promise Keepers.

The movement was founded by Bill McCartney, who at the time was head coach of the University of Colorado football team. ``I envision men coming together in huge numbers . . . worshiping and celebrating their faith together,'' McCartney said. ``I long to see men openly proclaiming their love for Christ and their commitment to their families.''

The core message revolves around seven promises, which tell men to: trust in Christ, form a few close male friendships, practice moral and sexual purity, love their wives and children, support their local churches, overcome racial and denominational prejudice and encourage other men to do likewise.

From the beginning, Abraham says, McCartney has stressed the need to heal racial divisions, based on a message he claims to have received directly from God. McCartney's emphasis on racial reconciliation has often been met with silence, even hostility, at Promise Keepers' conferences. Yet he has not backed off and has continued to push the message.

Feminist groups have been sounding an alarm about the Promise Keepers' message, saying it fosters the idea that men should rule their families. Abraham concedes that some Promise Keepers speakers have given this impression, but the real message, he says, is that men should respect and care for their families, not dominate them.

Regarding the Republican Party, it's true that many Promise Keepers are conservative and Republican. But the group, as such, has no professed political agenda or affiliation.

The starting point for Promise Keepers is the 1 1/2-day conference, or rally, at which thousands of men sing, listen to speakers and affirm their devotion to Jesus. When they return to their communities, they continue to meet in small groups. They are encouraged to become active in their churches and form a continuing relationship with one person from a different racial background.

While Abraham doubts that Promise Keepers has the power to change the fabric of society, he says it has the potential to do much good.

His book is a useful first look at a movement certain to grow much larger. Promise Keepers has been doubling in size each year. By 1996, its budget had grown to $115 million and its staff to more than 400. And soon the movement plans to expand to other nations. ILLUSTRATION: Graphic

BOOK REVIEW

Title: ``Who are the Promise Keepers? Understanding the Christian

Men's Movement''

Author: Ken Abraham

Publisher: Doubleday. 211 pp.

Price: $19.95.

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