“John Stott influenced many of us over the past 45 years,” says Curt Peterson, executive minister of the Department of World Mission. “He was a significant influence on my life and ministry. I have all of his books, commentaries and many sermons on tape.” Peterson studied for two weeks with Stott at the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity in 1984.
John Stott
Stott had spoken several times at Montecito Covenant Church in Santa Barbara, California, while Peterson was pastor. He also spoke at the Covenant Midwinter at Hillcrest Covenant in the 1970s.
Brad Boydston, pastor of Masterpiece Church in Laveen, Arizona, wrote on his Facebook wall, “I heard him speak several times, read his books, and used his book on preaching to teach. He was not flashy, domineering, nor a ‘celebrity,’ but was clearly a statesman style leader and scholar. Perhaps his death will spark a renewed interest in his writing.”
Author of more than 30 books, his volume Basic Christianity has been translated into more than 50 languages, and 22 more are in progress.
Although he ministered in the mainline Church of England as a pastor in London, his greatest impact may have been in helping evangelicals to develop a deeper commitment to social issues and evangelism.
“Stott was so important and influential in my life, and I still remember hearing him speak at Urbana in the 70s,” writes Covenant missionary Cindy Hoover. “He was able to seamlessly combine word and work and explain why that’s the only reasonable reading of the gospels.”
In a 1996 article, Christianity Today wrote, “John Stott joins together what most people tear asunder – or at least are incapable of holding together. He is a theologian of depth and breadth, yet he preaches and writes with clarity to a wide audience. He integrates social concerns into the mission of the church without ever minimizing his commitment to evangelism. … his influence among evangelicals is of international proportions.”
Shekhar Sing, a leader in the Hindustani Covenant Church and principal (president) of Union Biblical Seminary in Pune, India, noted the influence of Stott on the school in the past as well as the future: “We will continue his ministry in this part of the world while following his footsteps.”
Mossai Sanguma, president of the Covenant Church of Congo, was a John Stott Scholar and received scholarship for his PhD work at Fuller Seminary.
To read a lengthy obituary on Stott as well as additional articles on his influence, click here.
© 2013 The Evangelical Covenant Church |
It is with a deep sigh of sorrow that I hear of John Stott’s death. I had the privilege of sitting under his teaching for the Pastoral Epistles at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in the early 70’s while he spend a quarter there as visiting professor. My wife, Cheryl, also audited an evening course on the Beatitudes with him at the same time.
My senior colleague, Bill Sandstrom, and I had joy of sitting and having breakfast with John at a hotel restaurant at the same Midwinter referred to in the article above.
One of his greatest contributions to the contemporary sensitive issue of homosexuality was his book “Same Sex Partnerships? A Christian Perspective”. Because he was committed to celebacy as a single male all his life, he brings a needed word to the conversation from his own calling as a single person. I recently gave out several copies of his book in the congregation I currently serve in preparation for a message I gave on the topic of “Homosexuality and the Covenant Church.
The Church of our Lord around the world is significantly effected by John’s loss, but his life and legacy of blending the passion for the lost and the equally important task of ministering to the disenfranchised and hurting of the world still fuels our mission until Christ comes again.
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07.29.11 at 7:34 am
Remembering a Birder (and So Much More)
A shroud of sadness envelopes All-Souls this week.
An Anglican priest who helped less-liturgical preachers like me
navigate between two worlds
(the world of the Bible and the world of today)
left us for the world beyond.
John R. W. Stott taught us basic Christianity
with an eye for what captured the Savior’s focus.
He considered the flowers of the field
and the birds of the air.
And in Mother Nature’s visual aids
he saw the Father’s care.
Brandishing a walking stick and binoculars,
Stott stalked evidence
of our Creator’s handiwork.
He worshiped in an outdoor sanctuary.
He was a birder, but so much more.
He was a herder of grateful sheep that grazed
in the pasture of his published works.
He was a girder of faith
to those who followed his lead.
He was a leader without peer
who helped us hear from God.
Peace to his memory!
by Greg
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07.29.11 at 10:42 am