Anyone ever attend a Promise Keepers gathering?

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I was one of the 800,000 or so at the Stand in the Gap event in Washington DC in 1997. I went with a group of men from several churches in my community. There were so many men in attendance that it was hard to hear the songs and messages. We were so far away that it took several seconds for the sound to reach us from the stage. However, it was both an honor and a humbling experience to be one of 800,000+ men on our knees in our capital city crying out to God to grant us the ability to be godly husbands and fathers and that He will bless our country and draw us back to Him.
 
I know what your talking about, but my experience with going to one was a different outcome. At the end you could pick up a card (suggested as part of a gift of a Bible when handing it to him) to hand to your husband once you were married about how you were the keeper of your own chastity (nothing about dad since it as all on you). The guys got a similar program on another night and got the same cards for their wives.

If you didn’t want a card no one said a word and they had religious there if you thought you might not be called to marriage or just wanted to ask questions.I

I don’t think we were pretty pubescent aged though. I think we were all upper middle school/beginning high school aged.
 
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Promise Keepers was huge when my husband and I were younger (in our 30s and 40s) with children at home. The main purpose seemed to be to help men stop using porn and to have stronger marriages.

I’'m sure it helped a lot of men who probably didn’t need a lot of outside help, but just a little encouragement to stick with their marriage and stop using porn. (Remember, Evangelical Protestants do not have any prohibition of masturbation, but they do condemn pornography.)

But I think a lot of men were NOT helped by it. Huge meetings with thousands of other men, concerts by contemporary Christian musicians, and dynamic speakers are enjoyable (for many men), but when you leave, the marriage problems are still there and the desire to use porn doesn’t just go away. Many men need counselling and ongoing help from professionals to deal with besetting sins like porn, and marital issues, and I’m not sure that Promise Keepers encouraged men to get this kind of professional help…

My husband was never interested in PK. He doesn’t enjoy big meetings with lots of men, but would rather meet regularly with a small group of men friends. He’s been going to a “That Man Is You!” group (Catholic) at our parish, but he is very frustrated with it because of the attitude of the author of this organization and because there is no interest from any of the men in forming social groups and going out for coffee and talk after the meeting . The instant the meeting is over, the guys are OUTATHERE! . Also, the meetings are held at 6:30 a.m. on Saturdays, and my husband is a late night person who wishes that they could do a meeting at 9:00 p.m. on a weeknkight instead.
 
First thing: I wouldn’t be caught dead at an event run by an organisation where the founder converted FROM Catholicism.

Second: Keeping a promise is something you just do. It’s hardly holy or heroic to not cheat on your wife. Also not really a great brag that “I don’t cheat on my wife”.

Real men just keep their promises and get on with it.

The meeting itself does sound kind of lame.
 
I’ve never gone to one, and, ironically, about the time I heard of these meetings is about the same time my first wife was cheating on me.

I’m not into these kinds of things anyhow; I’m not a rah-rah-sis-boom-bah kind of guy, I guess.

From what I looked up, there is going to be an event in late July and early August of 2020 in Texas at the AT&T stadium, “home of the Dallas Cowboys”, it said. The ad didn’t even mention the cheerleaders! Sheesh!

The bottom line is, this falls under what the sacrament of confession helps to deal with. If you fall off the horse, you get back on, dammit. I know of some things in my life that have all but disappeared because of the grace I receive by going to confession.
 
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I went to the big one in Washington back in the 90s. Most of the things they said were really good, they’re just kind of shallow and I think they promise that if you follow the formula, it’s a guarantee of success.
 
I’m sorry you had such a terrible experience 22 years ago. Have things gotten any better?.. I come from a mega Church of over 20 thousand members. Crowds can have a positive effect, but can also be a negative. Either way, bless those few men who stuck it out despite the sad turn-out. I’m sure they went home with their heads hanging down.☹️
 
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I went to a Promise Keepers rally about 15-20 years ago. I thought it was positive to see and feel the solidarity of tens of thousands of Christian men expressing their desire to serve and follow Christ and be inspired to step up to be the spiritual head of their family. Since all men are human, I’m convinced some just attended to see or be seen, but that wasn’t the purpose of it.

The most positive aspect for me was for new Christians to see they weren’t alone - they were part of a Christian brotherhood. Is Promise Keepers the only men’s group who does this sort of work? No. But it had a positive influence on many, so I wouldn’t criticize it just because evangelical Protestants founded it and not Catholics.

I assume Catholics have men’s groups that have drawn large crowds before. I applaud them if their purpose was/is to teach and inspire the Catholic faithful to grow closer to Christ and become better men, husbands, and fathers. That was how I viewed Promise Keepers in my own life.
 
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Tommy999 said:
I wouldn’t criticize it just because evangelical Protestants founded it and not Catholics.
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I don’t think anyone has done that here. I’m not Catholic myself but would view any such ministry from any source with caution in future. My criticisms in the original post had nothing to do with denominations. It was just a lousy event.
 
It was a move of God in it’s time. But like everything else in God’s kingdom, it moves on like the wind … it’s okay. Other great moves of God will come.
 
Promise Keepers kind of reminds me a little of of the current Catholic ‘That Man is You’ program, which sounds like is helping many Catholic men.
 
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GladTidings said:
If you fall off the horse, you get back on, dammit.
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In fairness to this group, their purpose seems to be helping one another stay on the stay on the horse, and also to normalize staying on the horse, and helping others back on . . .
 
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