Title: Lutheran Pastors and Promise
Keepers
ELCA NEWS SERVICE
March 18, 1996
LUTHERAN PASTORS AND PROMISE KEEPERS
96-05-015-LC
CHICAGO (ELCA) -- About 200 male
pastors of the Evangelical Lutheran Church
in America attended "Fan into Flame," the
first national clergy conference sponsored
by Promise Keepers -- a men's ministry
founded by the University of Colorado's
former head football coach Bill McCartney.
The gathering brought about 40,000 pastors
to Atlanta Feb. 13-15.
The Rev. Karnig M. Kazanjian, Jr.,
Trinity Lutheran Church, Anniston, Ala.,
said he saw nothing at the event with which
he could disagree. "If there are
theological concerns," pastors need to
attend Promise Keepers events "to interpret
these things for ELCA members."
"We shouldn't get scared of this just
because it is not Lutheran. It reaches half
a million men a year; we should pay
attention to that. There ought to be times
like this when men can gather," he said.
The Rev. Stephen W. Cook, First
Lutheran Church, Little Falls, Minn., said
he went to Atlanta because men in his
congregation had attended Promise Keepers
events in other cities and urged him to go.
Cook said it was not a conference on
how to do men's ministry, but a revival
meeting for pastors. He appreciated "the
clear Gospel proclamation" and "the clear
call to repent of the divisions of racism."
Racial reconciliation was a focus of "Fan
into Flame."
"I would have liked to have heard more
talk about women" in other roles than the
pastor's wife. Set aside the question of
ordination, and talk about women as
"partners in ministry," Cook said. Like
other Promise Keepers rallies that have
filled stadiums across the country, this one
was only for men.
The ELCA has no official stand on
Promise Keepers, said Doug Haugen, ELCA
director for men's ministries. "The feeling
'out there' is we are critical of it," said
Haugen. If he has concerns, he addresses
them to Promise Keepers leadership. "Our
position is to work with the movement."
Haugen met with 30 ELCA pastors for prayer
and fellowship during the conference and "we
built some real bridges and real
understanding."
Promise Keepers appeals to men because
they are yearning to hear a positive word
about what it means to be male, he said.
"Men are yearning not to take control, but
to take responsibility." Along with the
women's movement came a paradigm shift --
men searching for "my place," says Haugen.
"Our ministry, Lutheran Men in Mission
(LMM), helps men in that transition."
Haugen says he refuses to think of a
Christian ministry as competition. LMM
fills in the blanks Promise Keepers misses.
"Promise Keepers is there to light the
fire, and Lutheran Men in Mission helps
congregations fan the flame when they get
home," he says.
The 1996 Lutheran Men's Gathering "Men
of Faith: Together in Spirit" will be held
July 19-21 at Augsburg College, Minneapolis.
For information contact: Ann Hafften, Dir.,
ELCA News Service, (312) 380-2058; Frank
Imhoff, Assoc. Dir., (312) 380-2955; Lia
Christiansen, Asst. Dir., (312) 380-2956
