wfn.org | Promise Keepers to Lay Off Its Entire Paid Staff

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20-February-1998 
98059 
 
    Promise Keepers to Lay Off Its Entire Paid Staff 
 
    by Virginia Culver and Adelle M. Banks 
    Religion News Service 
 
    DENVER--Promise Keepers, the evangelical Christian men's ministry, is 
laying off all of its 345 salaried employees effective March 31 because it 
doesn't have the money to pay them. 
 
        Promise Keepers officials said the ministry's decision to no longer 
charge fees for its 
 conferences and rely solely on donations prompted the layoffs and the need 
to rely on volunteers. 
 
    But Steve Ruppe, director of public affairs for the ministry, said Feb. 
19 the organization isn't folding and still plans to hold 19 men's 
conferences this year.  The conferences will continue to encourage men to 
increase their commitment to God, family and church. 
 
    Bill McCartney, the former University of Colorado football coach who 
founded 
Promise Keepers in 1990, broke the startling news to staff members at the 
Denver headquarters Feb. 18. 
 
    "I have a broken heart," he said.  "But, I don't have a discouraged 
heart.  I have a heart that is filled with hope." 
 
    Although it is too soon to tell how many salaried staff might choose to 
work as volunteers, Ruppe said, "I fully expect the doors to remain open 
and volunteer staff to keep this ministry running until we reach an 
increased and stable income from donations ... to bring the staff back." 
 
    He could not predict when paid staff might be able to return. 
 
    Ruppe said there is a mood of "prayerful hope" among employees. 
 
    Ministry officials said it is more important to share the gospel with 
men who are "lukewarm Christians or non-Christians" than to charge $60 for 
the events, he said.  They think some wouldn't be inclined to pay the 
registration fee. 
 
    "We wanted to remove that impediment so we've opened the gates to all 
of our events in 1998," Ruppe said.  "That meant that Promise Keepers again 
had to do something that everybody said was impossible.  We have a long 
history of  ... God doing things through us that everybody said was 
impossible." 
 
    Most recently, Ruppe said, people thought the organization could not 
bring a large crowd of men to the National Mall in Washington for its 
"Stand in the Gap" rally.  But the event was a huge success, with hundreds 
of thousands of men attending the Oct. 4 gathering, one of the largest 
religious events in the nation's history. 
 
    Ruppe said the organization has paid off the $9 million cost of the 
event, thanks in part to increased donations in 1997. 
 
    Merle Longwood, a professor of religious studies at Siena College in 
Loudonville, N.Y., said he thought the decision to move away from a 
fee-based operation was "a big leap of faith" when he heard it announced at 
Stand in the Gap. 
 
    "They obviously were going to take a risk to see whether or not moving 
in the direction of total donations would be a possible way to make their 
organization continue and the risk yielded this result," said Longwood, who 
studies the role of men in religious movements. 
 
    Promise Keepers officials had warned staff of possible cutbacks.  Last 
July, after reaching a peak staff that exceeded 500, more than 100 people 
were laid off due to the loss of revenue from stadium events.  McCartney 
said at the time he hoped there would not be any further staff cuts. 
 
    But a dramatic drop in attendance at regional events made further 
layoffs necessary.  In 1997, 630,000 men attended 18 stadium events, 
compared to a 1.1 million total attendance at 22 events in 1996. 
 
    In 1996, 72 percent of the ministry's income came from event fees and 
the rest from donations and sales of products such as T-shirts, mugs and 
books by McCartney.  Now the ministry is hoping to continue to hold 
regional conferences, with tentative plans for 19 cities. 
 
    "Obviously having enough revenue to put on these free, but still 
costly, events is the determining factor," Ruppe said. 
 
    Asked if he expected the layoffs to lead to cancellations of any of the 
conferences, Ruppe said, "I couldn't speculate." 
 
    He also said he was "not privy" to the amount of the financial 
shortfall the ministry is facing. 
 
    "There have been those who said we're going from a fee-based to a 
faith-based ministry," said Ruppe.  "That's wrong.  We've always been a 
faith-based ministry." 
 
    Longwood said it is too soon to tell if the layoff announcement is a 
sign that interest in the movement is waning. 
 
    "I think everyone has been watching the Promise Keepers to see whether 
the things that had happened this past year were an indication of a peak or 
whether it was a possible indication there was new life forthcoming," he 
said. 
 
    "I guess what happens in the months to come will give us a reading of 
that," he said. 
McCartney, in making his announcement about the layoffs, offered a 
challenge to church leaders. 
 
    "We have seen how God has used this ministry to change men's lives and 
lead them back to church," he said.  "Now, as the fees to all events are 
removed, it is time for those churches to assist us in our mission to men." 
 
    Longwood said some churches may have the inclination, but not the 
capacity, to give the ministry a financial boost. 
 
    "I'm not sure that given the financial condition of most churches that 
they will have much resources available to really provide alternative 
funding," he said.  "Churches I know - none of them are very flush." 

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