John Stott

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John Stott

John Robert Walmsley Stott , CBE (born April 27, 1921 in London , England - † July 27, 2011 in Lingfield , Surrey ) was a British theologian and priest of the Church of England . He was one of the most important theologians in the evangelical movement. Stott was instrumental in drawing up the Lausanne commitment to world evangelization in 1974. The Time Magazine counted him in 2005 to the 100 most influential people in the world. He has often been compared to Billy Graham in the United States; Unlike him, he worked less through sermons than through his publications.

Life

John Stott was born in London as the third child of his parents. His father, Sir Arnold Stott, was a doctor and agnostic, and his mother attended the Anglican Church of All Souls, Langham Place, where John Stott was confirmed. He attended the traditional rugby school and decided there to become a Christian. In 1939 Stott began studying theology at Trinity College , Cambridge . He completed his subsequent pastoral studies before ordination at Ridley Hall College, also in Cambridge. 1983 he was awarded the doctorate (Lambeth Doctor of Divinity). In 1997 , what is now the London School of Theology , then an associate college of Brunel University, awarded him another Doctor of Divinity.

After his ordination in 1945 he became curate of the Anglican All Souls congregation, in which he grew up, and in 1950 its rector . Although he received numerous offers to rise in the church hierarchy, he remained in this office until his resignation in 1975, whereupon he became rector emeritus of the congregation and as such still preached several times per quarter until 2007. In April 2007, Stott announced the end of his active time as a priest.

Evangelical Movement

Church work

Soon after he was rector, he encouraged his ward members to take a weekly evangelism training course. A monthly service for guests was set up, followed by courses for newly converted Christians, midweek midday prayers, monthly prayer services for the sick, a “church for children”, family services and a Christian community center .

John Stott's congregation became an international role model for countless inner-city congregations, especially through the priority of prayer, sermons with Bible interpretation, regular evangelism, careful accompaniment of seekers and new converts and the systematic training of helpers and leaders.

National influence

Evangelicals had little influence in the Anglican hierarchy in the 1950s . In 1961, John Stott and 22 of his friends founded a network of evangelical priests under forty, which by the mid-1960s had a thousand members.

From 1959 to 1991 he was the personal priest of Queen Elizabeth II.

From 1967 to 1984 he was chairman of the Church of England Evangelical Council, the representation of Evangelicals in the Church of England, 1973 and 1974 President of the British Evangelical Alliance. Between 1961 and 1982 he was four times President of the Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship, a non-denominational evangelical student movement.

In 1982 he founded The London Institute for Contemporary Christianity for the formation of lay evangelicals; he was in charge of this organization until the end of his life.

Alongside Archbishop William Temple, John Stott is considered the most influential clergyman in the Church of England in the 20th century. Alister McGrath largely attributed the growth of the evangelical movement in England after World War II to John Stott. Impulses from his theology were received at the London School of Theology , among others .

International influence

Stott saw in the churches of the Third World countries, the Majority World (Engl. Majority world ). He liked to hold his evangelism weeks at universities in Asia , Australia and Africa to bring Christianity to the next generation of academics. From 1960 to 1981 he was General Secretary and from 1986 to 1990 President of the Evangelical Fellowship in the Anglican Communion , the representation of Evangelicals in the Anglican Church Fellowship .

In 1969 he founded the Langham Trust , which made it possible for young evangelical leaders from the Third World to obtain a doctorate in England, so that they can then become lecturers in their countries of origin. Since 1971 he financed the Evangelical Literature Trust from the proceeds of his books , which provided students, pastors and church libraries in the Third World with literature. The two charities are now united in the Langham Partnership and have branches on every continent.

One of his most important contributions to world evangelization was the 1974 International Congress for World Evangelization in Lausanne and the resulting Lausanne commitment , which he presided over. He also presided over the draft of the Manila Manila Manila Manila manifesto , which emerged from the Second World Evangelization Congress in 1989.

In 1977 he was one of the founders of the Fellowship of European Evangelical Theologians, which was supposed to strengthen connections among evangelical theologians in Europe.

Private life

John Stott was celibate all his life, declaring that his ministry, writing, and travel would never have been possible on this scale if he had been responsible for a family. His hobby was bird watching ; he took numerous photos and also published a book on it.

Works (selection)

John Stott published around 50 books that were translated into around 65 languages ​​and sold in millions (around eight million).

  • Introduction to Christianity , 1973, ISBN 3-417-00427-6
  • Evangelical unity. Against the false polarizations , 1975, ISBN 3-7655-0370-3
  • The Lausanne commitment. An interpretation and explanation , in: Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization (ed.): Lausanne goes on. The Pasadena Consultation - The Willowbank Report - The Lausanne Commitment - The Glen Eyrie Report. Neuhausen (1980), pp. 113-200. ISBN 978-3775105118
  • Christianity in the hot spots of our time
  • The message of the Acts of the Apostles. An exegetical-homiletic commentary , 2000, ISBN 3-7751-2954-5
  • Homosexual partnerships ?! What does the Bible say? , 2003, ISBN 3-86122-615-4
  • The big invitation. Seven Reasons I Became a Christian , 2004, ISBN 3-7655-3791-8
  • The cross. Center of the Christian Faith , 2009, ISBN 3-86827-090-6
  • The Message of the Sermon on the Mount: Commentary and Conversation Guide for Matthew 5-7 , 2010, ISBN 3-939577-03-0

literature

  • Timothy Dudley-Smith: John Stott: The Making of a Leader: A Biography: The Early Years Dowener Grove: InterVarsity, 1999. The authorized biography of John Stott.
  • Timothy Dudley-Smith: John Stott: A Biography of the Later Years. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2001. The authorized biography of John Stott.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.allsouls.org/Publisher/Article.aspx?ID=273279
  2. ↑ Time Magazine List: 100 Most Influential People Worldwide
  3. ↑ Wolfgang Saxon: Obituary to Stott , New York Times online, July 27, 2011, accessed July 28, 2011
  4. ↑ Langham International: John Stott Biography ( Memento of the original from September 9, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.langhampartnership.org
  5. ↑ Langham International: John Stott Biography ( Memento of the original from September 9, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.langhampartnership.org
  6. ↑ Derek J. Tidball, Reizwort evangelikal: Development of a piety movement, Anker, Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 978-3-7675-7058-0 , p. 68.
  7. ↑ Wolfgang Saxon, obituary
  8. ↑ Wolfgang Saxon, obituary
  9. ↑ Wolfgang Saxon, obituary
personal data
SURNAME Stott, John
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Stott, John Robert Walmsley (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British theologian and priest of the Church of England
DATE OF BIRTH April 27, 1921
PLACE OF BIRTH London , England
DATE OF DEATH July 27, 2011
Place of death Lingfield , England