The Stampede

Issue date: 2/26/10 Section: Student Life

Media Credit: From Bart Campolo's website. Bart Campolo,urban minister and Justice Week convocation speaker.

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.

Continued...

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