Belmont University is not alone in declining to host fall events planned by Promise Keepers.
The Nashville university with Baptist roots made headlines in June when it withdrew an invitation for the evangelical men’s ministry to stage an event on campus.
Now, according to a Promise Keepers publicist, venues in Houston and Memphis also have declined to host their meetings.
A news release said four planned events in three cities had been “canceled not by ‘woke’ interests in the culture, but by self-described Christian churches and universities.”
That news release quoted Promise Keepers President Ken Harrison: “It’s a headache, for sure, to have to find new venues for our events. More importantly, though, it’s a heartache. It saddens us that the churches we had been working with backed out of our agreements over concerns that we might ‘offend’ some people.”
In the case of Belmont University, that “offense” had to do with an official Promise Keepers statement about gender identity: “We also see the way gender ideology has damaged lives, mutilated bodies and torn apart families in our own communities.”
Promise Keepers declared the Bible “is very clear” on matters of gender and sexuality.
A Belmont official in June said Promise Keepers had published comments that “unnecessarily fan the flames of culture wars and are harmful to members of our community.”
Now comes news that two other venues — Hope Church in Cordova, Tenn., and The Fountain of Praise in Houston — have declined to host Promise Keepers’ fall “Daring Faith” rallies, described as “an event and challenge for men of integrity.”
The Promise Keepers website now says a Dec. 1 event will be simulcast from Christian Cultural Center in Brooklyn, N.Y., and a date and location in Houston will be announced later.
Ken Harrison
Neither Hope Church nor Fountain of Praise appear to have issued statements about the reported cancellations. That information was provided to BNG by Gary Schneeberger, president of ROAR, a public relations firm working with Promise Keepers.
The Promise Keepers news release warned: “Christians increasingly find themselves canceled by the culture for their adherence to God’s Truth, but canceled by the church. That’s a disturbing twist on the cost of living out your faith in God.”
“Our mission has always been to strengthen men through the word of God,” Harrison said. “That’s a mission we’ve long thought we shared with the church. Unfortunately, a growing number of churches today are shirking their duty to equip God’s people with God’s Truth.
“The spirit of the age we live in is fear — of being criticized, disliked, canceled. As Promise Keepers, we refuse to give into that fear,” he added. “We choose pursuing and sharing God’s Truth over being liked by all — as if that were even possible. We make no apologies for boldly declaring God’s Truth to a culture – and a church – that needs to hear it.”
Under Harrison’s leadership, the 1980s-era men’s ministry has been resurrected with an even more conservative bent. Critics have accused both Harrison and Promise Keepers of espousing virulent forms of Christian nationalism and parroting the most controversial aspects of conservative attacks on the LGBTQ community and women.
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