Remembering Uncle John: A friend for the world

Mark Meynell, Europe & Caribbean Director for Langham Preaching reflects on the legacy of John Stott.


It’s strangely apt to write this as I travel between Lima and La Paz. The greatest privilege of working for Langham Partnership is meeting brothers and sisters from around the world. And it is still the case that in many places, the initial instigator for our work was Uncle John, as John Stott was universally known (or in these parts Tio Juan).


in Lima, for example Uncle John preached and lectured frequently, but never without exploiting Peru’s many bird-watching opportunities (as his old friends Nelsa and Jorge love recalling). Then in La Paz, it was a joy to spend time with Marcelo Vargas, the pioneer of the Bolivian IFES movement as he reminisced. He came to London for one of John’s celebrated summer schools and subsequently became a Langham Scholar (our PhD scholarship programme).

Similar stories could be told from all over. In my ‘patch’ (Europe and the Caribbean), it’s inevitable that I meet those who aren’t so much Stott fans as Uncle John’s friends.

The Man behind the platform

In this era of Christian celebrities with sophisticated ‘platforms’ and well-crafted brands designed to sell books and media, a capacity for friendship is simply not marketable. Far too time-consuming and inconspicuous. Fine if that’s what floats your boat, but it won’t actually extend your ministry.

Am I being too cynical? Undoubtedly. This is an exaggeration, but in some contexts, only just. There can seem precious little to distinguish the ways of the modern corporation from ‘Christianity Inc’. Self-promotion and profile honing are what gets you ahead.

Such attitudes were anathema to Uncle John. He travelled the world, addressed thousands, and sold literally millions of books in multiple languages. But as he would frequently remind those with him, flattery and accolades are ‘like cigarette smoke—harmless unless inhaled!’ What mattered supremely was serving Christ faithfully.

He had unique gifts, on which he was naturally keen to capitalise. But he endeavoured to channel his resulting ambitions into Kingdom service with great discipline and determination. The result, despite his privileged English background and context, was an  unstinting passion for the global church. This was no artificial posture. He genuinely wanted to learn from it, stand with it, and advocate for it. Any residual paternalism (a common legacy in the twilight of British imperialism) was refined out of him. With the gospel
paramount, everyone must be valued as one both divinely created and Christ redeemed.

So he tried to approach any and every person with consistent humility and interest. A more reliable starting point for friendship is hard to imagine. No wonder he was loved. For many, it was the first time they had encountered anyone quite like him, the unmarried, mildly eccentric and reserved, son of British privilege. They became his friends and their lives were changed. This is not to deny friendship came without its challenges. But few doubted the good intentions behind them.

The legacy after his passing

I can’t quite believe that his funeral took place the best part of a decade ago, with the memorial service in a packed-out St Paul’s Cathedral some months later. Both were profoundly moving. But most striking was the truly global assemblies they gathered. It felt a little like the United Nations. But then, of course, that’s precisely what the Church is like, or at least should be.

My time on the All Souls ministry team began just a few years before Uncle John’s full retirement, so I was able to hear some of his last preaching as well as run the gauntlet of preaching with him present. He did once call me an ‘ignorant fool’ after one of my sermons, but that was mostly in jest (I think— that’s my story and I’m sticking to it). But it was occasional visits to his retirement home at St Barnabas’ College that I particularly treasure. Almost until the very end, his mind was sharp; he would keenly enquire about my recent recent or impending Langham trips (or ‘jollies’ as they were known). He would try to recall
those he had known from those places, hoping for news of their lives and ministries.

Uncle John’s public legacy is available for all to evaluate—the organisations he envisioned and spearheaded, the sermons and lectures recorded and disseminated, not to mention the innumerable essays and books that still travel the globe. But for many individuals, of whom I was a late-comer to the party, it was his capacity for kind and sincere friendship that was his most affecting legacy. And that reallyis not something one can say of every great leader in history.

Mark Meynell is Director (Europe & Caribbean) for Langham Preaching, and was on the senior ministry team of All Souls Langham Place from 2005-2014.

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