7/31/2019 Courier 9-1-12 Campbell
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When Jerry Campbell,the 6th president ofthe Claremont
School of Theology, retires at
the end of the school year, hewill take with him the knowl-edge
that he has brought pro-found change to the localtheological
college.
In his 7 years at the helm of CST, hehas helped raise enrollment
significantlyat an institution that was foundering eco-nomically
when he was hired. He hasalso served as founding president of
theClaremont Lincoln University, an inno-
vative consortium he describes as theworlds first interreligious
university."
Its possible Mr. Campbell will have abit more time on his hands
when he stepsdown from his post on June 30. Really,
though, he isnt going anywhere.The board of trustees of the
ClaremontLincoln University (CLU) has asked Mr.Campbell to become
university chancel-lor, serving as a senior adviser and am-bassador
for the fledgling institution.
Its an undertaking hes embracingwith enthusiasm, because Mr.
Campbellfeels that the schools mission representsno less than the
best chance for bridgingthe divide between religions.
Religious differences all too oftenengender violence and
suffering, he ac-knowledges. The divide is bridged and
the sense of other is reduced throughmeaningful exposure, Mr.
Campbellnoted.
When people get to know one an-other and become friends, its
hard to
think of each other as an enemy, he said.Funded by a $50 million
grant fromCST trustee David Lincoln and his wifeJoan, CLU was
launched in the fall of2011 after being created by Mr. Camp-bell in
partnership with Rabbi Mel Got-tlieb and Imam Jihad Turk of
BayanClaremont, which was founded by the Is-lamic Center of
Southern California. Theschool next plans to partner with Bud-dhist
and Hindu institutions.
Students can prepare for service withintheir faith at Claremont
Lincolns affiliateschools, and be ordained at their respec-
tive institutions as ministers, priests, rab-bis or imams there.
They can also useCLU as a resource, taking classes towiden their
worldview or pursuing a fullcourse of study. CLU offers masters
and
doctoral degrees as well as customizededucational programs in
the schools In-terreligious Studies program.
The cross-pollination is a beautifulthing, says Mr. Campbell,
because whenyou work and study alongside someonefrom another faith,
the similarities beginto emerge.
At the base of all religions is theGolden Rule and compassion,
Mr.Campbell said. Its when we start argu-ing about the color of the
choir robes thatwe get into trouble.
CSTs move to desegregate religiouseducation initially
encountered some re-sistance.
A few students threatened to withdraw
from CST. More notably, the UnitedMethodist Church initially
threatened toremove its sanction and funding from theClaremont
School of Theology when itwas learned it would be offering
clericaltraining to Muslims and Jews as well asto Christian. After
5 months of investiga-tion, the church determined that CSTwould
retain its Methodist foundation,even while the new school moved
for-ward with its interreligious focus, andwithdrew the
warning.
As Mr. Campbell, an ordained UnitedMethodist elder, and his
fellow CLU cre-ators explained in a Huffington Post arti-cle, The
purpose of new concept wasnot to water down the beliefs of each
ofthe different traditions, but rather to cre-ate understanding,
promote mutual re-spect and learn how to cooperate acrossreligious
boundaries to address theworld's greatest problems.
With the controversy waning, enroll-ment at CLU and at CST at
large isgrowing. Whats more, other theologicalschools are beginning
to take note andbegin to implement significant elementsof
interreligious studies into their curric-ula. Its small wonder Mr.
Campbell isoptimistic about the future of bothschools.
In fact, he says he is optimistic aboutthe future of the world
at large.
We see so much more of the worldnow and, because the lens
through whichwe see it is the news lens, in which badnews sells
more than good news, thingscan sometimes look worse, he said.
Ipersonally think the trend is in a positivedirection.
People are kinder to one another,kinder to animals and working
in greatercooperation to solve the problems of theworld such as
disease and hunger, hesaid. He relishes the opportunity to
helpfurther this kind of harmony and cooper-ation.
Ill still focus on how to make theworld a better place, person
by person,Mr. Campbell said. Thats what life isabout.
Sarah Torribio
[email protected]
Learning to get along:CST president discusses revolutionary
religious education
COURIER photo/Steven FelschundneffJerry Campbell, the 6th
president of Claremont School of Theology and founding president of
Claremont Lincoln University,is retiring from both positions
effective June 2013. Mr. Campbell will be taking a new position as
chancellor at the university.
EDUCATION
Claremont COURIER/Saturday, September 1, 2012 5
