Pilgrim: A Theological Memoir (Tony Campolo with Steve Rabey) - Review
PILGRIM: A THEOLOGICAL MEMOIR. By Tony Campolo with Steve Rabey. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2025. 254 pages.
Tony Campolo is one of the
best-known evangelical figures of the last half-century. While I've known about
him and heard friends celebrate him for decades, I've never heard him speak or
read any of his books, at least that I can remember. Perhaps that's because my
youth ministry days were brief, and I didn't attend the conferences where he
frequented. Nonetheless, he was a major figure in Christian circles who influenced
many, both in the evangelical world and beyond. While he always claimed to be
an evangelical, he lived on the left wing of evangelicalism. I offer this
preface to my review of Campolo's posthumously published theological memoir that
carries the title of Pilgrim. As one will discover in reading his memoir
which was published shortly after his recent death (Campolo passed away on November
19, 2024 at the age of 89), this is an apt title for his memoir.
It is important to note that Campolo's
day job was a professorship in sociology at Eastern University in Pennsylvania.
This American Baptist-affiliated university not only served as Campolo's place
of work but also his alma mater. Thus, his entire adult life, whether as a student
or professor, was centered in that space. While he centered his professional life
at Eastern University, he spent a lot of his life on the road, speaking to
churches and conventions large and small. He focused much of his attention on
youth and young adults, especially college students, which explains why my path
did not intersect with his. While I didn’t interact with Campolo the speaker or
writer during his lifetime, I acknowledge that he may have influenced my journey
in ways I don’t recognize. Therefore, while this might be the first book of his
that I will have read, I found it intriguing.
Campolo wrote Pilgrim late
in life. Having suffered a stroke several years earlier he coauthored the book
with Steve Rabey, who interviewed him and then provided Campolo with a written
text. Campolo speaks of this book as a theological memoir. This is a good
description of a book that speaks to Campolo's life of faith and the theology
that developed over time. He divides the book into five parts. Part 1 is titled
"When I Was a Child." In the seven chapters in this section, he
shares the story of his youth, especially his coming of age in fundamentalist
Baptist circles. He had devout parents who made sure he attended church, but he
found another spiritual home in a fundamentalist bible study group called the
Bible Buzzards (the name reflected their desire to devour the Bible). Nevertheless,
the extroverted Campolo made lots of friends growing up, some of whom were
Jewish, which led to questions about their salvation. Those questions helped
open his heart and mind to a broader vision of the Christian faith. Those
relationships were coupled with a desire to be an astronomer. This embrace of
science also ran counter to his fundamentalist views, because his
fundamentalist friends and teachers believed that science was the enemy of the
faith. His lack of math skills may have ended that dream but not his openness
to science. Finally, there was the moment when the church he grew up in
rejected the membership of an African American woman, which led to a crisis of
faith. While still a fundamentalist at that point, he had begun to head down a
road that would take him out of fundamentalism toward a much more open
evangelicalism.
Part 2 is titled "One Who
Correctly Handles the Word of Truth." The five chapters in this section focus
on the years Campolo spent in college, seminary, and ministry in the church. Here, we read how
he sought to discover his calling, believing that he should either be a
minister or a missionary. He would spend time as a pastor of several churches,
Presbyterian and Baptist. These were the years he married Peggy, his lifelong
partner with whom he at times had major disagreements. For example, she was far
ahead of him on LGBTQ inclusion. During this period of his life, he once again
encountered the racism that often existed in the churches. As with the church
of his youth, one of the churches he served also rejected membership
applications, this time from an African American couple. As was true of the
pastor of the church of his youth, the church’s decision to reject the
membership of the couple led him to resign.
The decision to leave the pastorate
led to a moment of transition for Campolo. That
time of transition is described in Part Three, which he titled
"Hunger and Thirst for Righteousness." It was at this point that Campolo
began to pursue a new career pathway teaching sociology at Eastern College. He began
his studies of sociology as a seminarian by taking sociology classes at the
University of Pennsylvania and Temple University, both of which were near the
seminary. He would eventually earn his PhD in sociology at Temple University. Besides
teaching at Eastern, he spent several years teaching sociology at the
University of Pennsylvania. During this time, he began to discern changes in his
beliefs about war and peace, sexuality, and abortion. This was also the point
in his life that he began his speaking ministry.
Part Four is titled "Public
Theologian." It is in this section that Campolo shares the story of his
run for Congress in 1976 as a Democrat in what was hailed as the year of the
Evangelical (Jimmy Carter was elected President that year). Although he lost
the election, he learned a lot about the political world. His attempt at a
political career also opened up new venues as a speaker. Even as he expanded
his speaking ministry, he continued to develop his theology, though always on
the run. Among the issues he wrestled with was capitalism, which led to
accusations of heresy. He even faced a heresy trial at which he was acquitted.
The decision that emerged was that while he might be a radical evangelical he
was still orthodox in his theology. This is also the era in which he served as
Bill Clinton's spiritual advisor. This included his involvement in the
aftermath of Clinton's "affair." We also learn here about the painful
disclosure on the part of his son Bart, who had created his own ministry, that
he was no longer a believer. This proved to be a difficult moment for Campolo
because it caused him to struggle with his own Christian identity. While he
would come to terms with his son's decision, it forced him to wrestle with his
own convictions. There is also a chapter in this section on his role in the founding
of the Red Letter Christians movement, which was led by several of his former
students including Shane Claiborne.
Finally, we come to Part Five, which
is titled "The End of the Road." Campolo writes that his identity was
wrapped up in his teaching, writing, and, perhaps most of all, his speaking
career. He had grown used to regularly speaking to large crowds, but then a
stroke hit. The stroke brought his world to an end. While he could still speak,
he could no longer travel. This was a difficult time, as anyone who has lived
an active life can imagine. Yet, as he shares in the final chapter,
"Sundays at Beaumont," he found a new ministry because of his new reality.
That new ministry involved leading worship and preaching/teaching a group of
seniors at the nursing home where he lived during his final years. Like
everyone else in the room, he was wheeled in. Yet, he discovered a new audience
and a new ministry.
I expect readers will have
different experiences with the book. My friends who attended his lectures and
speeches, especially at Youth Specialities conventions, and read his books,
will gain a new perspective on the public Campolo. Others, like me, who may have
known about him and maybe have even read an article in a magazine such as Christianity
Today, will gain a different sense of Campolo’s life. Ultimately, this is
the story of a man who influenced thousands but who had his own struggles with
his faith. This might prove encouraging to many who struggle with doubt and
changing understandings of their faith experience. As I read, Pilgrim: A Theological Memoir, I found it interesting that he saw himself in many ways
as an evangelist. He viewed his speaking events as an opportunity to invite
people to come to Jesus. He might do so more subtly than Billy Graham, but that
was part of his agenda as a speaker and writer. Although Tony Campolo never
left evangelicalism, at least in his own heart and mind, it's clear that the
evolution of his faith, theology, and view of the world meant that his vision
of evangelicalism was very different from what exists today.
While Pilgrim was published
shortly after his death, he expressed his readiness to move on to the next chapter
of his life. The final paragraph reads as such:
My earthly pilgrimage has been an amazing journey, and when my life ends, I will be ready to abandon this worn-out body and overtaxed mind and rest in the presence of God for all eternity (p. 246).
Although my experiences with Tony Campolo were few, it is
clear that he understood that his own evangelical faith in Jesus required that
he keep an open heart and mind so that he might continue to grow in faith,
knowledge, and love of God and neighbor.
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