Childhood and family

Stott was born in London to Sir Arnold and Emily Stott. Sir Arnold Stott was a leading physician at Harley Street and an agnostic, while his wife was a Lutheran church-goer who attended the nearby Church of England church, All Souls, Langham Place. Stott was sent to boarding school at eight years old ... initially prep school at Oakley Hall. In 1935, he went on to Rugby School.

Conversion to Evangelicalism

While at Rugby School in 1938, Stott heard the Reverend Eric Nash ('Bash') deliver a sermon entitled, What Then Shall I Do with Jesus, Who Is Called the Christ? After this talk, Bash pointed Stott to Revelation 3:20, "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." Stott later described the impact this verse had upon him as follows:

"Here, then, is the crucial question which we have been leading up to. Have we ever opened our door to Christ? Have we ever invited him in? This was exactly the question which I needed to have put to me. For, intellectually speaking, I had believed in Jesus all my life, on the other side of the door. I had regularly struggled to say my prayers through the key-hole. I had even pushed pennies under the door in a vain attempt to pacify him. I had been baptized, yes and confirmed as well. I went to church, read my Bible, had high ideals, and tried to be good and do good. But all the time, often without realising it, I was holding Christ at arm's length, and keeping him outside. I knew that to open the door might have momentous consequences. I am profoundly grateful to him for enabling me to open the door. Looking back now over more than fifty years, I realise that that simple step has changed the entire direction, course and quality of my life.

Early evangelical experience

Stott was mentored by Bash, who wrote a weekly letter to him, advising him on how to develop and grow in his Christian life, as well as practicalities such as leading the Christian Union at his school.

Stott studied modern languages at Trinity College, Cambridge where he graduated with a double first in French and Theology. At university, he was active in the Cambridge inter-collegiate Christian Union (CICCU), where the executive committee that ran it considered him too invaluable a person to be asked to commit his time by joining the executive committee.

After this, he transferred to Ridley Hall Theological College, Cambridge, so he could become ordained as an Anglican clergyman.

Church leadership at All Souls, Langham Place

Stott was ordained in 1945 and went on to become a curate at All Souls Church, Langham Place (1945-1950) then rector (1950-75). This was the church in which he had grown up, and in which he has spent almost all of his life, aside from a few years spent in Cambridge.

Events of 1966 and 1967

Stott played a central role at two landmark events in the history of British evangelicalism. He was chairing the National Assembly of Evangelicals in 1966, a convention organised by the Evangelical Alliance, when Martyn Lloyd-Jones made an unexpected call for evangelicals to unite together as evangelicals and no longer within their 'mixed' denominations. This view was motivated by a belief that true Christian fellowship requires evangelical views on central topics such as the atonement and the inspiration of Scripture. Lloyd-Jones was a key figure to many in the Free Churches, and evangelical Anglicans regarded Stott similarly. The two leaders publicly disagreed as Stott, though not down as a speaker that night, used his role as chairman of the meeting to refute Lloyd-Jones, saying that his opinion went against history and the Bible. The following year saw the first National Evangelical Anglican Congress, which was held at Keele University. At this conference, largely due to Stott's influence, evangelical Anglicans committed themselves to full participation in the Church of England, rejecting the separationist approach proposed by Lloyd-Jones.

These two conferences effectively fixed the direction of a large part of the British evangelical community. Although there is an ongoing debate as to the exact nature of Lloyd-Jones's views, they undoubtedly caused the two groupings to adopt diametrically opposed positions. These positions, and the resulting split, continue largely unchanged to this day.

Wider leadership

In 1970, in response to increasing demands on his time from outside of the All Souls congregation, he appointed a vicar of All Souls, to enable himself to work instead on other projects. In 1975, he resigned as Rector, and the then vicar was appointed in his place...he remained at the church, and was appointed "Rector Emeritus".

He founded the Langham Partnership International (known as John Stott Ministries in the U.S.) in 1974 and the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity in 1982 of which he is now the honorary president.

Retirement

Stott announced his retirement from public ministry in April 2007 at the age of 86. He has taken up residence in a retirement community for Anglican clergy, but he will remain as Rector Emeritus of All Souls Church.

Stott has had considerable influence in evangelicalism. In a November 2004 editorial on Stott, New York Times columnist David Brooks cited Michael Cromartie of the Ethics and Public Policy Center as saying that "if evangelicals could elect a pope, Stott is the person they would likely choose."

Writing

He has written over 50 books, some of which appear only in Chinese, Korean or Spanish, as well as many articles and papers.

One of these is Basic Christianity (ISBN 0-87784-690-1), a book which seeks to explain the message of Christianity, and convince its readers of its truth and importance.

He is also the author of The Cross of Christ (ISBN 0-87784-998-6), of which J. I. Packer stated, "No other treatment of this supreme subject says so much so truly and so well."

Other books he wrote include Essentials, a dialogue with a liberal clergyman and theologian (David L. Edwards) over whether what Evangelicals hold as essential should be seen as such. He has also recently written Evangelical Truth, which summarises what he perceives as being the central claims of Christianity, essential for evangelicalism. A non-exhaustive bibliography can be found at the Langham Partnership website

Despite his formal retirement from public engagements, he was still engaged in regular writing:

• In 2008, he produced The Anglican Evangelical Doctrine of Infant Baptism with J. Alec Motyer (Latimer Trust, 2008) ISBN 978-0-946307-96-8

A useful introduction to his thought can be found in his two final, substantial publications, which act as a summation and last will and testament. Both were published by the publishing house with which he has had a lifelong association: IVP.

• In 2007, his reflections on the life of the church: The Living Church: Convictions of a Lifelong Pastor (ISBN 1-84474-183-4)
• In January 2010, at the age of 88, he saw the launch of what would explicitly be his final book: The Radical Disciple (ISBN 1-84474-421-3) It concludes with a poignant farewell and appeal for his legacy to be continued through the work of Langham Partnership International

Celibacy

Stott has remained celibate his entire life. He says, "The gift of singleness is more a vocation than an empowerment, although to be sure God is faithful in supporting those He calls." (Albert Hsu, Singles at the Crossroads. Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1997. p. 178.)

Honours

Stott was appointed a Chaplain to Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom in 1959, and on his retirement in 1991, an Extra Chaplain. He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the New Year Honours 2006. He has received a number of honorary doctorates, as well as a Lambeth Doctorate of Divinity.

Controversy

Stott has publicly considered the idea of annihilationism, which is the belief that hell is incineration into non-existence, rather than eternal conscious torment (the traditional Evangelical approach). This led to a heated debate within mainstream evangelical Christianity: some writers criticised Stott in very strong terms whilst others supported his views.

Stott's favourite relaxation is birdwatching; his book 'The Birds Our Teachers' draws on this interest.