Saturday, March 14, 1998

Ministries pledge support for Promise Keepers

By ADELLE M. BANKS / Religion News Service

Prominent evangelical ministries such as Campus Crusade for Christ as well as more than 1,000 churches nationwide are pledging to help support Promise Keepers as the men's organization faces a financial crisis.

Bill Bright, founder and president of Campus Crusade, said he has sent a letter to the 350,000 people on his ministry's mailing list seeking support for Promise Keepers. In addition, he has sent a similar letter to about 50,000 pastors.

"I feel that Promise Keepers has made a marvelous contribution to the body of Christ and it's just an expression of gratitude for what they've done and an expression of love," said Bright in a telephone interview Tuesday (March 10) from his Orlando, Fla., headquarters.

On Feb. 18 Promise Keepers announced it would be laying off its entire paid staff of 345 effective March 31 because it did not have the funds to pay them. The financial crunch came after the ministry decided to no longer charge fees for its conferences and instead rely solely on donations.

A Promise Keepers spokesman said that in addition to Bright's efforts, two ministries have aired radio programs highlighting the financial difficulties of the men's group.

"He has been a good friend to this ministry ... and we are blessed by his action," Steve Ruppe, Promise Keepers director of public affairs, said of Bright.

Ruppe said Focus on the Family and FamilyLife highlighted Promise Keepers financial situation on their radio programs in early March. FamilyLife is a Little Rock, Ark.-based ministry of Campus Crusade that focuses on marriage and family issues. Focus on the Family is based in Colorado Springs, Colo., and has a similar emphasis.

"There have been a number of outreaches by a number of Christian ministries," Ruppe said.

Paul Hetrick, a Focus on the Family vice president, said his ministry's March 5 broadcast provided a chance for Promise Keepers officials to explain their situation to radio listeners.

"It gave them an opportunity to explain what the true situation was," said Hetrick. "I think there was some concern that there was some misunderstanding about what they planned for the future."

For instance, Hetrick said, Promise Keepers plans to hold 19 conferences at stadiums and arenas across the country this year despite the current shortfall.

In addition to the efforts of several ministries, churches have been pledging to support Promise Keepers since McCartney began alerting its clergy conferences of the group's needs and asking for help.

"We had about 1,500 churches pledge about $1,000 a piece on average," as of a week ago, Ruppe said Tuesday.

McCartney has sought such pledges during clergy conferences since January. The last clergy conference is Thursday (March 12) in Indianapolis.

"It's such a great blessing when people think there has been enough value in how God has used us to support us financially," said Ruppe. "It blesses the ministry."

Ruppe said the efforts have yet to change Promise Keepers' plans for layoffs.

"At this point, there have been no announced changes in our plan," he said. "It's still early."

Bright added that he viewed his ministry's effort as a biblical one.

"There's a law of God Ñ as you give, you receive and as you help our brothers you please our Lord," he said.

In his letter addressed "Dear concerned Christian," Bright wrote: "As you may have read, Promise Keepers is going through a time of great financial crisis, which I believe is God's way of drawing members of the body of Christ together to lend a hand. ... We are praying that God will not let this wonderful movement die because of a lack of funds."

The effort is unusual because Campus Crusade staffers are not paid by the ministry but are supported by individual donors. In addition, Campus Crusade does not generally seek financial assistance for their staffers or other ministries.

gain their financial support from individual donors and the ministry does not generally seek financial assistance for others.

"We don't normally write letters to our mailing list because our mailing list is very sacred to us," said Bright.

He added that he would personally help any Campus Crusade staffers raise needed funds if they are adversely affected by the fund-raising letter for Promise Keepers.