LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Outside the Freedom Hall auditorium, the Rev. Doug Abner waited with quiet anticipation for a Promise Keepers rally to start. It was 3:30 p.m. and the conference would not begin for another 2 1/2 hours. That was OK, because Abner had secured a spot at the head of a line at one of the doors leading into the auditorium.
Abner and 17 people from Community Church traveled more than three
|
-- Leslie Sizemore, 16, |
I came because it's a way to get together with your brothers in Christ. You can experience things together and learn.
They got there early because they wanted to be right up front. Because they knew something special was about to happen.
Leslie Sizemore, 16, was one of those who came with Abner for the July 25-26 event. He said this was his first Promise Keepers rally. Although he admitted he did not like large crowds, the thousands of men who would attend the rally didn't scare him off.
"I came because it's a way to get together with your brothers in Christ," Sizemore said. "You can experience things together and learn."
Learning from men is one of the reasons Abner enticed Sizemore and other young church members with tickets to attend the rally. As far as he is concerned, when it comes to spiritual growth no time is better than the present.
"You can't start too early," he said. "They need to be in preparation right now. They're not the ‘Next Generation,' they're not the future, they're the now for the body of Christ."
Thomas Scott, 15, was attending his second rally with men from Community Church. To him, it was like doing homework for the future.
"It teaches me how to be more spiritual and stuff, and how to treat my kids whenever I do have kids, how to treat my wife and what kind of bond I need with my wife," he said.
Multi-city Tour
Louisville was the eighth stop on Promise Keepers' 18-city conference schedule. The rallies invite men and boys, 13 and older. They are open to all people, regardless of gender or religious orientation, but the conference is targeted at men, from a clearly Christian perspective.
Tickets to attend, which include a Saturday lunch, cost $79 for adults, $59 for youths 13 to 18 years old.
More than 12,000 people attended and more than 900 answered an alter call, where they made a commitment to follow or rededicated their lives to Christ.
Louisville businessman Danny Castleman, who has attended several Promise Keepers rallies, said 750 volunteers came from all walks of the Christian life to help make the rally a successful event.
"It was a wide variety. It included several different denominations and it also included several different ethnic groups," said Castleman, chairman of the volunteer committee. "We had both African-American and Spanish-speaking churches that were involved in the team."
The theme for this year's rallies is "The Challenge: A Call To Action." Speakers encouraged and challenged attendees to biblical commitment, spiritual growth and friendship, and meeting community needs.
"As Christians, passivity is not an option," said True Nguyen, United States ministry director. "It has never been more important than now for men to take a stand -- a stand for serving God, our families, our churches and our communities."
Jaime Prewitt, media manager at the event, said attendance was all organizers had hoped for.
"It was one of the larger ones we've had this year," she said. "That was great. Some of the past conferences have had about 9,000 to 10,000. We were very pleased with that for the Louisville area."
Open Discussion
The Rev. Randy Smith, associate pastor at Lower Lick Free Will Baptist Church in Morehead, Ky., said the rallies are important to him and other men because they give them an
|
-- The Rev. Randy Smith, |
"Many of issues (men face) women can't understand and women have issues men can't understand," he said. "God made us separately and made us different in a unique way." He said his first conference, in 1997, opened his eyes about what being a father and husband is all about.
"God wants us, as men, to be godly, to serve people, to serve our wives and to serve our children as Christ served the church," he said.
The Rev. Robert Kidd, senior pastor at Lower Lick, agrees the rallies give men an opportunity to discuss issues openly.
"Men need men. Iron sharpens iron and men need other men to challenge each other," Kidd said. "Our wives can't understand everything we feel because they're not men. Women need women to talk to, to be able to relate to each other their feelings and heartaches. In here, they minister to those needs that we have."
While the men may understand the importance of gathering at the rallies, some women do not.
Groups like the National Organization for Women have criticized Promise Keepers because they fear women are being subjugated.
|
-- The Rev. Doug Abner, |
"If women would only realize the privilege they have in the position God has created for them, then they would understand that it's not a degrading issue but it's one of great honor," he said. "We love them and cherish them for what they are, for who they are, and for the position God created them in."
Abner, too, has heard the criticism.
"I had a lady in Atlanta one year tell me, ‘Sir, I'm sure you're a good man, but did you know (Promise Keepers founder) Bill McCartney is more dangerous than Adolph Hitler?' I said, ‘No, I didn't know that.'"
Abner said whenever there is a movement of God, criticism is sure to follow.
"I think the world is afraid of the church anyway and when men start coming together there is a power in that," he said. "The enemy understands that. People don't know why they are afraid, but that is the reason. When men start coming together to take their rightful place in the home, the church and the workplace, then we'll see the gospel being lived out."
Lasting Impressions
Organizers and attendees alike say the rallies are more than a weekend experience. The 13-year-old organization provides resources to help local churches and pastors equip their men for passionate living and significant service.
Kidd said the rallies he has attended annually since 1997, had an impact on his ministry.
"In 1997, when we went, it opened our eyes to worship in a big way," Kidd said. "And it's been going on ever since."
Prior to that experience he said his church was just going through the motions of worship. Now they worship with fervor.
"The Lord just opened our eyes and we just opened up and began to worship Him. It just opened up all kinds of doors and the Lord continued to bless us," he said. "It's been wonderful. It really has."
Abner agrees about the impact of the rallies. The hills of eastern Kentucky are home to the famous Hatfield and McCoy feud and, he said, in some ways hill people still find it difficult to get along. The rallies give them common ground.
"All of a sudden it isn't so important whether we're Pentecostals, Baptists, Church of Christ or whatever we are," Abner said. "We realize that we're men of God who are here for the same thing. We're trying to be better at whatever it is we do."
Men from 15 to 20 churches in Clay County attend the rallies each year, and a spirit of cooperation has developed as a result.
"It's brought the churches together. It used to be like, as we say, pulling hens' teeth to get five or six pastors together," he said. "Now, once a month, we get together with 25, 30 or 35 pastors in our area. We've got this common bond, not only from Promise Keepers, but it's kind of set the stage for a lot of other things that we do."
