Promise Keepers, an Evangelical organization founded in 1990 that holds men’s rallies in stadiums nationwide, has seen several scheduled events at churches and other venues canceled in recent months.
As recently as June, Belmont University, a private Christian university in Nashville, canceled a Promise Keepers event after the national Christian men’s ministry posted a blog criticizing LGBT pride month. The university accused the organization of “unnecessarily fanning the flames of culture wars.”
The event, which was part of the group’s “Daring Faith” tour, is one of several events that were later canceled by Christian venues, including Hope Church in Cordova, Tennessee, and The Fountain of Praise in Houston.
Despite Promise Keepers’ decades-old legacy challenging Christian men to live out God’s calling, chairman and CEO Ken Harrison says much has changed since the 1990s when the group first launched.
While some have cited concerns about offending people with “biblical truth,” Harrison said others were less clear in their reasons.
He told The Christian Post, “One venue was worried that we would offend people by expressing our belief, rooted in Scripture, about gender and sexual identity.” Others said they didn’t want to draw protesters or simply didn’t give us a reason.
Harrison said the cancellations were “disheartening” given that they came not from secular groups, but overtly Christian ones.