DATE: Friday, October 3, 1997               TAG: 9710030667

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY TONY WHARTON, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:   86 lines

MEN SEARCH FOR SPIRITUAL RESPONSIBILITY

Before dawn Saturday, across Hampton Roads and the East Coast, the buses will start warming up and filling up with men. Only men.

They're heading for ``Stand in the Gap,'' the largest rally yet of Promise Keepers, the Christian men's organization that has rapidly become one of the most significant religious movements of the 1990s.

Between 30 and 40 chartered buses are leaving from Hampton Roads alone. Perhaps 750,000 to a million men will fill the Mall in Washington for six hours or more Saturday, praying, singing and listening to speakers - if they can hear. It's likely to be the biggest event in Washington since the Million Man March in 1995.

Yet this may be one of those times when the journey is at least as important as the destination.

``Half the adventure of going is getting there,'' said Scott McLane, 40, a Coast Guard petty officer and Portsmouth resident who's been to four Promise Keepers rallies in various parts of the country.

What he means is that in most cases Saturday, men will be traveling for several hours with men they've never met to an event that asks them to look hard at their most serious relationships. It tends to make for more than just sports talk.

McLane said, ``People ask me, `What is it? What's going to happen?' I get a chance to explain, or attempt to explain.''

The bonds forged on those buses, McLane said, form the real strength of Promise Keepers.

``The critical event in Promise Keepers is not the massive event,'' he said. ``It's the inverse of that, changing how one person's life affects their neighbor or their family. It's at the cell level.''

Promise Keepers is an outgrowth of the evangelical movement, which centers on a simple profession of faith in Jesus Christ. While often associated with Baptists, evangelism reaches across the Christian spectrum. It is particularly strong in southeastern Virginia.

Bill McCartney, the former coach of the top-ranked University of Colorado football team, founded Promise Keepers in 1990 after a vision of stadiums filled with Christian men struck him during a drive across Colorado.

A Promise Keeper pledges seven specific things, dealing with honoring Christ, pursuing ``vital relationships'' with other men, maintaining spiritual purity, building strong families, supporting his church, reaching out to other races, and spreading the Christian message.

In practice, Promise Keepers emphasizes taking moral responsibility, confessing sins, and talking with other men about one's problems.

Because the movement has strong links to the religious right - McCartney appeared Tuesday on Pat Robertson's ``700 Club'' - critics suspect him and Promise Keepers of hidden political motives.

The National Organization for Women charges that Promise Keepers actually wants to return men to dominance over women and reverse decades of feminist advances.

This Saturday, McCartney said, critics ``are going to be disappointed. There's nothing on the agenda to support that notion.''

McCartney likes to say that their stance in Washington will be that of ``the bended knee, not the clenched fist.''

He said what men will find Saturday depends on what they're ready to accept.

``If they have a hungry heart, if they're hungry for God, they can expect an outpouring of the spirit of the heart,'' he said.

McCartney hopes the multitudes don't overwhelm the message.

``I'm very much concerned about whether we can keep everyone effectively networked,'' he said. ``We've got every Jumbotron video screen we can lay our hands on, but that may not be enough.''

Promise Keepers has actually urged men to bring television sets and radios, in case they're too far from speakers or video screens. The entire event will be simulcast on radio and television in the capital, in addition to major coverage by the news networks.

McCartney even hints that ``Stand in the Gap'' will be a turning point.

``There will be significant comments made on the future of Promise Keepers,'' he said. In an interview released by the group, McCartney indicates there may be a new commitment to racial reconciliation.

McLane said the real test of Promise Keepers, however, is in the follow-up. The program emphasizes small groups of men meeting to talk things over, and it provides resources to help that happen.

``Part of the adventure is getting there; part of it is the event itself,'' McLane said. ``But the other part is putting it into action, and that's not something that happens overnight.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photo

IAN MARTIN/The Virginian-Pilot

Coast Guard Promise Keepers, clockwise, front: Scott McLane, James

Williams, Sam Monroe, Aaron Jenkins, James Edwards. KEYWORDS: PROMISE KEEPERS

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