Inside the Great Auditorium, June, 2007. This image appears in Bell, Bell and Dufresne’s definitive history of the GA. By Paul Goldfinger © Blogfinger.net
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger:
It turns out that Tony Campolo is a well known Baptist Evangelical preacher. He has been to the GA many times in the past and has a reputation for being a very entertaining speaker.
In recent times, he has caused some controversy because of his opinions about gays and about gay marriage. According to OGU, he is an “activist” who has “publicly expressed his support for the inclusion of same-sex couples in the church. ”
According to OGU, he has said, “I am finally ready to call for the full acceptance of Christian gay couples into the church.”
Rev. Tony Campolo. Internet photo.
Ordinarily Blogfinger would take no interest in the GA Sunday sermons, except this time a local organization, Ocean Grove United, has called for its members and friends to “welcome” Rev. Dr. Tony Campolo when he comes here Sunday to be the guest speaker.
Is this the first time that an organization other than the CMA has formally planned to “welcome” a speaker at the Sunday sermons?
But what interests us the most at Blogfinger is that OGU, in a follow-up email, has not only repeated its notice to supporters to “make every effort to attend” on Sunday, but now they say that Rev. Campolo “has received a great deal of flack for supporting the lgbt community, and those who disagree with him will not turn out for his program. It is extremely important for the CMA to see that Ministers who preach love will pack the house. Please tell friends and neighbors as well.”
Is that true that only Campolo’s supporters plan to show up?
In addition OGU asks its supporters to “gather outside the auditorium at 9:30” The service begins at 10:30 am.
So, without making any judgments, I have to say that this sounds like a political demonstration/message and thus meets our criteria as news. Even if a group gathers one hour before the event, and even if there are no signs or chants, their very presence will carry a powerful message as described above,
This is not the first time that a situation like this has occurred in the Grove, and this conflict will affect the entire town in one way or another. No matter how Sunday morning unfolds, Blogfinger will report on it. Those of you who attend can email us with your views or you can comment under this post.
THE MORMON TABERNACLE CHOIR WITH THE PHILADELPHIA BRASS ENSEMBLE: “Abide With Me; ‘Tis Eventide.”
Tony Campolo is well known for his inspirational sermons on social justice and his work in inner city Camden. I make it a point of attending his sermons and generally leave feeling I do not do enough for the less fortunate in this country.
Personally, the reason my family and I attend Sunday services is to worship the Lord and to hear a Biblical message which we can internalize and apply to our lives. We do this by praise i.e. singing; prayer, both personal and corporate; and listening to the sermon preached by the visiting pastor. When we hear a sermon we compare what we hear to what the Scriptures teach. Whether we like what we hear or not isn’t the issue; but does what the pastor say agree with what the Bible teaches. We do not attend church to be entertained nor do we attend church for any political reasons.
In the past years TonyCampolo has preached love and mercy toward the LBGT people and others, not for their way of life but for the fact that they are fellow human beings, and we have agreed that this is what Jesus teaches.
We had already made the choice not to attend this coming Sunday’s service before reading about the OGU’s planned part in it because we knew that Campolo had changed his understanding of what constitutes a marriage according to God’s word in both the Old and New Testament and we cannot abide with his new thinking and teaching.
The OGU is reaching out to Campolo because he has changed his stance toward their lifestyle; thus they believe that they are understood and accepted by a Christian pastor.
Anyone is free to attend a Sunday worship service. It is not meant to be an entertainment, political or social gathering. It is meant to be a gathering of Christian disciples for the purpose of worshiping our Lord.
I have attended his sermons before, Mr. Campolo always attracts a crowd, minus any encouraging by OGU. He is invited back every year. Besides being a great speaker, he consistently is money-maker for the OGCMA. Rabbi Cahn also has his own followers, and like Campolo, they too showed up in OG to hear him speak.