This was supposed to be a story about church ministries on the eve of the millennium.

Several months ago, it seemed that December 31, 1999 had potential to be one of the church's biggest dates for ministry. Rallies were planned for every state capitol. Youth groups were going to meet together by the thousands. And local churches were going to offer alternative millennium-eve parties.

Then came the Y2K computer bug.

"Churches and ministries around the country have canceled their plans because they're scared," says Steve Hewitt, editor of Christian Computing magazine and the most persistent Christian voice for a calm Y2K response. Early this year, Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship postponed its triennial Urbana Student Mission Convention, citing Y2K fears. It's now rescheduled for December 27-31, 2000.

In April, Promise Keepers followed suit, canceling the most ambitious public Christian event of the turn of the millennium. Originally Promise Keepers founder Bill McCartney called men to gather ...