A Special Announcement
January 24, 2019A Special Announcement
Starting on January 27th, I will begin a term of service as co-pastor of St. John’s Baptist Church, located at 13th and Tasker Streets in South Philadelphia. After that, I will be preaching most Sundays at the 10:30 am service. For a detailed preaching schedule, check out my online calendar.
I will be sharing the ministry at St. John’s with Dr. Lindy Backues, a fellow professor at Eastern University. Prior to joining the faculty of Eastern University, Lindy and his wife served as missionaries to Indonesia for 20 years. The significance of that cannot be overstated because the neighborhood around St. John’s is home to the largest concentration of Indonesian people in North America. When Lindy came to Eastern 10 years ago, he chose to live in this neighborhood because he wanted to continue ministering to Indonesian people. His home is just a block and a half away from the church.
St. John’s Baptist Church has a special place in my heart because it was there, almost 100 years ago, that both my mother and my father came to know Jesus as their personal Savior. It was in the youth group at St. John’s that they came to know each other. They made life-long friends there, who were part of my life as well as theirs.
Once a vibrant and growing church, today St. John’s is badly in need of help. Attendance is down to a handful of worshippers and the church is in financial trouble. The retiring pastor, who faithfully served this congregation for more than 25 years, was not paid a salary for the last couple of weeks he was at St. John’s. Given those facts, it is clear that Lindy and I have our work cut out for us.
You can help in three ways: First – if you can attend any of our Sunday morning worship services, your presence would be appreciated greatly. Second – if you can find it in your heart to support St. John’s missionary outreach financially, you will help us to get this church back on its feet. Checks should be made out to St. John’s Baptist Church and sent to me at:
Eastern University
Attn: Tony Campolo
1300 Eagle Road
St. Davids. PA 19087
Third – and most important- let us know that you are praying for us, remembering that Jesus said, “Without me you can do nothing.” We badly need encouragement.
Tony Campolo
Co-pastor, St. John’s Baptist Church
