Bart Campolo,urban minister and Justice Week convocation speaker.

Campolo shakes up Justice Week convocation

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Posted: 2/26/10

Thirty-two students gathered for an informal discussion in the Fireside Lounge Wednesday to ask urban minister Bart Campolo any questions they might have after his controversial speech at Tuesday's Justice Week convocation.

Campolo spoke on Tuesday about his ministry, Walnut Hills Fellowship, in the inner city of Cincinnati, Ohio. He related stories of poverty and injustice that occur among his friends, many who suffer in cycles of addiction and crime. Campolo used provocative rhetorical statements that left many students angry or simply puzzled.

"There are some people we can't fix, some people we can't save," said Campolo Tuesday. "But there's no one you can't love."

Campolo, 46, describes his ministry as relational rather than missional, as he forms friendships among Cincinnati's poor rather than actively proselytizing. As a friend, he seeks to meet needs in the form of adult education, health care, housing or a number of other practical means. However, if a friend is struggling with hopelessness or feelings of alienation, Campolo said he tells them about Jesus because "that's just who I am. That's what I bring to the party."

Campolo had no speech prepared prior to Wednesday's event, and he responded to students' questions on the spot.
Sophomore Stephen Feryus questioned Campolo about his particularly incendiary remark that God is not sovereign.

"It's a polemic," said Campolo. "I want to get you guys thinking - not about whether God is sovereign but about what 'sovereign' really means."

"I don't view the world as some kind of puppet show," said Campolo, mimicking a marionnette with his hands. "I don't want to get too 'Star Wars' on you, but I think the world is like a battlefield between the forces of love and evil … and I truly believe that in the end love will win."

Despite the controversy that the speech aroused, Campolo said that no one confronted him after convocation.

"If you have a problem with a preacher or speaker, don't walk out. Walk to the front," Campolo said. "That's what you're supposed to be learning in college - how to have conversations with people who think differently."

Campolo also explained why he chooses to evangelize differently than other Christians.

"Christians will pretend to like you just so they can lead you to Christ," he said. "But there is a difference between loving someone in order to convert them and converting someone because you love them."

Aside from administrating the urban ministry organization, Mission Year, Campolo also speaks at churches and Christian colleges. He and the other members of Walnut Hills Fellowship work in order to support themselves rather than depending solely on support from the church.

"It is very freeing," he said. "Working allows me to say what I really want to say to people. A lot of ministers say and do what they don't necessarily want to because they need money."

Junior Kelly Carnathan, president of the cross-cultural missions committee scheduled the event form 7-8 p.m., but nearly half the students remained in conversation with Campolo until 9:30 p.m.

"I did find him initially abrasive," said Carnathan. "But knowing his background and knowing the fact that he ministers on a daily basis to people who it's difficult to minister to … you learn to just read between the lines. He says something really dramatic and initially controversial, but once he explains it, it makes sense."