Just when the roller-coaster fortunes of the evangelical, men’s support movement, Promise Keepers, seemed to be leveling out, recent evidence shows that its 19 planned rallies this summer are seriously under-registered.
While PK weathered the storm of l997 budget declines, it has acknowledged that early registration for its once popular rallies is running on the average of 20,000 fewer than that in l997, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune, (June 13).
Added to that is the elimination of the $60 admission fee to a specific gathering; yet the attendance figures continue to decline. At one point last year, the $60 fee furnished 70 percent of the total annual PK budget. Now, with no fees, the group is financing its ministry through receiving donations and the sale of merchandise such as T-shirts, videos and books.
Observers suggest that the changing financial fortunes of the once hugely successful men’s program make its long-term impact on its believers uncertain.
— By Erling Jorstad