NEWS FEATURE: Gathering momentum to `Stand in the Gap’

c. 1997 Religion News Service WASHINGTON _ Tears form in the eyes of the Rev. Dale Schlafer when he thinks about the possibility of hundreds of thousands of Christian men gathered on the National Mall.”My heart has been for revival of the church,”said Schlafer, a Presbyterian pastor-turned-event organizer.”The church is sick. We need God to […]

c. 1997 Religion News Service

WASHINGTON _ Tears form in the eyes of the Rev. Dale Schlafer when he thinks about the possibility of hundreds of thousands of Christian men gathered on the National Mall.”My heart has been for revival of the church,”said Schlafer, a Presbyterian pastor-turned-event organizer.”The church is sick. We need God to change us.” Schlafer is vice president of Promise Keepers'”Stand in the Gap: A Sacred Assembly of Men,”an event organized by the evangelical men’s ministry for Oct. 4 in Washington.

The six-hour afternoon session will feature a profusion of prayers in which the men gathered will seek forgiveness for the wrongs they’ve committed against other people and God.


Schlafer explained the church’s”sickness”to the tens of thousands of men gathered recently at Robert F. Kennedy Stadium in Washington for one of Promise Keepers’ regional conferences.”Four thousand churches close their doors and die every year,”he said.

The United States _ better known for sending Christian missionaries abroad _ today is the”number two missionary-receiving country in the world,”said Schlafer, indicating the sorry state of the nation’s churches.

Promise Keepers founder Bill McCartney, addressing the stadium crowd via a Stand in the Gap promotional video, said:”The time has come to tell the truth about our failures and once again offer ourselves to God.” The upcoming”sacred assembly”in Washington promises to draw a cross-section of the evangelical men’s movement _ from members of the Christian Motorcyclists Association to Native Americans setting up tepees on the stretch of lawn between the U.S. Capitol and the Lincoln Memorial. Atheists have vowed to protest from the sidelines.

But Stand in the Gap also presents some financial challenges for Promise Keepers at a time when the organization is coping with a drop in attendance at some of its 19 regional conferences.

As Schlafer sees it, the Denver-based organization has close to a $30-million shortfall, when the $10 million budget for Stand in the Gap is included. Promise Keepers has raised about $3.7 million for the assembly.”People think we’re a money machine,”said Schlafer.”We really aren’t. … We live by revenue from the conferences.” Promise Keepers officials have consistently declined to estimate the number of men they expect to attend Stand in the Gap, but a registration kit for the event estimates that between 500,000 and 1 million will be there.

Attendance at Stand in the Gap will be free, but Promise Keepers charges $60 to attend one of its regional conferences. The drop in conference attendance _ down by more than a third, as of a couple of weeks ago _ has prompted some cost-cutting measures, said Steve Chavis, Promise Keepers’ national spokesman. He expects the ministry’s spending projections of $117 million for this year will be reduced by about $30 million.

Schlafer said a survey of Promise Keepers’ constituents indicate that 47 percent of those who chose not to attend a conference this year plan to go to Stand in the Gap instead.


At some of the regional conferences, more than half of the participants have stood when asked if they plan to attend the special assembly, said Schlafer. In addition, he has received reports of chartered buses, trains and planes reserved for the event from California, Indiana and New York.

Many conference participants also have vowed to bring a man of a different color or denomination with them to the assembly, acting out the ministry’s commitment to racial and denominational reconciliation.”There’s no question we’re more racially diverse than we ever have been before,”Schlafer said of the conferences.”We’re making good headway, but relationships take time.” Mel Brown, project manager for Stand in the Gap, said it is incorrect to think that white men are calling black men to the Mall or vice versa.”It’s God calling,”he said.

Brown, an African-American, said he feels no pressure to meet Promise Keepers’ goal of 300,000 people of color at the event. However, he admitted he would be disappointed if African-Americans _ a great number of whom live in the Washington region _ do not show up in substantial numbers.

John Lansa, Promise Keepers’ national reconciliation strategic manager for American Indians, estimated that 3,000 American Indians will gather on the Mall.”I see our Native American people as really leading the charge of reconciliation,”said Lansa, a Hopi Indian.

But along with supporters, detractors are also expected at the Mall.”The people who are against Jesus are mobilizing their forces to come and disrupt this event,”Schlafer told the men at the Washington regional conference, which had 46,000 registrants.

American Atheists’ national spokesman Ron Barrier said his organization will”counter-demonstrate”during the Promise Keepers event.”We don’t plan to disrupt anything,”Barrier said.”Everything we do is peaceful and lawful.” Schlafer predicted that opponents will be”the ones who are going to come to know Jesus”at the event.


Responded Barrier:”Ridiculous.” Although Promise Keepers has attracted mostly evangelical Christians, Schlafer said he is”praying every day”that participants at Stand in the Gap will range from”liberal and fundamental, to mainline and fighting independent.” In addition to their hopes for a wide array of U.S. Christians, Promise Keepers officials have invited representatives from 187 foreign countries to attend Stand in the Gap in keeping with their recent focus on expanding their movement internationally.

While the event is designed for men, there are plans to broadcast the assembly via satellite and cable hookups to interested churches across the country so women, children and men unable to attend can still see it.”This sacred assembly could have not just an impact on the men but could … impact the church of Jesus Christ,”predicted Schlafer.

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