c. 1998 Religion News Service

UNDATED _ The majority of staffers at Promise Keepers’ Denver headquarters returned to work Thursday (April 16) and gathered for a morning chapel service of thanksgiving.”It was a hopeful and very thankful group,”said Steve Ruppe, director of public affairs for the evangelical men’s ministry.

Promise Keepers’ 345 salaried employees were laid off March 31, but learned April 9 they had been recalled after an outpouring of financial contributions from supporters.”There were over 70,000 letters that came in to Promise Keepers in March with donations totaling over $4 million,”Ruppe said.”We know that a couple of those were relatively large donations. … The majority were around $100 or so.” Ruppe said a few of the large donations exceeded $10,000 and came from churches or other institutions.

The ministry faced an economic crunch after its officials decided to no longer charge the usual $60 admission fee to the group’s stadium conferences. Their aim is to attract more men _ Christian and non-Christian _ to events, but they lost a financial cushion when the ministry no longer received advance registration money.

On the first day back, Promise Keepers officials were not yet sure exactly how many employees would return but expected staff numbers to be”somewhat”lower, Ruppe said.”Some people are not coming back,”he said.”We’ll have to restructure around those who left, so we’re able to do the jobs that are necessary for the stadium events and the long-term planning.” During the chapel service, Promise Keepers founder Bill McCartney, a former University of Colorado football coach, urged the staff to be prepared for possible shifts in their duties.”He was very encouraging,”said Ruppe.”He talked about the need for a team spirit and that on a team, sometimes people are asked to play out of position for the good of the team but every position is important. Everybody is important.” Ruppe said the influx in donations was influenced in part by appeals for help from two prominent evangelical ministries _ Campus Crusade for Christ and Focus on the Family.”When all those went on, we know that we had an increase in mail,”said Ruppe.

He estimated that of the 70,000 pieces of mail received in March, 55,000 to 60,000 were responding to direct-mail requests from the ministry.

Ruppe said some churches responded to McCartney’s plea that they donate $1,000 each to the ministry.”Some have responded well above that $1,000 level,”he said.

The contributions _ which have continued to be strong in April _ have allowed the ministry to pay its bills and continue planning for 19 conferences between May to October.”We were able to set aside a reserve that will assist us if we have a month that our donations don’t meet our expectations,”said Ruppe.”We’ll still be able to make payroll.” Ruppe said eventually the ministry may pare back its staff but McCartney promised that wouldn’t happen before November.”I would think you would see a smaller staff at Promise Keepers,”Ruppe said.

For now, the ministry will continue its negotiations on contracts for the sites of the upcoming conferences. Ruppe said the ministry will be able to pay for the sites, but is trying to secure”the best deals we can.”

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