Full name

John Robert Walmsley Stott

Birth

April 27, 1921, in London, England

Family

Parents

Sir Arnold W. and Emily Caroline (Holland) Stott

Siblings

Joan, Rosemary, Joy

Marital Status

Single

Conversion

February 13, 1938, after hearing a message by E. J. H. Nash at Rugby School

Ordination

Church of England; December 21,1945 by the Bishop of London in St. Paul’s Cathedral

Education

1929-1934

Oakley Hall, England

1935-1940

Rugby School, England

1940-1943

B.A.;Trinity College, Cambridge University, England

1944-1945

Attended Ridley Hall, Cambridge University, England

1947

M.A.; Trinity College, Cambridge, England

Career

1941-1945

During the summers served as chief assistant to E. J. Nash in the Children’s Special Service Mission, Christian camps for boys and girls organized at around Great Britain.

1945-1950

Assistant curate, All Souls Church, Langham Palace, London, England

1950-1975

Rector, All Souls Church, Langham Palace, London, England

1954

Stott was deeply involved in the Billy Graham Great London Crusade, which lasted from March 1 to May 22. Most of the meetings were held in Harringay Arena. Stott was active in the preparations and became personal friends with Graham and members of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, a relationship that would continue through the rest of Stott’s ministry. He was associated with Graham and the BGEA in many projects, particularly evangelistic meetings in the United Kingdom and the international evangelism congresses.

1959-1991

A chaplain to Queen Elizabeth of the United Kingdom; extra chaplain since 1991

1960-1981

Honorary General Secretary of the Evangelical Fellowship in Anglican Communion

1960-1961

President, Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship

1961

Was probably the most active participant in the creation of the Evangelical Fellowship in the Anglican Communion (EFAC)

1967-1984

Chairman, Church of England Evangelical Council

1967

Probably the most prominent person in organizing and leading the National Evangelical Anglican Congress (NEAC) in Keele, England

1968-

Founder and general editor of The Bible Speaks Today series, volumes of exegesis and contemporary applications for laypeople on the books of the Bible. Stott himself wrote several of the volumes.

1970

Creation of The Langham Trust (United Kingdom), which was the major source for receiving gifts and distributing funding for Rev. Stott’s ministry and travels, special projects and scholarships for Christian workers, from then on. The name was later changed to The Langham Partnership. Later in the 1970s, a similar foundation was established in the United States. In 1996 the name of the United States foundation was changed to John Stott Ministries (JSM)

1971-1972

President, Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship

1971

Evangelical Literature Trust established, which used royalties from Stott’s books and other gifts to fund the distribution of Christian literature and reference works to Christian workers, pastors, and colleges and seminaries around the world

1973-1974

President, British Evangelical Alliance

1974

President, British Scripture Union

1974

Was involved in the planning and program of the International Congress on World Evangelization, held at Lausanne July 16-25. Served as chairman of the Drafting Committee that prepared the Lausanne Covenant.

1974-1981

Member, Lausanne Continuation Committee, later the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization and member of the LCWE Executive Committee. Served as Chairman of the Lausanne Theology and Education Group 1976-1981.

1975-

Rector emeritus, All Souls Church

1977

Prominent leader in the second National Evangelical Anglican Conference (NEAC), Nottingham, England

1977-1984

Played a leading role in the organizing the periodic meetings for dialogue of Evangelical and Roman Catholic churchman and scholars known as the Evangelical- Roman Catholic Dialogue on Mission (ERCDOM)

1977-1978

President, Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship

1978

Served as chairman of the planning committee and participant in the LCWE’s Willowbank Consultation on Gospel and Culture, held at Willowbank, Somerset Bridge, Jamaica

1978

A Langham Trust established in Canada

1979

A Langham Trust established in Australia

1981-1982

President, Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship

1982-1986

Founding Director, London Institute for Contemporary Christianity

1982-1985

Vice president for Europe, United Bible Societies

1983-1987

President, TEAR Fund (The Evangelical Alliance Relief Fund)

1986-

President, London Institute for Contemporary Christianity

1988

Elected honorary lifetime member of the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization

1989

Participant in the Second International Congress on World Evangelization (Lausanne II) held in Manila, Philippines July 11-20. Stott served as chairman of the drafting committee which prepared the Manila Manifesto.

Other significant information

Stott was been a prominent and effective preacher, evangelist and speaker. In the 1950s and 60s especially, he led university and college evangelistic missions on campuses in the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia and South Africa. In addition, among his speaking engagements and missions outside the United Kingdom have been Africa (1962), South and Southeast Asia (1963), Australia (1965), Australia, Hong Kong, Southeast Asia (1971), United States and Canada (1972), Canada (1973) Mexico and South America (1974), Kenya and Mexico (1975 and 1975), Mexico, Central and South America (1977), Europe, the Middle East (1978), Australia (1979), (South America, Africa, Europe (1980), Australia (1981), Africa (1984), South America (1985), Australia (1986), Eastern Europe (1987), Southern Africa (1988), South America (1989), China (1996), the Baltic states, Eastern Europe, Ukraine, Russia (1997), China, Southeast Asia, Korea (1999). He was a frequent featured speaker at the triennial Student Missions Convention held by the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship of the United States, speaking at the 1964, 1967, 1970, 1973, 1976, 1979, 2003 meetings.

Author of numerous articles and books which were influential on Evangelical Christians worldwide. Among his titles: Men with a Message (1954, revised with Stephen Moyer, 1994), Basic Christianity (1958, revised 1971), What Christ Thinks of the Church (1958, revised and published as Word 1990), Confess Your Sins (1964), One People (1969, revised 1972), The Lausanne Covenant - An Exposition and Commentary (Lausanne Occasional Paper No. 3, 1975), Christian Counter-Culture (1978), The Bible for Today (1982), I Believe in Preaching (1982), Issues Facing Christians Today (1984), The Contemporary Christian (1992), The Birds Our Teachers: Biblical lessons from a life-long birdwatcher (1999), Evangelical Truth (1999). He also edited Making Christ Known. Historic Mission Documents from the Lausanne Movement, 1974-1989 (1997)

Rev. Stott was also either a convener and/or an active participant and/or a leading speaker at many of the conferences and congresses that shaped Evangelical Christian theology and practice since the 1950s. Often he was the drafter/editor of the meetings final statement, most notably the 1974 Lausanne Covenant. Among the meetings he was involved in are the 1960 Montreux Consultation in Montreux, Switzerland; the 1966 Second National Assembly of Evangelicals in Westminister, England; the 1966 World Congress on Evangelism held in Berlin, Germany; the1967 National Evangelical Anglican Congress held in Keele, England; the 1974 International Congress on World Evangelization held in Lausanne, Switzerland; the 1975 Pan African Christian leadership Assembly, held in Nairobi, Kenya; the 1977 National Evangelical Anglican Congress held in Nottingham, England; the 1978 Willowbank Consultation on Gospel and Culture, held in Willowbank, Jamaica; the 1980 International Consultation on Simple Lifestyle, held at High Leigh, England; the 1980 Consultation on World Evangelization, held in Pattaya, Thailand; the 1988 National Evangelical Anglican Congress held in Caister-on-the-Sea, England; and the 1989 Second International Congress on World Evangelization (Lausanne II), held in Manila, Philippines.

1971

Honorary Doctor of Divinity, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, Illinois, USA

1983

A Lambeth Doctor of Divinity conferred by Archbishop Robert Runcie

1993

Honorary Doctor of Divinity, Wycliffe College, Toronto, Canada

1997

Honorary Doctor of Divinity, Brunel University, London, England