John Stott (1921-2011) lived a unique and well-lived life – and he has left an extraordinary and enduring legacy. After the inspiring Memorial Service at St Paul’s Cathedral on Friday 13th January 2012, it seems good to put this page together. It will be a work in progress, so please do let me know if you come across anything else to add to it. Of course, we should always engage with what anyone says and does with an open but discerning spirit. This is not the place for hagiography but an honest, humble and positively critical spirit.
Official sites
- The Official Memorial website with many resources and links (some duplicated here)
- The work he leaves as his key legacy: The Langham Partnership
- London Institute for Contemporary Christianity (LICC)
- The life of the church he served throughout his life: All Souls Langham Place
- The Memorial fund set up to continue his legacy
EA produced this helpful biographical timeline.
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From the events and memorial services
- Chris Wright’s sermon at the Funeral
- Videos of the Memorial Service: Part 1 & Part 2 are already up (which include the 4 tributes from Frances Whitehead, Asia (Archbishop John Chew), Africa (Robert Aboagye-Mensah) and Latin America (Ruth Padilla DeBorst))
- Transcriptions from the Memorial Service: The Order of Service (including many more written tributes); Timothy Dudley-Smith‘s sermon; Tribute by Frances Whitehead; Tribute by John Chew; Tribute by Robert Aboagye-Mensah ; Tribute by Ruth Padilla DeBorst
- Photographs from the St Paul’s Cathedral Memorial
- The Ongoing Vision – Mark Greene and Chris Wright ; Information about John Stott Memorial Fund
- Report by Chris Sugden on the service in CEN: The Challenge of Lay Ministry
An image of John Stott’s gravestone in Dale Churchyard, in Pembrokeshire, very near his Welsh home, The Hookses.
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John Stott's Writing
To get hold of one of his 51 books, visit the publishers (though bear in mind that a number of the smaller studies booklets are drawn from his commentaries by others)
- Some long-forgotten Stott booklets:
- The Message of Job (1955)
- Parochial Evangelism by the Laity (1952)
Biographies and Memories
- Timothy Dudley-Smith’s 2 part biography: The Making of a Leader and A Global Ministry
- Chris Wright’s edited anthology of A Portrait by his Friends reviewed here
- Roger Steer’s shorter biography, Inside Story and Julia Cameron’s children’s book the Humble Leader
- Alister Chapman’s brand new Godly Ambition: John Stott and the Evangelical Movement
- Brand New: John Stott, Pastor Leader & Friend (Didasko Files/Lausanne Library)
John Stott Audio Online
By far and away the most extensive archive of John Stott’s preaching is on the All Souls Sermon Library(available after a simple free registration). Simply search for his name in the list of preachers – there are 100s of talks going back to the 1966. You can also search by text and date. But two great series have been made available for all without registration:
- The Integrated Christian (from 2005)
- Who is this Jesus? (from 1989)
Langham Partnership has made these talks available through their site:
- Our God is a Missionary God – Saddleback Church October 2005
- A Call to Christian Maturity – Mariners Church, November 2005
- On Prayer – Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York in April, 2006 with an introduction by Tim Keller
- The model – becoming more like Christ – Sermon delivered at the Keswick Convention July 17th 2007.
Here are a number of free other resources on iTunes and elsewhere- LICC has made 2 talks available: The Supreme Lordship of Jesus Christ and the Authority of the Bible
- Veritas Forum has a fascinating talk from 1994 at Harvard: Is Jesus Christ Truth for the 21st Century
- Gordon Conwell College has produced a podcast series of John Stott Lectures
- Westmont College offers a couple of sermons: The Authentic Jesus (Nov 1994) and a talk from 1979
- The greeting that John sent to the Lausanne III conference in Cape Town 2010
Here are some resources for payment:
- CMF (Christian Medical Fellowship) has made 4 talks available on CD (for £10) on Serving Christ in Medicine
- Regent College, Vancouver has nearly 100 talks available – but only on CD – probably worth checking that equivalent talks of any you are interested in are not available at All Souls first.
John Stott Video Online
Speaking and Teaching
- A lecture on Charles Simeon by John Stott from Taylor University in 2004.
- John’s last public talk – given at the 2007 Keswick Convention
- Speaking in Dallas on Contemporary Challenges to the Christian Church from Romans 12 and 3 others in the States (sound quality is variable)
Other videos
- John interviewed at the Amsterdam 2000 conference
- A wonderful 6-part interview Uncle John gave for LICC a few years ago (especially check out 3: When I Feel Most Alive & 4: How I would like to be remembered)
- A promo video on the Langham Partnership, including John’s explanation of the Langham Logic
Other Stuff on Q
- The Man Who Resisted Trying to Gain the World
- Happy 90th Birthday Uncle John
- A review of his last book The Radical Disciple
Critical Engagement
Here are some links to serious attempts to engage critically with the legacy:
- A very interesting chat with historian and author Alister Chapman at Oak Hill recently.
- Swedish theologian Per-Axel Sverker has made his doctoral thesis available (in Swedish) available, on The Bible & Gospel in john Stott’s Theology – he has kindly supplied me with an English summary here
John Stott Remembered in the Media
- BBC Online: Obituary; Obituary on Radio 4’s The Last Word; Transcript of the New Year’s Day Service on Radio 4 from All Souls, led by Hugh Palmer
- The Daily Telegraph (UK): Obituary
- The Guardian (UK): Obituary by David Turner; “Without Stott, UK evangelicals would be like the Tea Party” by Matthew Cresswell
- The Independent (UK): Obituary by Julia Cameron
- The Times (UK) Obituary (£); Interview with Richard Bewes (£); Doug Birdsall’s Portrait of a Christian Leader (£)
- New York Times: Obituary by Wolfgang Saxon; Who is John Stott? (2004) by David Brooks; Evangelicals without the Blowhards by Nicholas Kristof
- Time Magazine: One of the 2005 Time 100 by Billy Graham; short obituary by Everett Rosenfeld
- Christianity Today: Obituary by Tim Stafford; CT Roundup of various articles; Legendary song-writer Paul Simon reflects on meeting Uncle John
- Church Times (UK): Obituary (£)
Some more personal reflections from various people:
Time Magazine: One of the 2005 Time 100 by Billy Graham
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