by Chris Ritter

Bill McCartney died on January 10 at age 84. An NCAA Hall of Fame football coach, McCartney is better known for the impact he had on American Christianity. Promise Keepers, the men’s movement he founded, filled arenas and stadiums around the nation with a message of male leadership in the home and racial reconciliation in society. At its peak in 1997, a PK rally on the mall in Washington DC drew between 750,000 and 1 million men. “We are Baptists, we are Pentecostals, we are Methodists, we are Lutherans, we are Roman Catholics, we are independent,” Bill McCartney declared at that event.

Yes, Methodists were certainly impacted by Promise Keepers. Numerous men in churches I have served have been eager to testify to the ways their faith was deepened at a PK event or related small group. The movement was attacked from both the Christian right (for being too ecumenical) and the Christian left (for encouraging masculine leadership). While the General Commission on United Methodist Men approved a tepid statement of appreciation for PK, most of the United Methodist hierarchy viewed the movement with deep suspicion. 

Although Promise Keepers did not outlive its founder as a major cultural force, Christian men have continued their search for a faith that speaks to their souls. A decade after PK’s zenith, the “young, restless, and Reformed” forged a rebranded Calvinism that was markedly complementarian in its understanding of gender roles (with maybe an opportunity for theologizing and cigar smoking after the meetings.) These “New Calvinists,” too, have waned, or perhaps evolved into various sub-groups. Christianity Today’s podcast, “The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill,” chronicles both the positive impact of one megachurch (young men challenged to get off video games, follow Jesus, get married, and lead a family) and the unbelievably toxic environment that led to its crash. The late Tim Keller, founder of Redeemer Presbyterian in New York City, represents the winsome, intellectual side of the New Calvinist movement.

The latest form of Christianity to draw large numbers of American men, especially young men, is Eastern Orthodoxy. (See “Why Young Men are Flocking to Eastern Orthodoxy” or “Why Young Men are Joining Eastern Orthodoxy” by Gavin Ortlund for a longer discussion). Jordan Peterson has praised Orthodoxy for avoiding the Protestant trap of reducing Christianity to a set of intellectual propositions. Orthodoxy has a dense culture that is unconcerned with consumerist draw. Men, it has been conjectured, are drawn to Eastern Orthodoxy because of its high demands.  Ben Christiansen is quoted by the New York Post: “It seems to me like the mainline denominations are hemorrhaging people. If you still are serious about being a Christian now that there isn’t really as much social status tied up in it, and you want something that has some heft to it, there’s more of an awareness of Orthodoxy than there used to be.” (“Young men leaving traditional churches for ‘masculine’ Orthodox Christianity in droves” by Rikki Schlott )

Where does all this leave Methodists? Unlike the two previously mentioned tribes, Methodists are generally egalitarian when it comes to the role of women. This need not be a barrier to reaching men or encouraging strong male leadership. The reason Wesleyans were early adopters of women in church leadership was not a quest for inclusivity as much as deep conviction on the urgency of the Gospel. The Church has too great a task to keep one hand tied behind its back. Both our sons and our daughters must prophesy. It does not say much for male leadership in a church if the women must be limited to make room for it. The egalitarian position calls men to be secure enough to not feel threatened by women finding their full voice in the church, as they do in other important arenas of life. The problem comes when men become spiritually passive, a sulking auxiliary to congregational life.

Men want and need to be challenged. There is nothing more rigorous than John Wesley’s vision of the Christian life. (See ‘Wesley Is Fire Now’ and Evangelicals Are Being Strangely Warmed” by Clayton Sidenbender in Christianity Today). Renewed Methodism is working to overcome both milquetoast Mainline religion and breezy consumerist faith with a return to Scriptural Holiness. Band Meetings, originally and now, provide male spaces within the larger church for men to develop their hearts and sanctify their lives. Wesley’s Select Bands prepared men for the rigors of leadership. Seminary is important, but no substitute for this more foundational type of spiritual leadership development that has largely been missing from Methodism over the past century.

Methodism has a bold legacy of strong men. Small in stature, John Wesley took more abuse and showed more courage than most men of any time could muster. This was true, too, of his early heirs, the circuit riders. The phrase “Muscular Methodism” was coined to describe the hearty Methodists (men and women) that forged the church in Minnesota. My native Illinois was impacted by Peter Cartwright, a muscular Methodist if ever there was one. 

As the pastor of an egalitarian, Methodist church with a strong male presence, I close with the following insights:

  1. Men are willing to give more than most pastors realize.
  2. Ministries that encourage and expect men to pray are essential.
  3. Never underestimate the impact of a few, intentional, evangelism-minded men looking out for guys who need to get connected at church.
  4. While church leadership is open to all who are willing to make the sacrifices involved, male-only Bible studies, retreats, bands, and similar events remain important spaces (as are women-only spaces).
  5. Recovery ministries are a fruitful connecting point.
  6. Men engaged in children’s ministry and youth ministry is a great win for the Gospel.
  7. Many men need to be appealed to based on their strengths, not their weaknesses.

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