Whose Promise Kept? Frame Construction within the Promise Keepers

Abstract

The Promise Keepers, a men's evangelical movement, has experienced tremendous growth and success since its inception in 1990. Relying on a variety of data, including participant-observations at two Promise Keeper rallies, I demonstrate that the PK ideological frame developed at the intersection of two broader social trends: the Men's Movement and evangelical membership growth. PK has adopted both traditional and emerging evangelical issues to appeal to the growing evangelical audience, expanding and transforming its ideological frame. Traditionally conservative issues such as the eradication of pornography are coupled with emerging evangelical issues such as racial reconciliation. Simultaneously, PK has borrowed rhetoric and ideology from divergent factions of the Men's Movement, redefining issues of masculinity in a religious context and arguing for increased male-male interaction. This, however, has led to competing gender ideologies within PK, because there is no consistent ideological frame. The unique contribution of the Men's Movement and evangelical growth to the formation of the PK ideological frame is examined.