Giving Thanks for a Mentor
My mentor, Rev. Dr. Anthony Campolo, age 89, died this week. He was my professor of sociology at Eastern College, which is now Eastern University. I arrived at Eastern College’s beautiful campus in suburban Philadelphia in the fall of 1971. I felt ready to expand my horizons and learn all I could. I was not disappointed.
You may think, “Ugh. Sociology? Boring and dry.” Not with Tony at the helm! The department was designed in an interdisciplinary way. We had required classes in economics, philosophy and psychology in addition to sociological theory. I was hooked right from the beginning by Tony’s powerful lectures akin to sermons. He was smart and funny and told great stories, which helped you remember the concepts. But this was not fluff! He was a tough exam giver. Critical thinking on a high level was expected.
One of Tony’s refrains was that we were on this earth for a purpose and our job was to learn what that was and do it! Christians were to make a difference in the world. None of this pie-in-the sky stuff. His faith had hands and feet in the world.
Here is just one example. Tony’s Ph.D. was from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, his hometown. He was very involved with the black pastors and churches and their outreach to the underserved. In 1972, Philadelphia schools went on strike and seniors were not going to be able to graduate without the required courses. Pastors were afraid the young people would lose momentum and not get their diplomas. Tony and the pastor of his church organized an approved after-hours temporary school. Volunteer college students like myself were bussed into the city to go over workbooks and keep these kids on track for graduation. I went to class all day, did my own homework, prepared my workbooks and met with students. Got back on the late-night bus and did it all over again the next day. It was an inspiring adventure in learning creative workarounds to failing systems and an adventure in getting to know other young people close to myself in age with very different life experiences. And they graduated!
Christianity has teetered back and forth between a focus on right belief and right action throughout the centuries. Tony saw no separation. His faith was a “both and.” Here’s what his colleague and friend Jim Wallis wrote in in his book “God’s Politics”:
The combination of sociologist and preacher was a powerful one. Listening to Tony, people would first learn about their society and their world and how the poor and vulnerable were being treated, and then how the message of Jesus applied very directly. With these complementary gifts, he touched legions of people in his classrooms and millions in countless venues around the world.
Tony also had a lot to say about the merger of Christianity and politics. He relied on Jesus’s quote of the prophet Isaiah at the launch of his ministry, “I have come to bring good news to the poor …” A friend shared this Tony quote from when he appeared on Stephen Colbert in 2006. Tony said, “The merger of religion and politics is like mixing manure with ice cream. It doesn’t hurt the manure; it ruins the ice cream. This merger of church and state has done great harm to religion.”
I knew I was called to ministry at an early age. At the beginning of this Thanksgiving week, one of the many things I am grateful for is the influence of Dr. Campolo on my life and ministry. He preached my ordination sermon at First Baptist in Haddonfield, New Jersey in 1978. He inspired us with a refrain he is well known for, “It’s Friday, but Sunday’s coming.” He had the congregation following him in a call and response, “Friday!” “Sunday!”
Sunday has come for my mentor, guide and friend. Well done. Rest in power.
