CCR 56 Tony Campolo--A Christian's Call to Save Creation

Last month we featured three Conservative Christians who told us how their faith compels them to promote creation care and climate change solutions. This month we feature one of America’s most widely known Progressive Evangelical Christian thought leaders. Rev. Tony Campolo is professor emeritus of sociology at Eastern University, and he led the Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education for more than 40 years. 

Rev. Campolo has written over 50 books on topics that have educated and challenged his Evangelical Christian audience. He has been ahead of his time on a variety of social issues. In 1992 he published the book, How to Rescue the Earth Without Worshiping Nature, A Christian Call to Save Creation. In the book, he seeks to help believers see they have a role to play in caring for creation. 

Rev. Campolo, who is 85 and has never retired, suffered a stroke in 2020. He is at home recovering with the help of his wife Peggy. Before the Pandemic and his stroke, Citizens Climate Radio’s host, Peterson Toscano, was fortunate enough to sit down with Tony and ask him about his 1992 book. 

Rev. Campolo reveals his frustration with fellow ministers and accuses them of not listening to God’s voice in regard to the mandate to care for creation. 

The Art House

Returning to the Art House is Jennie Carlisle, the curator and director of the Smith Gallery at Appalachian State University along with Laura England, a senior lecturer. They are two of three co-facilitators of ASU’s Climate Stories Collaborative. Both Jennie and Laura appeared in Episode 49 and told us about how in spring 2020 they quickly adapted to the Covid Global Pandemic by putting their annual Student Climate Stories Showcase onto Instagram.  

Some climate leaders see art straightforward communication tool. But art overloaded with messages about issues and politics can turn out clunky and preachy. How does an artists stay in a creative space? When producing climate arts, what is more important the process or the product? 

You can hear standalone version of The Art House at Artists and Climate Change. 

Good News Report

This episode we begin a new feature, The Good News Report. Listeners share their climate successes with us. Good news this month comes from Cathy Orlando in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. She is the International Outreach Manager for Citizens Climate Lobby and also the Canadian Director. Slow, steady, and relentless climate advocacy has paid off! 

If you have good news to share, contact Peterson Toscano: radio @ CitizensClimate.org 

Dig Deeper                                                                      

• Ron Sider, Canadian-born American theologian and social activist
• Tony Campolo’s Christmas 2020 Homily
• Making a Planet Worth Saving: Bill McKibben interviews Reverend Lennox Yearwood, Jr. (New Yorker)
• Amitov Ghosh: Where is the Fiction about Climate Change? (The Guardian)

We always welcome your thoughts, questions, suggestions, and recommendations for the show. Leave a voice mail at 518.595.9414. (+1 if calling from outside the USA.) You can email your answers to radio @ citizensclimate.org  

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