Tony Campolo

Anthony Campolo (born February 25, 1935) is an American sociologist, Baptist pastor, author, public speaker and former spiritual advisor to U.S. President Bill Clinton.

Campolo is known as one of the most influential leaders in the evangelical left and has been a major proponent of progressive thought and reform within the evangelical community.

He has also become a leader of the Red-Letter Christian movement, which aims to put emphasis on the teachings of Jesus.

Campolo is a popular commentator on religious, political, and social issues, and has been a guest on programs such as The Colbert Report, The Charlie Rose Show, Larry King Live, Nightline, Crossfire, Politically Incorrect and The Hour.

He studied at Eastern College and obtained a Bachelor of Arts in 1956.

He was ordained a Baptist pastor in 1957.

Tony married Peggy Davidson on June 7, 1958.

He also studied theology at Palmer Theological Seminary and obtained a Bachelor of Divinity in 1960 and a Master of Divinity in 1961.

Their daughter, Lisa, was born in 1960 and their son, Bart, was born in 1963.

Campolo's son is Bart Campolo, a former evangelical preacher who left Christianity and transitioned to secular humanism.

The two have engaged in an ongoing conversation since Bart announced to him that he no longer believes in God.

In 1964, he became professor of sociology at Eastern University in St. David's, Pennsylvania.

For ten years, he also taught at the University of Pennsylvania.

He became an associate pastor of the Mount Carmel Baptist Church in West Philadelphia, which is affiliated with both the National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. and the American Baptist Churches USA.

He studied sociology in Temple University and obtained a Doctor of Philosophy in 1968.

In 1969, he founded the Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education (EAPE), which works to help "at-risk" youth in the U.S. and Canada, and has helped to establish several schools and universities.

Starting in the late 1980s, Campolo's left-leaning political beliefs began to put leaders of the Christian right, such as Gary Bauer and Jerry Falwell, at odds with him.

Despite his criticisms of political conservatives in the evangelical community, Campolo has also criticized the more liberal mainline Christian denominations because "they fail to emphasize a personal, transforming relationship with Jesus Christ."

Along with his wife, Peggy Campolo, he has participated in very public debates and discussions about the place of lesbians and gays within church and society.

Campolo formerly contended that homosexuality was a sin in practice, although not in orientation, while his wife disagreed, holding that committed, monogamous homosexual practice was not a sin; she supports full equality for LGBT people.

Regarding marriage, he stated that all couples should have the right to a civil union with all the legal rights that are associated with such a contract.

Campolo was the subject of an informal heresy hearing in 1985 brought about by several assertions in his 1983 book A Reasonable Faith, particularly his claim that, "Jesus is actually present in each other person".

The book became a hot button issue, and the controversy caused Campus Crusade for Christ and Youth for Christ to block a planned speaking engagement by Campolo.

The Christian Legal Society empowered a "reconciliation panel", led by noted theologian J. I. Packer, to examine the issue and resolve the controversy.

The panel examined the book and questioned Campolo.

The panel issued a statement saying that although it found Campolo's statements "methodologically naïve and verbally incautious", it did not find them to be heretical.

In 1998, he became spiritual adviser of President Bill Clinton.

In 2007, with Shane Claiborne, he founded Red-Letter Christians, with the aim of bringing together evangelicals who believe in the importance of insisting on issues of social justice mentioned by Jesus (in red in some translations of the Bible).

In March 2011, Campolo began hosting the TV show Red Letter Christians, aired on JC-TV.

This weekly half-hour talk show features interviews with leaders in the Red-Letter Christian movement.

On January 14, 2014, Campolo announced his plans to retire from leading the EAPE and to close that ministry.

The extra money in the ministry will be distributed to offshoot ministries started by EAPE; however, he plans to continue writing and speaking.

Although he has associated himself with the Democratic Party and several other modern liberal groups and causes, he has publicly stated his opposition to abortion.

Campolo holds a consistent life ethic stance in opposition to any human situation that leads to the termination of life including warfare, poverty/starvation (as caused by extreme wealth inequalities), capital punishment, and euthanasia.

On June 8, 2015, Campolo released a statement changing his position on the issue of gay relationships, and stating that he now supported full acceptance of Christian gay couples into the Church.

He cited several reasons including the institution of marriage primarily being about spiritual growth instead of procreation, what he had learned through his friendships with gay Christian couples, and past examples of exclusionary church traditions practiced "by sincere believers, but most of us now agree that they were wrong."

They have co-authored a book exploring the issues at the heart of this conversation, and a documentary film (Leaving My Father's Faith) was released in 2018 which features the conversations between them and tell the story of Bart's journey out of faith.

In June 2020, Tony had a stroke which left him partially paralyzed.

As of September 2020, his condition improved and he has been undergoing physical therapy