Updated September 15, 2001 (first published December 5, 1995) (David W. Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061-0368, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org) - Promise Keepers is a men’s movement that was formed in 1990 by members of the late John Wimber’s Vineyard Fellowship. Bill McCartney, who at the time was a successful football coach for the University of Colorado, founded Promise Keepers in 1990, in association with his pastor, James Ryle. McCartney is a member of the Boulder Valley Vineyard in Boulder, Colorado. The first president of Promise Keepers, Randy Phillips, also is a member of the Boulder Vineyard. (This church left the Association of Vineyard Churches in late 1997, after the death of John Wimber.)

Promise Keepers’ stated goal is to target men of ALL DENOMINATIONS and ethnic groups who desire to promote personal integrity and moral accountability. The response has been phenomenal. A crowd of 4,200 men attended the first convention at the Coors’ Event Center in Boulder in 1991. By 1994, roughly 300,000 men attended seven conferences. The organization’s financial and numerical peak was achieved in 1997. PK’s “Stand in the Gap” rally in Washington, D.C., in October 1997 drew as many as one million men. Not only have hundreds of thousands of men attended PK conferences, but permanent local PK groups have also been established in many parts of the country.

The Promise Keepers movement encourages men to adopt the “Seven Promises of a Promise Keeper.” Promise Number six states, “A Promise Keeper is committed to reaching beyond any ... denominational barriers to demonstrate the power of biblical unity.” That is ecumenism, and Promise Keepers is one of the most ecumenically successful movements in history.

When men of God warn about this and expose Promise Keepers’ ecumenism, though, two very different types of responses occur. First, some Promise Keepers defenders admit the ecumenical aspects of PK and glory in them. Second, other Promise Keepers defenders deny that PK is ecumenical in any unscriptural sense.

A case in point is information available on one of the unofficial Promise Keepers Internet Web sites. Posted on this site is “Promise Keepers Controversy--a Defense of Promise Keepers Ministry”--an extensive apologetic against the charges which have been made by fundamentalist Bible-believing Christians. Consider an excerpt:

“The doctrinal error that is cited concerning Promise Keepers is its ‘ecumenical emphasis.’ Indeed one of the stated goals of Promise Keepers is to ‘break down denominational barriers’ and promote unity among Christians, but by definition a Christian is one who has ‘accepted by faith God’s gift of salvation which was made possible by Christ’s death.’ This would not include liberals who deny substitutionary atonement, or Roman Catholics who believe they are saved through the church or the sacraments. This would include all who have come to genuine faith in Christ, without regard to the denominational label they may wear.”

The author of this, Jim Korth, says that his information is based on Promise Keepers books, attendance at a Promise Keepers conference, and an interview with Dallas Seminary professor Howard Hendricks, who speaks at PK meetings.

The problem is that Pastor Korth’s defense of Promise Keepers denies the facts. He says that the unity sought by Promise Keepers does not include “Roman Catholics who believe they are saved through the church or the sacraments.”

Every Catholic who accepts Roman Catholic doctrine believes that the church and the sacraments have a part in salvation. The New Catholic Catechism states: “The Church affirms that for believers the sacraments of the New Covenant are necessary for salvation” (1129). Words could not be plainer.

It is evident that Roman Catholics believe the sacraments are necessary for salvation. Are Roman Catholics participating in Promise Keepers?

First, we need to point out that Bill McCartney has never rejected the Roman Catholic Church. The following overview is from Dave Hunt’s The Berean Call:

“Bill McCartney was a lifetime devout Roman Catholic who attended Mass daily until he visited the Boulder Vineyard Fellowship, liked the pastor’s preaching, and began attending there. He has never broken with the Catholic Church. If he has, then let us hear it from him: when he left Romanism and why --i.e., what was wrong with it that caused him to leave and why he would seek to rescue other Catholics from its errors. Any ex-Catholic I have ever known came out of that church because of having come to know the Lord Jesus Christ personally as Savior, and thereafter desired to see other Catholics delivered from Rome’s false gospel. In contrast, McCartney accepts Catholics as Christians and sees no reason to evangelize them.

“In his autobiography, From Ashes to Glory, McCartney admits that as a ‘daily communicant in the Catholic Church’ he ‘had never been encouraged to read the Bible, so ... knew nothing about the Word of God’ and ‘had been totally without a clue about what it’s like to be a whole-hearted, committed Christian’ (p 110). Those statements alone condemn Catholicism! He then tells what he apparently offers as his conversion story (pp. 110-13) and calls himself a ‘born-again Catholic.’ In fact, it sounds like a ‘dedication’ of his life to Christ, as though he thinks he was already saved and is confusing ‘sanctification’ with ‘salvation.’

“His next statement is even more confusing: ‘Making a profession of faith like I did may not be expected and may not even be important in the Catholic church.’ This is an astounding declaration if he has just related how he got saved! No ex-Catholic who has come to faith in Christ as his Savior would ever say that to do so would not be essential for other Catholics. In fact, he would insist that they, like all mankind, are lost and on their way to hell until they receive Christ and look to Him alone for their eternal salvation instead of to their Church and its sacraments. Clearly McCartney has no such conviction” (The Berean Call, November 1996).

Further, PK Founder Bill McCartney said plainly that Roman Catholics are invited to participate in Promise Keepers. He did not specify what kind of Roman Catholics. In an interview with the Catholic publication Our Sunday Visitor, McCartney said that full Catholic participation was his intention from the start. “Back in 1992, at our first stadium event, we very clearly stated from the podium that we eagerly welcomed the participation of Roman Catholics, and we’ve had scores of Roman Catholics attend and go back to their churches excited” (Our Sunday Visitor, July 20, 1997, p. 10).

In 2001, Bill McCartney told the press that he considers the Roman Catholic Church “a legitimate Christian church.” Following is an excerpt from a telephone interview with Richard Scheinin of Knight Ridder News Service:

Question by Richard Scheinin: What parts of your Catholic upbringing do you hold onto?

Answer by Bill McCartney: I know many Catholics love God with all their heart. I have genuine respect for anyone who truly has given their life to Christ. We read about Mother Teresa and her heart and what a wonderful example she was.

Q. Do you see yourself as having been “converted” from Catholicism?

A. I had a born-again experience at the age of 33. And as a result of that I found a church to fellowship in where I felt I was being fed properly. I don’t say that as a reflection on Catholicism. But once I was born again, I got an evangelical spirit.

Q. Do you consider the Catholic Church to be a legitimate Christian church?

A. Of course. (“Men’s faith group founder keeping his Promise,” The Daily Oklahoman, Sept. 15, 2001, p. 6B).

Thus it is obvious that Bill McCartney does not believe that Rome preaches a false gospel. He considers Mother Teresa a genuine Christian even though she was committed to Rome’s sacramental faith-works gospel, she prayed to Mary, and worshipped the mass wafer. (See “Was Mother Teresa a True Christian” in the Fundamental Baptist CD-ROM Library.) Bill McCartney’s position is entirely contradictory and untenable. He claims to have accepted an evangelical gospel even while continuing to hold to Rome’s false gospel. This is impossible. You cannot believe in the truth and in lies, too. You cannot worship God and idols. You cannot believe in a true gospel and a false gospel. This demonstrates the incredible confusion that is created by the positive-only, judge-nothing ecumenical philosophy!

Roman Catholic paper The Tidings (March 31, 1995) stated that Promise Keepers is “being expanded to include Catholic congregations.” Catholics were encouraged to participate in Promise Keepers because “there is no doctrinal issue which should cause concern to the Catholic Church” and “there is no attempt at proselytizing or drawing men away from their [Catholic] faith to another church.”

According to the December 1995 issue of the Charismatic Roman Catholic publication New Covenant, a Promise Keepers group was formed in a Catholic parish in Tallahassee, Florida.

Catholic priest John Salazar spoke at a Promise Keepers meeting in Plainview, Texas, in December 1995. A local newspaper reported, “Father John Salazar, who leads Catholic churches in Kress and Tulia, implored listeners to value themselves because they were made in the image of God. . . . ‘That is the Jesus Christ we need to bring, especially to other men and to young men,’ Salazar said to an audience that encompassed everyone from quietly reverent Episcopalians to openly enthusiastic Pentecostals” (Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, Lubbock, Texas, December 3, 1995).

The Promise Keepers field representative for the upper Midwest, Steve Jenkins, is a Roman Catholic. He represents Minnesota, North and South Dakota, Iowa, and Wisconsin. He became involved in Promise Keepers after attending the 1992 PK conference in Boulder, Colorado.

The March-April 1996 issue of the respected Foundation magazine reported the following relevant bit of information: “Some people find it difficult to believe that Roman Catholics are actually participants in the Promise Keepers movement, but it is true. A Promise Keepers Wake Up Call brochure distributed in San Louis Obispo, Calif., urges pastors, churches and their men to attend special rallies during March, one of which is to be held at the St. Rose Catholic Church in Paso Robles, Calif. This fact was confirmed by a phone call to the Promise Keepers leader in that church.”

In 1997 Promise Keepers appointed a Roman Catholic, Mike Timmis, to its Board of Directors (1997 Summer Conference brochure for the Franciscan University of Steubenville).

One of the speakers at several of 1997 PK rallies was Roman Catholic “evangelist” Jim Berlucchi (“Making New Catholic Men?” Our Sunday Visitor, July 20, 1997, p. 10).

In June 1997, Promise Keepers hosted a Catholic Summit at its headquarters in Denver, “sounding out Catholic volunteers and leaders from around the world” (Ibid.).

In June 1997 Promise Keepers organized a Roman Catholic mass as part of its Rich Stadium conference in Buffalo, New York. About 50 men participated in the mass, which was designed to prepare Catholic men for the Promise Keepers conference. Catholic priests participated in the clergy luncheon that Promise Keepers also conducted prior to the conference (John Swomley, The Humanist, Sept. 19, 1997).

In January 1998, Roman Catholic Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver gave a “thumbs-up” to Catholic men who want to participate in Promise Keepers (The Catholic Register, quoted in Religious News Service, Jan. 19, 1998). Chaput’s remarks followed a lunch meeting with Promise Keepers founder Bill McCartney. Chaput stated that though Catholics have legitimate concerns about the PK movement, they are obligated to “joyfully embrace groups like Promise Keepers.” The Catholic Archbishop said a chief concern was Promise Keepers failure to understand that the Bible alone is not the Christian authority. He said that Catholics also believe in “sacred tradition” and noted that “the church preceded Scripture.” He said that the Catholic Church has been given the authority “to interpret, teach and safeguard the Scripture.” He said that task resides with the Catholic bishops. According to this false and blasphemous Catholic dogma, the Bible does not rule the church, the “church” rules the Bible. The Catholic Church claims that no one can understand the Bible properly apart from its authority. Chaput said that in early March he will conduct a Catholic mass for Catholic members of Promise Keepers.

Roman Catholic Ralph Martin was a speaker at the Promise Keepers conference in western Michigan in August 1998. Fundamentalist Digest Editor Don Jasmin attended the meeting with press credentials and noted: “The PK emphasis is more dangerously ecumenical than ever, with Roman Catholics now occupying strategic places of prominence in administration and operation...” (Calvary Contender, February 15, 1999).

Promise Keepers holds weekly meetings at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church in Lakeland, Florida. Lakeland is my hometown, and I personally saw this meeting advertised on St. Anthony’s signboard on a visit with my relatives in August 1999. I also called St. Anthony’s and spoke with a representative of the church. I was told that their weekly Promise Keepers meetings are connected with the national Promise Keepers organization and that the group is scheduled to attend the Promise Keepers conference at the Tropicana Dome soon. The meetings are led by John Angel, who works at St. Anthony’s.

PROMISE KEEPERS’ CLOSE CONNECTION WITH CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY

Since 1995, Promise Keepers representatives have been featured at the Catholic Men’s Conferences held at the Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio. The July 23, 1995 issue of Today’s Catholic contained an article entitled “Promise Keepers Christian crusade draws Catholic men.” This paper reported that in July 1995, an official Promise Keepers Leadership Seminar was conducted at the Catholic Franciscan University of Steubenville (Ohio). More than 600 Catholic men participated. The meeting concluded with a Catholic mass led by the school’s president, priest Michael Scanlon. This same priest distributed elements at one of the masses at the North American Congress on the Holy Spirit & World Evangelization in New Orleans, July 1987. I attended this massive charismatic-ecumenical conference with press credentials. Scanlan is a traditional Catholic. He believes the sacraments are necessary for salvation. He believes he can turn the bread and wine of the Lord’s Supper into the very body and blood of Christ. He prays the rosary. He prays to Mary, hailing her as “the Mother of God.” At another North American Congress on the Holy Spirit & World Evangelization, held in Indianapolis in August 1996 (which I also attended with press credentials), he told the story of being jailed for participating in ecumenical anti-abortion marches. During his time in jail he conducted masses and taught the Protestants how to pray the rosary. He considered it a great achievement that some of the Protestant anti-abortion crusaders adopted the rosary into their worship. This Catholic priest will not give up any of his heretical doctrines, but he certainly is not opposed to teaching them to any gullible “Protestants” who will listen. And now he is a participant in Promise Keepers.

Promise Keepers representatives Dale Schlafer and Glenn Wagner spoke at the Franciscan University in 1995 and again at the May 31 - June 2, 1996 “Christian Men’s Conference.” The Franciscan University sponsors annual “Defending the Faith” conferences, in which Catholic dogma is upheld and defended with great boldness. The Catholicism of the Franciscan University is even more dangerous than traditional Catholicism because its adoption of charismatic experience has given it a semblance of biblical piety and spiritual fervor. This university sponsored a conference in June 1996 dedicated to “Mary as spouse of the Holy Spirit.” The announcement said, “Rediscover Mary’s prophetic role through her recent apparitions.” The Franciscan University Summer Conference Magazine advertises pilgrimages to Mary shrines. The theme of the 1996 issue was “Following Pope John Paul II into the Third Millennium.” The cover of the 1997 issue features this prayer by Franciscan University President Michael Scanlan: “With renewed fervor, we reconsecrate our lives and our work to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.”

When Promise Keepers leaders Dale Schlafer and Glenn Wagner returned to the Franciscan University in 1996, they attended a Catholic mass. Their guide, John Sengenberger, an official at the university, explained that the mass only made sense “if you believe in the real presence of Jesus” (Our Sunday Visitor, July 20, 1997). This, of course, is true. The Vatican Council II stated that in the mass “Christ perpetuates in an unbloody manner the sacrifice offered on the cross, offering himself to the Father for the world’s salvation through the ministry of priests” (Vatican II, The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Instruction on the Worship of the Eucharistic Mystery, Introduction, C 1,2, p. 108). “In this sacrament Christ is present in a unique way, whole and entire, God and man, substantially and permanently” (Ibid., Instruction on the Worship of the Eucharistic Mystery, Chap. 1, E, p. 114). Further, the Catholic Church teaches that the mass is a necessary part of salvation. Vatican II stated: “As often as the sacrifice of the cross by which ‘Christ our Pasch is sacrificed’ (1 Cor. 5:7) is celebrated on the altar, the work of our redemption is carried out” (Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Chapter 1, 3, p. 324).

This doctrine is blasphemy. It denies the once-for-all finished atonement of Jesus Christ, and it exalts sinful men to the place of God in claiming to have the power to offer the very Jesus Christ on their altars. When a Roman Catholic bows before the consecrated wafer of the mass, he thinks he is bowing literally before Jesus Christ. The wafer is placed in a “tabernacle” and is available to be prayed to and worshipped between masses. Consider the following solemn statement from the authoritative Vatican II Council of the mid-1960s:

“All the faithful ought to show to this most holy sacrament the worship which is due to the true God, as has always been the custom of the Catholic Church. Nor is it to be adored any the less because it was instituted by Christ to be eaten. For even in the reserved sacrament he is to be adored because he is substantially present there through that conversion of bread and wine which, as the Council of Trent tells us, is most aptly named transubstantiation” (Vatican II, The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, Instruction on the Worship of the Eucharistic Mystery, Intro., C 6, pp. 109,10).

During the aforementioned mass at Franciscan University, John Sengenberger knelt on his knees before the consecrated wafer, then he fell prostrate upon his face before it. In his mind he was worshipped God in the form of the wafer, but in reality he was worshipping a man-made idol, for there is absolutely no biblical authority for the Catholic mass. There is not even New Testament instruction for the appointment of priests, and without a consecrated priesthood there can be no mass. SENGENBERGER SAID THAT PROMISE KEEPERS LEADER GLENN WAGNER, A VICE PRESIDENT OF THE ORGANIZATION, FOLLOWED HIS EXAMPLE AND PROSTRATED BEFORE THE IDOLATROUS WAFER (Our Sunday Visitor, July 20, 1997).

This Catholic institution is a participant in Promise Keepers, and has been since 1995. This is plain evidence that though Promise Keepers claims to preach the true gospel, it refuses to expose false gospels and it willingly joins hands with those who are committed to false gospels.

Are these Roman Catholics confused about Promise Keepers’ doctrines and goals? Have they been mislead? Why do they have the idea that Promise Keepers will accept them regardless of their false doctrine? I will tell you why. Because Promise Keepers already has accepted them and has made no issue of doctrine whatsoever. For Promise Keepers representatives to claim that they only desire unity among those who follow the true Gospel is a deception. Further, for them to claim that their only motive in inviting Roman Catholics to participate with them is evangelism, is nonsense. The facts refute this.

The Promise Keepers’ doctrinal statement is weak enough to allow for all sorts of false doctrine. In fact, in 1997, it amended its statement of faith, revising some of the lines that Catholics had found offensive (Our Sunday Visitor, July 20, 1997, pp. 10,11).

Section five of the PK statement of faith read: “We believe that man was created in the image of God, but because of sin, was alienated from God. That alienation can be removed only by accepting, through faith alone, God’s gift of salvation, which was made possible by Christ’s death.”

After receiving a review of their statement by Catholic theologians in the summer of 1997, Promise Keepers changed the previous statement to the following: “Only through faith, trusting in Christ alone for salvation, which was made possible by His death and resurrection, can that alienation be removed.” This statement was accepted by the Catholic theologians who reviewed Promise Keepers’ position, whereas the previous statement was rejected.

Those not familiar with Rome’s false gospel might not understand the importance of this apparently insignificant difference. Rome does not deny that salvation is through Christ alone (though he redefines this to mean Christ through the Catholic Church). The Roman Catholic Church acknowledges that salvation is through faith and grace which was made possible by Christ’s death and resurrection. What Rome denies is that salvation is through faith ALONE by grace ALONE as a gift ALONE ENTIRELY WITHOUT WORKS OR SACRAMENTS! In fact, the Catholic Council of Trent, which is still in force, placed a curse upon anyone who teaches this.

The article in Our Sunday Visitor claims that “by faith alone” is a doctrine devised by Martin Luther. This is perfect nonsense. Salvation by grace alone through faith alone is precisely the Gospel preached by the Apostles and given to us in the Word of God. Paul described this Gospel by revelation in Romans 3:23 - 4:6. It is the Gospel of salvation by grace alone through faith alone without works of any kind. Paul also carefully described the Gospel in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4. Again, there is not one word about works or sacraments. The Gospel is salvation through faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Period. It is Christ alone, grace alone, faith alone, no works, no sacraments. Praise the Lord!

When the Philippian jailer asked the Apostles, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” they said, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house” (Acts 16:30,31). Nothing here about works or sacraments or church or priests.

The Lord Jesus Christ taught the same thing, of course. When the crowd asked Christ, “What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?” he replied, “This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent” (John 6:28,29). Again, nothing here about works or sacraments. John 3:16 says “whosoever believeth on him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” Faith alone. Faith in Christ, plus nothing and minus nothing.

Biblical grace means the unmerited eternal salvation of God which comes freely and directly to the believing sinner through the atonement of Jesus Christ (Rom. 3:24 -- 4:6; 11:6; Eph. 2:8-9; Tit. 3:4-7). The Roman Catholic Church has redefined grace to include sacraments. “Grace,” by Rome’s definition, means Christ, by His death, has provided (“made possible”) salvation to be distributed by the Catholic church to those sinners who adhere to its sacraments. The New Catholic Catechism states: “The Church affirms that for believers the sacraments of the New Covenant are necessary for salvation” (1129). Words could not be plainer.

We see that Promise Keepers leadership has bent over backwards to increase Catholic participation in its movement and to calm the fears of Catholic leaders about the prospect of Catholic men leaving Romanism because of their participation at Promise Keepers events. They are not requiring that Roman Catholics reject Rome’s false doctrines. Promise Keepers leaders are not exposing Rome’s blasphemous gospel and doctrines that have led multitudes to eternal damnation. PK leaders are faced with the same dilemma as all ecumenists. If they were to preach the truth boldly and identify false doctrine plainly, it would destroy their ecumenical agenda. The Apostles were not content merely to preach the Gospel in a positive manner; they continually exposed false gospels and warred against doctrinal perversion. We are to follow in their footsteps. Our commission is to earnestly contend for the faith once delivered to the saints (Jude 3). We are to fight for the truth and AGAINST error. Promise Keepers leaders refuse to do this.

In explaining the doctrinal change, Paul Edwards, a Promise Keepers vice president, said the PK statement of faith is “a dynamic document” and that “Promise Keepers is open to change.” He said: “Truth and unity are equal, but in tension. We try to present truth, not washed down, yet not truth that devolves into denominational squabbles” (Our Sunday Visitor, July 20, 1997). This is absolutely false. Truth and unity are not equal. The Bible exalts truth far above any man-made unity. The goal of Promise Keepers to hold to truth in the midst of an ecumenical unity between denominations in this apostate day is an absolutely impossibility. Truth is the loser.

A wise pastor said, “We will have either a limited fellowship or a limited message.” Those who preach the whole counsel of God find that their fellowship is extremely limited today. It is impossible to preach the whole counsel of God, like Paul did (Acts 20:27), and have a broad-based Promise Keepers-type fellowship. The Apostle Paul was concerned about the purity of the Gospel, but he was also concerned about the purity of every detail of Bible doctrine.

In all of this we have evidence that the leaders of Promise Keepers are playing politics with their ecumenical agenda. When questioned by concerned “Protestants” about Catholic participation in Promise Keepers, they claim they want Catholics to come simply because they want them to hear the Gospel and be saved. When questioned by Catholics about Catholic participation in Promise Keepers, they claim they want to receive Catholics as they are, as brothers in Christ, without any desire to evangelize them away from their “church.”

For more information see the following articles at Way of Life Literature’s End Times Apostasy Online Database at http://www.wayoflife.org/special/spec0001.htm

“Catholic Bishops Support Promise Keepers”
“Bill McCartney and Rome”
“Promise Keepers Catholics Honor Mary as Spouse of the Holy Spirit”
“Promise Keepers Confused about Labels”