The Stott Legacy

27th April 2021 is the centenary of Uncle John’s birth in central London, as well as being roughly 10 years since his death. As a special podcast treat, we have dug out an old conversation Mark Meynell had back in 2013 with the one person that John’s ministry could never have done without: Frances Whitehead. Having worked for the BBC next door to All Souls Langham Place, and converted at All Souls in a process that began with her attending a lunchtime concert in the building, the church of All Souls became her life. She was recruited by Stott to be ‘Parish Secretary’ and would spend the next two decades working with him in that role (only addressing him as ‘Rector’). When his ministry began to expand, affirmed by his appointment as Rector Emeritus in 1975, not only was Frances allowed to start addressing him by his first name, but she formally became his secretary and organiser. She typed up every single one of his books from his manuscripts, fielded every phone call and managed all his correspondence, in a working partnership that lasted over 50 years. She was a force to be reckoned with and a dear friend to many around the world. This is inevitably an edited version of the conversation - if you would like to hear the whole thing, which includes more about her own upbringing and experiences, go to Mark’s blog. To get hold of the 2nd edition of Julia Cameron’s book, John Stott’s Right Hand: The untold story of Frances Whitehead, go directly to the publisher page. Mark says: We had a lovely surprise a while back when a mutual friend who used to visit Frances weekly after she had moved out of London said that she wanted us to have a plant from her garden. So, just a couple of weeks ago, we planted this Peony in one of our beds - we don't have great green-fingered credentials but so far so good! It still looks alive!  

Rico Tice is a passionate evangelist known on university campuses and in local churches all over, in particular through Christianity Explored (CE) Ministries. He was first ordained in the Church of England when he joined the staff team of All Souls Langham Place, in London, in the mid-90s. John Stott was still very involved in church life at that point and mentored Rico over many years. He is still at All Souls and lives in central London with his wife Lucy and 3 young children, while at the same time, working with CE in its training and evangelistic work around the world.   All Souls, Langham Place including past sermons by John Stott and Rico Tice Christianity Explored courses (for enquirers) CE Ministries (church-facing, for training and other resources)   Excerpts from John Stott’s funeral at All Souls Videos of John Stott’s memorial at St Paul’s Cathedral Visit https://uk.langham.org/get-involved/the-stott-legacy-podcast/ for more info about this episode. John Stott holds a unique place in 20th-century Church history, both in Britain and across the globe. From 2020 to 2022, Mark Meynell recorded conversations with a range of people who have been impacted by John Stott’s legacy. His thoughts, life and example represent many challenges to our own generation. Join us by listening to these remastered episodes, as we explore inspiration, challenges and insights from the life of Uncle John.

Chris Wright (PhD, Cambridge) is an Old Testament scholar and missiologist who is a prolific writer and sought-after teacher all over the world. After starting out in ministry in a Church of England church outside London, he spent several years teaching in India. He returned to the UK with his wife Liz and their children to work at All Nations Christian College, becoming Principal during the 1990s. He was invited by John Stott to take over from him in 2001 as director of what became Langham Partnership, a role he held for 20 years. In 2021 he relinquished that responsibility, handing over to Tayo Arikawe, while continuing his involvement as Langham’s Global Ambassador. He hosts the regular On Mission podcast for Langham.   Among his many publications, he is best known for The Mission of God: Unlocking the Bible’s Grand Narrative (IVP 2006), The Mission of God’s People (Zondervan, 2010), Old Testament Ethics for the People of God (IVP, 2010), Knowing God through the Old Testament Trilogy (IVP, 2019), and numerous commentaries on individual biblical books.   Langham Partnership: www.langham.org  On Mission podcast: https://us.langham.org/podcast/  All Nations Christian College: www.allnations.ac.uk    Tayo Arikawe is International Director of Langham Partnership, a demanding role that involves working with the three programmes of Langham (Scholars, Literature and Preaching) as well as the National Member teams in several countries which fundraise for the programmes. Originally from Nigeria, Tayo has been involved in pastoring and planting new churches in his home country, in several other African countries, and for the last 15 years, in the UK. Prior to joining Langham, he was the Director of Ministries for London City Mission. He is married to Calista and they have one son Mekus. On top of all that, he is (somehow) managing to find time to complete his PhD! London City Mission: https://www.lcm.org.uk    Visit https://uk.langham.org/get-involved/the-stott-legacy-podcast/ for more info about this episode. John Stott holds a unique place in 20th-century Church history, both in Britain and across the globe. From 2020 to 2022, Mark Meynell recorded conversations with a range of people who have been impacted by John Stott’s legacy. His thoughts, life and example represent many challenges to our own generation. Join us by listening to these remastered episodes, as we explore inspiration, challenges and insights from the life of Uncle John.

After 35 years as the director of Youth for Christ (YfC) Sri Lanka, Ajith Fernando stepped back to become Teaching Director, giving him the space to write and teach that he’d struggled to find previously. Brought up in a Christian home which highly prized the exposition of the scriptures, it was unsurprising that he would find a model and mentor in the writing of John Stott. However, he has followed his lead in many different ways ever since, including being instrumental in committing YfC Sri Lanka to serving the country’s poor with various relief and discipleship programmes. He learned the importance of the simple lifestyle from Uncle John and with his wife Nelun, two adult children and four grandchildren, has made a profound contribution to the mission of the global church. A graduate of Asbury and Fuller seminaries, he has been awarded honorary doctorates by Asbury, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Gordon-Conwell seminary, and Tyndale Seminary in Canada.   Produced by Langham Partnership UKI   Visit https://uk.langham.org/get-involved/the-stott-legacy-podcast/ for more info about this episode. John Stott holds a unique place in 20th-century Church history, both in Britain and across the globe. From 2020 to 2022, Mark Meynell recorded conversations with a range of people who have been impacted by John Stott’s legacy. His thoughts, life and example represent many challenges to our own generation. Join us by listening to these remastered episodes, as we explore inspiration, challenges and insights from the life of Uncle John.

Dr Marcelo Vargas lives in  La Paz, capital of his native Bolivia, where he is the director of the Centro de Capacitación Misionera, or the Mission Training Centre. He cofounded this with his wife Silvana, a psychologist who specialises in Family Therapy. He originally studied Electrical Engineering as an undergraduate in Brazil, where he expected to settle. But he was encouraged by Samuel Escobar and others to return to Bolivia to set up the country’s own Christian student movement to be affiliated with IFES (International Fellowship of Evangelical Students). Having originally met John Stott at a student conference in Brazil, he went on to have many links with him and what became Langham Partnership. He spent a summer studying with him at LICC (London Institute for Contemporary Christianity) and would in time become a Langham Scholar while he was doing a PhD through the Oxford Centre for Mission Studies. He was a contributor to the influential single-volume Bible Commentary produced in Latin America: the Comentario Bíblico Contemporáneo. - Centro de Capacitación Misionera (in Spanish) - Official website for the Comentario Bíblico Contemporáneo (in Spanish) Produced by Langham Partnership UKI   Visit https://uk.langham.org/get-involved/the-stott-legacy-podcast/ for more info about this episode. John Stott holds a unique place in 20th-century Church history, both in Britain and across the globe. From 2020 to 2022, Mark Meynell recorded conversations with a range of people who have been impacted by John Stott’s legacy. His thoughts, life and example represent many challenges to our own generation. Join us by listening to these remastered episodes, as we explore inspiration, challenges and insights from the life of Uncle John.

John Wyatt is Professor of Ethics and Perinatology at University College London and also Emeritus Professor of Neonatal Paediatrics, Ethics & Perinatology at University College London.   As a paediatrician, he specialised and led an intensive care unit for premature babies in London for 25 years. But alongside his medical practice, he has been a frequent contributor to the major medical ethical debates of our time, enabling him to play a significant part in updating John Stott’s Issues Facing Christians Today. He first joined All Souls, Langham Place as a medical student in the 1970s and was invited by Uncle John to become one of the initial members of his books and culture discussion group. Having spent the last 50 years at All Souls, he got to know Stott well, becoming one of his key medical advisers. It was John Wyatt who convinced Stott to include two very personal chapters in his very last book, Radical Disciple, under the titles of Dependence and Death.   John has written several books of his own, particularly focused on the major ethical dilemmas surrounding the beginning and end of life. Most recently, he has researched the implications and challenges raised by Artificial Intelligence for medical ethics. He is also a much sought-after speaker and lecturer all over the world. This is Part 2 of 2. John’s Website and Blog for details of his books, articles and other resources Find some of his seminars at the Faraday Institute Produced by Langham Partnership UKI   Visit https://uk.langham.org/get-involved/the-stott-legacy-podcast/ for more info about this episode. John Stott holds a unique place in 20th-century Church history, both in Britain and across the globe. From 2020 to 2022, Mark Meynell recorded conversations with a range of people who have been impacted by John Stott’s legacy. His thoughts, life and example represent many challenges to our own generation. Join us by listening to these remastered episodes, as we explore inspiration, challenges and insights from the life of Uncle John.

John Wyatt is Professor of Ethics and Perinatology at University College London and also Emeritus Professor of Neonatal Paediatrics, Ethics & Perinatology at University College London.   As a paediatrician, he specialised and led an intensive care unit for premature babies in London for 25 years. But alongside his medical practice, he has been a frequent contributor to the major medical ethical debates of our time, enabling him to play a significant part in updating John Stott’s Issues Facing Christians Today. He first joined All Souls, Langham Place as a medical student in the 1970s and was invited by Uncle John to become one of the initial members of his books and culture discussion group. Having spent the last 50 years at All Souls, he got to know Stott well, becoming one of his key medical advisers. It was John Wyatt who convinced Stott to include two very personal chapters in his very last book, Radical Disciple, under the titles of Dependence and Death.   John has written several books of his own, particularly focused on the major ethical dilemmas surrounding the beginning and end of life. Most recently, he has researched the implications and challenges raised by Artificial Intelligence for medical ethics. He is also a much sought-after speaker and lecturer all over the world. This episode is Part 1 of 2. John’s Website and Blog for details of his books, articles and other resources Find some of his seminars at the Faraday Institute Produced by Langham Partnership UKI Visit https://uk.langham.org/get-involved/the-stott-legacy-podcast/ for more info about this episode. John Stott holds a unique place in 20th-century Church history, both in Britain and across the globe. From 2020 to 2022, Mark Meynell recorded conversations with a range of people who have been impacted by John Stott’s legacy. His thoughts, life and example represent many challenges to our own generation. Join us by listening to these remastered episodes, as we explore inspiration, challenges and insights from the life of Uncle John.

Elaine Storkey is a philosopher and sociologist who has worked for many years at the interface of the Church and the Academy. Her postgraduate studies were on Wittgenstein after which she has taught in many universities and colleges around the world, particularly in the UK and North America (with various posts in Oxford and Cambridge). She has published several books, many of which are concerned with issues of evangelicalism, gender and feminism, justice and Christian social action.   In the 1980s, John Stott invited her to teach at The London Institute for Contemporary Christianity, where she developed courses in Christian Worldview amongst other things. Then in 1991 she succeeded him as director and led the institution until 1999. Since then she has continued to write and be involved in all kinds of ministries around the world, including stints as A Rocha, the Micah Challenge, the University of Gloucester, Restored and Tearfund (becoming its president in 1997).   Elaine Storkey’s website and information on her books More on LICC More on Tearfund More on Restored: Ending violence against Women  Produced by Langham Partnership UKI.   Visit https://uk.langham.org/get-involved/the-stott-legacy-podcast/ for more info about this episode. John Stott holds a unique place in 20th-century Church history, both in Britain and across the globe. From 2020 to 2022, Mark Meynell recorded conversations with a range of people who have been impacted by John Stott’s legacy. His thoughts, life and example represent many challenges to our own generation. Join us by listening to these remastered episodes, as we explore inspiration, challenges and insights from the life of Uncle John.    

Timothy Dudley-Smith is known to English-speaking Christians for the hundreds of hymns, with around 400 published, included in over 250 hymnals globally. But his ministry has extended far beyond writing verse for he was ordained in the Church of England in 1950 (after graduating from Cambridge in 1947), served in Rochester and London, then for many years writing and editing for the Church Pastoral Aid Society (CPAS). In 1973 he was appointed Archdeacon of Norwich, and then Bishop of Thetford (assistant to the Bishop of Norwich).    Throughout his life, he long life, John Stott was a central figure, which is why he was the perfect choice to work on Stott’s biography in his retirement. This ended up being two volumes, and aimed to set down an historical record of Stott’s life but leave much of the evaluation to subsequent historians who had the benefit of distance and greater perspective.   My conversation with him and his daughter Sarah Walter, in January 2022, was remarkable - he is 95 but his memory is sparkling and only needed the odd prompt from Sarah!   This episode is Part 2 of 2.  Bishop Timothy’s website with details of his publications and hymnwriting Details of the biography  Volume 1: The Making of a Leader Volume 2: A Global Ministry Current site of CPAS Visit https://uk.langham.org/get-involved/the-stott-legacy-podcast/ for more info about this episode. John Stott holds a unique place in 20th-century Church history, both in Britain and across the globe. From 2020 to 2022, Mark Meynell recorded conversations with a range of people who have been impacted by John Stott’s legacy. His thoughts, life and example represent many challenges to our own generation. Join us by listening to these remastered episodes, as we explore inspiration, challenges and insights from the life of Uncle John.

Bishop Timothy Dudley-Smith   Since the time of recording, Bp Timothy Dudley-Smith died aged 97.   Timothy Dudley-Smith is known to English-speaking Christians for the hundreds of hymns, with around 400 published, included in over 250 hymnals globally. But his ministry has extended far beyond writing verse for he was ordained in the Church of England in 1950 (after graduating from Cambridge in 1947), served in Rochester and London, then for many years writing and editing for the Church Pastoral Aid Society (CPAS). In 1973 he was appointed Archdeacon of Norwich, and then Bishop of Thetford (assistant to the Bishop of Norwich).    Throughout his life, John Stott was a central figure, which is why he was the perfect choice to work on Stott’s biography in his retirement. This ended up being two volumes, and aimed to set down an historical record of Stott’s life but leave much of the evaluation to subsequent historians who had the benefit of distance and greater perspective.   My conversation with him and his daughter Sarah Walter, in January 2022, was remarkable - he is 95 but his memory is sparkling and only needed the odd prompt from Sarah!   This episode is Part 1 of 2. Bishop Timothy’s website with details of his publications and hymnwriting Details of the biography  Volume 1: The Making of a Leader Volume 2: A Global Ministry Current site of CPAS Visit https://uk.langham.org/get-involved/the-stott-legacy-podcast/ for more info about this episode. John Stott holds a unique place in 20th-century Church history, both in Britain and across the globe. From 2020 to 2022, Mark Meynell recorded conversations with a range of people who have been impacted by John Stott’s legacy. His thoughts, life and example represent many challenges to our own generation. Join us by listening to these remastered episodes, as we explore inspiration, challenges and insights from the life of Uncle John.