The centenary of John Stott’s birth falls on 27 April 2021. As he died ten years ago, his name won’t be well-known to younger readers. This is one reason why we are holding centenary events, to introduce his name and his legacy to a new generation.
The breadth of John Stott’s influence is remarkable. Aged 29, he was appointed Rector of All Souls Langham Place, next door to the BBC. He wrote years later of how ‘dissatisfaction’ is a mark of a leader, and he showed it himself from early days. Decades before the term ‘fresh expressions’ was coined, he opened the All Souls Clubhouse, a church for the unchurched, in the poorer part of his parish. He started guest services, then unheard-of, beginners’ groups, and training courses for lay leaders. And he was a seer. So international students became a focus in the post-colonial 1960s as newly-established governments began sending their most able to the UK. The list goes on.
Humility
John Stott was listed by TIME magazine in 2005 as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the world. His death was announced on the BBC, and his obituaries given more column inches than would normally be afforded a serving Cabinet minister. Yet his trademark was humility. He spent 40 years living in a small flat, where his bedroom, which doubled as a corridor, housed a desk for his study assistant – a desk which had been rescued from a skip. He favoured simplicity, and would give away anything he hadn’t used in the previous year.
