In Depth:  Timothy Dudley-Smith

‘Jesus is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful’ (Revelation 17.14).

We come — from across the world — to remember our brother John. We come to give thanks to God for him; and to offer his family, with those like Frances Whitehead who were closest to him, our shared support in loss, and in that grief which goes with love. And along with them, his curates, colleagues, study assistants and innumerable friends — and latterly his devoted nurses and carers at the College of St. Barnabas.

Among the events of the 1960s rooted most firmly in the folk-memory of many evangelicals, both Anglican and Free Church, was an occasion on which John Stott was present not primarily as speaker but as chairman.

This was his confrontation with Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, the opening speaker at the Second National Assembly of Evangelicals, on October 18 1966. The Assembly was sponsored and organised by the Evangelical Alliance. Between much of the planning and the event itself there had been a change of General Secretary, Gilbert Kirby moving on to become Principal of the London Bible College, to be succeeded by Morgan Derham.

Towards the end of the 1950s, Richard Bowdler left the staff of All Souls, Langham Place, and the ministry of 'Chaplain to the Stores' passed to Michael Harper.

He was a Londoner (the family home had been in Welbeck Street) and he had long been an occasional visitor to All Souls. He was converted to Christ in his first year at Cambridge, and during the vacations had alternated between All Souls and Westminster Chapel.

As we grow older, our birthdays are not met with quite the same enthusiasm as when we were young.

James Boswell was once rash enough to remind some ladies that the next day would be Dr. Johnson's birthday. They came to dinner and, says Boswell, 'plagued him unintentionally by wishing him joy.' For him, birthdays were a dread reminder of mortality.