Tony Campolo: Evangelical aids the poor, and presidents too

RADNOR — Many are called, but few seem to have the passion that drives Evangelical Baptist minister Tony Campolo, who for close to five decades has ministered to presidents and the world’s poorest. Campolo, a professor emeritus of sociology at Eastern University who also served on the faculty of the University of Pennsylvania, has breathed life into his ministry by advancing social causes for much of his career as a clergyman, author, educator and speaker.

To the left of many of his contemporaries, Campolo firmly believes that a woman’s place is in the pulpit and that gays should not be ostracized by church leaders, but accepted.

“I can’t understand why anyone in any way would keep these brothers and sisters out of a house of faith. It is beyond my comprehension. I’ve heard ministers refer to gay people as an ‘abomination in the eyes of God.’ How dare any person refer to another human being as an abomination.”

He also finds no problem with women entering the clergy. “I can make a strong Biblical case for that. All through the New Testament there’s evidence of women in key roles of leadership. To deny women that right is to diminish their humanity.”

Campolo remembered his now deceased mother who was unable to fulfill her desire to be a minister. In his book, “Speaking My Mind,” Campolo describes the ecclesiastical ruling as “evil” that kept her from “living out that calling, and poorer was the church that was deprived of her extraordinary gifts.”

The Radnor resident and internationally known speaker recently marked his 70th birthday with a celebration which also signaled the 40th anniversary of the Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education that he founded. EAPE provides programs for aiding the poor from Haiti to America’s inner cities.

The event was attended by more than 400 family, friends and supporters, including such dignitaries as New York Sen. Hillary Clinton, who paid tribute to his extraordinary gifts.

Ministering to a president

Campolo served as a consultant on urban affairs while Bill Clinton was president. And after the scandal broke, linking Clinton with Monica Lewinsky, Campolo assumed the roll as a spiritual advisor to the president.

He generated some heat because of his intervention and some of Campolo’s speaking engagements were cancelled.

“We had a number of people who said, ‘if you’re going to minister to this man, we’re not going to have anything to do with your ministry,’ which seems strange to me. If it’s all right to minister to sinners in Haiti or on the streets of Philadelphia, why is it wrong to minister to a sinner in the White House.”

Campolo, who in 1976 waged a strong but unsuccessful bid for Congress as a Democrat in the heavily Republican 5th District encompassing portions of Delaware County, decried the move by some to put a partisan label on God.

“I think we have to make sure that Christianity in general and Jesus in particular transcends partisan politics,” he said. “Jesus is neither a Republican nor a Democrat. I think you can find much to condemn and much to praise in both parties.”

Despite suffering a stroke a few years ago, Campolo shows little sign of slowing down. He still handles about 400 speaking engagements a year in places that range from Snowbird, Utah to Oslo, Norway.

On a recent Wednesday, he juggled several interviews, including one for MSNBC-TV and also taped radio programs to be aired in Great Britain.

The studio is tucked into a building at Cabrini College where Campolo, along with friend and retired radio newsman Gene Dillard, deftly deal with a variety of subjects ranging from the newly named Roman Catholic Pope to the destructive Tsunami. The program is dubbed “Across the Pond.”

Dillard said that he first heard Campolo speak in 1998 and was “impressed with his positive message, his obvious intellect and his passion. He is an evangelical who stays true to the Biblical Christian message but without some of the negative rhetoric we often hear from others today.”

While taping for radio, Campolo used animated gestures, which were probably in keeping with his Italian ancestry. Also in a persuasive but comfortable manner he fielded questions on diverse topics without hesitation and without notes.

Campolo’s real passion is ministering to the poorest, especially in Third World countries. He often states in his sermons that by looking into the eyes of the desperately poor one discovers “the eerie awareness that Jesus is staring back.”

Dillard during the program asked Campolo why he seems to be in a minority in the evangelical community as far as attempts to raise money to aid the world’s poorest.

“The Republican Party very brilliantly in this country has really captured the evangelical vote by concentrating on two issues. The abortion issue and the homosexual issue — ignoring the other moral issues that the Scripture addresses,” replied Campolo. “The reality is that Jesus concentrated on the poor.”

More to help the poor

Referring to the attempt by leaders of wealthy nations to fight poverty through the Group of Eight summit, Campolo lamented that the move to cancel $40-billion dollars worth of debts to the poorest countries was initiated by British Prime Minister Tony Blair and not President Bush.

“He (Blair) is the one that really pushed this. It’s sad to me that America, the richest country on the face of the Earth, America the most powerful nation on the face of the earth, did not take the leadership in canceling Third World debts,” he said.

Campolo is adamant that a great deal more needs to be accomplished if there is any hope of easing world poverty. “More needs to be done than just canceling the debts. Aid has to be given,” he said. “The fact is that when it comes to the proportion of the gross national product that is assigned to helping poor people of the world - of the 22 industrialized nations, the United States is dead last.”

“The United States has not done its part.” He said that if tax breaks were rolled back for those making more than a half-million-dollars a year, that money would go far in providing aid and save millions of children across the world who otherwise will die of malaria or other diseases.

“If we just rescinded the tax breaks that the Bush administration has given to people earning more than $500,000 and used that money to help the poor — we would in fact save literally millions of lives in the next 10 years.”

Through his EAPE missions, Campolo has been committed to providing educational programs, housing and Aids hospices, as well other help to inner city America and around the world.

“I don’t think many middle class and upper class people have a clear comprehension of what poverty does to people. It not only renders them incapable of buying the necessities of life, it demoralizes them.”

A charismatic and powerful preacher, Campolo sprinkles his sermons with humorous anecdotes and often displays the timing and delivery of a stand-up comedian. While Campolo entertains his audience with humor, what keeps people flocking back to hear him is his message of hope to a hurting world.

An author of more than 30 books, Campolo is constantly energizing his speeches with stories of people and events. His stories have also filled one of his books, aptly titled “Let Me Tell You A Story.”

His life story began in West Philadelphia where he excelled in science and at age 14 won second place in a National Science Fair and met Albert Einstein. He also shot hoops at a local center with a teenage Wilt Chamberlain. He was quick to note that at that time Chamberlain had not yet shot up to his full 7-foot-plus height that would eventually boost him to basketball greatness.

Campolo has been married to his college sweetheart, Peggy, for 47 years and they have two grown children, and three grandchildren. He credits her with helping him at each step of his ministry.

While they are usually on the same page, they both admit they have differing views as to whether gays should be allowed to marry in a religious ceremony. He opposes it. And she approves — for strictly monogamous unions.

However, Campolo sees nothing wrong in civil unions of gay couples. And he states simply that since homosexuals pay taxes, they’re entitled to equal rights.

“This country had the Boston Tea Party for one basic reason: there should be no taxation without representation. If you pay taxes you are entitled to all the rights. Do gays pay taxes, yes. Then they should be entitled to all the rights. If you want to take their rights away, tell them they don’t have to pay taxes. That would bring a lot of gays out of the closet overnight. In fact a lot of heterosexuals might say, ‘I’m gay. I’m gay.”’

Campolo downplays the notion that his was a “calling” to the religious life. “I’m always intrigued by that word, ‘calling.’ I’m a minister because from the time when I was a kid, I always thought that would be a neat thing to do — that it looked like it would be not only gratifying, but real fun,” he said.

He added with a broad smile, “It sure has been.”

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