Meet evangelist Tony Campolo.

• Author: Mason, John Oliver

"To be a Christian in today's world is to be opposed to America."

An ordained Baptist minister, Tony Campolo overcame a heresy trial to preach social justice in the United States. Along with Jim Wallis of Sojourners and Ron Sider, the founder of Evangelicals for Social Action, Campolo is trying to counter the forces of the religious right from within a church-based tradition.

"Tony Campolo is my favorite evangelist," says Wallis. "He blends revival with social justice. In that way, he's like one of the nineteenth century evangelists who fought for the abolition of slavery and women's suffrage and social reform. His altar calls urge all of us to overcome poverty, end war, and stand up for human rights for everybody."

Campolo's father was a union organizer, and some of that tenacity has rubbed off on him. He says it's time to "take the gloves off" and compete against the religious right. He has clashed openly with Jerry Falwell, Gary Bauer, and Rush Limbaugh, and he served as a spiritual adviser to Bill Clinton during the impeachment scandal.

Campolo is currently the associate pastor of the Mount Carmel Baptist Church in West Philadelphia. He's also an emeritus professor of sociology at Eastern University in St. Davids, Pennsylvania. On that campus, there is the Campolo School of Social Change, which consists of graduate programs "aimed at developing Christian professionals who will use their skills to transform urban communities around the world."

That school is part of the Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education, which Campolo founded. It serves inner city schools as well as AIDS hospices and Christian service programs in Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Africa, and Canada.

"Our goal is to help build the Kingdom of God by combining evangelism and social justice in the name of Jesus," the association says.

Campolo has produced a prodigious body of work, including twenty-eight books, most recently Revolution and Renewal: How Churches Are Saving Our Cities, Let Me Tell You a Story: Life Lessons from Unexpected Places and Unlikely People, and Speaking My Mind.

That's one thing he's not afraid to do. Campolo has appeared on Crossfire, Politically Incorrect, Charlie Rose, and CNN News. And he makes hundreds of speeches a year around the country and abroad. This balding man is known for his entertaining, enthralling speaking style, and for using humor and occasionally vulgarity to shock his audience.

According to a profile in...