‘Uncle John’ Stott helped to build a worldwide evangelical movement

From The Globe and Mail-

“An evangelical,” said John Stott in a 2006 interview, “is a plain, ordinary Christian” – someone devoted to the person of Jesus, guided by biblical authority, and committed to the well-being of the world God loves. By being just such a “plain, ordinary Christian” in every area of his life and work, Stott helped both individuals and the global evangelical movement grow into something far more than they otherwise would have been.

Eschewing the hucksterism often associated with the religious right, the Church of England pastor, evangelist and author combined faith and reason in the best British tradition of churchmanship. To this he added profound personal devotion, a global vision and winsome communication abilities, transforming the evangelical movement from an often shallow and insular theological backwater into a mature and world-transforming mainstream movement.

Born to an agnostic father and a devout mother in London, England, on April 27, 1921, Stott grew up a conventionally observant Anglican. Challenged by a visiting evangelist at Rugby School to grapple with Pontius Pilate’s question – “What then shall I do with Jesus, who is called the Christ? – the 17-year-old invited Jesus into his life. It was not in a bout of emotion, but as a choice whose implications slowly grew on him, through weekly mentoring letters from the evangelist. Stott would later implement this pattern of coaching, modelled on Jesus’ practice, in his own pastoral and international ministries.

More here-

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/uncle-john-stott-helped-to-build-a-worldwide-evangelical-movement/article2116697/

More on John Stott From The Telegraph-

Stott was rector of All Souls Church, Langham Place, in the West End of London from 1950 to 1975, and this was the only church in which he served. He had been its curate for five years before he became rector and had attended services there as a child. He accepted no ecclesiastical preferment .

When Stott was ordained at the end of the Second World War, the evangelical wing of the Church of England was small, introverted, backward-looking and divided. Fifty years later there was an evangelical Archbishop of Canterbury; several diocesan bishops of similar convictions; and in all parts of England a network of dynamic churches inspired by the evangelical spirit.

Moreover, these churchmen and churches had a marked affinity with their early 19th-century forebears whose leaders had provided the driving force behind the anti-slavery movement.
The change came about largely through the inspired leadership of John Stott. He turned his own church, located just a few yards from the headquarters of the BBC, into a showplace for a renewed form of evangelicalism. Strong lay leadership at All Souls set him free to become the trainer of others — in particular a new breed of young clergymen who had been influenced by the Christian Unions in their universities and by the Billy Graham Crusades in the 1960s. In the end, Stott viewed the world as his parish.

More here-

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/religion-obituaries/8668938/The-Rev-John-Stott.html

Rev. John Stott, Major Evangelical Figure, Dies at 90

From The New York Times (I had the pleasure of meeting John several times and once having lunch with him. He will be missed)

The Rev. John Stott, one of the world’s most influential figures in the spread of evangelical Christianity over the past half-century, died Wednesday in Lingfield, Surrey, in the south of England. He was 90.

His death was confirmed by Suanne Camfield, a spokeswoman for his publisher, InterVarsity Press.

The religion scholar Michael Cromartie once said that if evangelicals could elect a pope, they would be likely to choose Mr. Stott. Though less known in the United States and hardly a household name outside the evangelical sphere, Mr. Stott, an author, preacher and theologian, was often compared to the Rev. Billy Graham, his American contemporary.

But while Mr. Graham’s influence is rooted in a rousing preaching style and a personal magnetism that has filled stadiums, Mr. Stott’s relied on a proliferation of books — grounded in learning but accessible to all — and the evangelical organization he founded, Langham Partnership International, named after its cradle, All Souls Church at Langham Place in London’s West End.

More here-

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/28/world/europe/28stott.html

Should I Stay or Should I Go?

From Lakeland Florida - John Stott gets quoted in support of those who stay.

"I think we are seeing both (heresy and schism) actively at work in virtually every mainline denomination today. We have an obligation to stand against both and work instead for a faithful, orthodox witness and a body of believers bound by their common love of the Lord Jesus and one another," he said.

One who shares that view is Bishop John Howe of the Diocese of Central Florida, which includes the parishes here in Polk County. At one time, Howe and his diocese were members of a network that has now become the breakaway Anglican Church in North America. But Howe backed away from that network, and his firm leadership was key in preventing his diocese from joining four other dioceses that have voted to "disaffiliate" from The Episcopal Church.

Howe has told me that he would not be part of any group that is cut off from the Archbishop of Canterbury, the main symbol of unity in the Anglican Communion. In an interview with his diocese's newspaper recently, Howe said, "I share many if not most of (the dissenters') theological commitments and concerns. ... But God has called me to be a bishop in The Episcopal Church ... and I have no intention of leaving it."

All this may seem like a lot of to-do about technicalities, but there is an important principle at stake in these disputes, and that is the nature of the church. The dissidents - those who are going - believe they are upholding its purity. The ones who are staying believe they are upholding its unity. Which is the more important?

Levenson quotes from a conversation he had with British Anglican theologian John Stott, who told him, "Remember what Max Warren said, 'the church is evidence of God's patience.'"

http://www.theledger.com/article/20090109/COLUMNISTS/901100303