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 

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

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  

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

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

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

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.        

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  

Bishop Timothy Dudley-Smith   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

José de Segovia is a Spanish journalist based in Madrid with a particular interest in arts and culture. But that is not the only string to his bow, as he has also pursued theological studies at various points in Spain, the Netherlands and the UK. In 1982, he spent six months at the London Institute of Contemporary Christianity and as a result, got to know John Stott as a teacher, mentor and friend. Since then, he has felt Uncle John’s influence keenly, not least because he has spent his entire professional life taking Stott’s principle of double listening seriously. Along side his journalism, he has taught theology in several institutions and is a pastor at the Reformed Church in Madrid. He has also been very involved in the Spanish Evangelical Alliance, and at John Stott’s recommendation, was one of the World Evangelical Alliance’s representatives in its theological dialogues with the Vatican.   More on LICC José’s blog (in Spanish) - including many posts about John Stott José’s podcast series about John Stott (in Spanish) Reformed Church of Madrid (where José pastors)

Laura Meitzner Yoder is a Professor of Environmental Studies at Wheaton College in the US, and holds the John Stott Chair of Human Needs and Global Resources. She did a PhD at Yale in Forestry and Environmental Studies and has years of experience involved in environmental projects in South East Asia and Latin America. This includes work in Indonesia in the aftermath of the 2004 tsunami and teaching in Thailand and Bhutan. As it happens, she was a member of All Souls Langham Place as an older teenager, because her parents sent her to London to study for A levels. So she had several encounters with John Stott as a young woman. Little did she know then that she would end up working on the manuscript of a major work undertaken by Prof Sam Berry and left unfinished when he died. This was a compilation of everything his long-standing friend John Stott had written or taught about the environment and natural world, from a surprisingly extensive archive of material. The result of Berry’s and Yoder’s work was published in October 2021 with the title John Stott on Creation Care. Laura’s home page at Wheaton College More on John Stott on Creation Care More on A Rocha, the Christian conservation movement that Stott was involved in.

Ted Schroder was the last of a very select group of people - curates at All Souls Langham Place appointed by John Stott. He started in 1967, and it was while he was there, that Michael Baughen was appointed as Vicar in anticipation of him taking over from Stott as Rector in 1975. Originally from New Zealand, he came to study in Durham and was identified by John as someone who could break the cultural mould at All Souls. Since moving on in 1971, Ted served as Chaplain at Gordon College in Massachusetts and subsequently in several churches in the USA. Married to Antoinette, they have two daughters and four grandchildren. He retired in 2018 and has dedicated his time to writing and blogging.   He has recently published an introduction to Stott’s theology called John Stott - a summary of his teaching (published by Piquant Editions)

Dr Robert Aboagye-Mensah is a theologian and scholar, pastor and leader, a thinker for the church and the public square. His career culminated in his being appointed as the Presiding Bishop of the Methodist Church in his native Ghana in 2003, a post he held until 2009. But he has vast experience of ministry in various parts of the world, including seasons in The Gambia, and teaching at All Nations in the UK, and being a research Fellow at Yale Divinity School in the US. He has served in various roles with the World Council of Churches and has published several works. But through it all, a constant thread has been that of John Stott.

Jerram Barrs has taught apologetics at Covenant Theological Seminary in St Louis since 1989 and just a few years ago was made the inaugural holder of the Francis Schaeffer Chair of Christian Studies and Contemporary Culture. He was born in the UK and studied at Manchester University. He was involved in the original L'Abri Fellowship in Huémoz in Switzerland with the Schaeffer family and in 1971 was one of the founding members of the English L'Abri and founding pastor of the International Presbyterian Church in Liphook, Hamphshire, nearby. He has written and taught widely ever since, and in particular, got to know John Stott through their public debates and discussions on Just War and Pacifism. Stott asked him to be one of the first board members of the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity (LICC, formerly known as Christian Impact) in the 1980s.

Mark Meynell chats to Corey Widmer, from Virginia USA, who was John Stott’s study assistant for three years in the late 90s. For many years, John had a study assistant, usually a young university graduate, and often they were from the states. Corey is now the lead pastor of a church and recently completed a PhD. He sees Stott as having a great impact on not just his preaching but also his engagement with current social issues. Listen to the episode for many stories and reflections from someone who worked extremely closely with John Stott and saw different aspects of his life and ministry.   Links: Book reviewed this episode: The Radical Disciple Article Corey wrote to commemorate John Stott’s centenary (Missio Alliance) Produced by Langham Partnership UKI. For more about John Stott's centenary visit the dedicated website.

To those in the UK, Jeremy Vine needs no introduction. He’s a veteran journalist who started out in local radio and newspaper reporting. He was for several years the BBC Africa correspondent based in Johannesburg, and has since become very familiar, as presenter of flagship programmes like BBC’s Newsnight and Panorama. He currently juggles hosting two daily broadcasts, one on BBC Radio 2 and the other on Channel 5 TV. This is quite apart from the fun he has hosting quiz show Eggheads. But most significantly for our purposes, he knew John Stott well when starting out on his career, and counts him as one of his heroes. He even visited John in the last weeks of his life. So I was really grateful that Jeremy carved out the time to speak about the impact John Stott had on his life.   - Jeremy Vine on BBC Radio 2 - Jeremy Vine on Channel 5  - His memoir is 'It’s All News To Me' (Simon & Shuster, 2013)

John Dickson is a man of many talents. He was the frontman for a band in the 80s and 90s; he’s an ancient historian and theologian, having done a PhD in ancient history and had teaching posts in his native city, Sydney Australia, at Macquarie University and University of Sydney’s Department of Jewish Studies; more recently he had a visiting role in the University of Oxford classics department. He is also an ordained anglican minister and has led a church in Sydney. But as if that wasn’t enough, he was the founder of the Centre for Public Christianity and is a writer and media presenter, currently known for his excellent Undeceptions podcast. He is passionately concerned to communicate the Christian gospel to sceptics and to that end, has written a number of successful and helpful books. Yet the primary reason for getting him onto our podcast is that when asked to describe his churchmanship (especially when visiting the USA), he describes himself as ‘a John Stott evangelical’. So naturally, this amongst other things was the focus of our conversation. For more information Some of John Dickson’s books: * A Doubter’s Guide to Jesus * A Doubter’s Guide to The Ten Commandments * A Doubter’s Guide to the Bible  John Dickson’s Undeceptions Podcast   The Centre for Public Christianity

Ruth Padilla de Borst knew John Stott from her childhood since he was a frequent visitor to the family home in Argentina and elsewhere in Latin America. In fact, the main photograph for the episode’s image shows John celebrating his 80th birthday with the Padilla family in 2001. Ruth's father, the late and much missed René Padilla, became an important colleague and close friend of John’s, in part through their participation in IFES student ministry across Latin America and especially through the Lausanne Movement. John was instrumental in getting René a place in the main speaker programme at the 1974 Lausanne Congress and the latter didn’t pull his punches in what was one of the most significant addresses of the entire event.   Ruth is a noted theologian and missiologist in her own right. A former Langham Scholar, she lives with her husband James in a community in Costa Rica (Casa Adobe), while leading and contributing to a wide range of institutions and initiatives.   To read René Padilla’s original 1974 Lausanne address, click here. An introduction to Casa Adobe in Costa Rica CETI (Comunidad de Estudios Teológicos Interdisciplinarios) the institution Ruth leads (in Spanish). INFEMIT - the International Fellowship for Mission as Transformation  

After many years working with university students in Perkantas, the Indonesian member movement of IFES (International Fellowship of Evangelical Students), Ria Pasaribu went on to join the staff of OMF (Overseas Missionary Fellowship). Yet, ever since childhood, she had had a deep commitment to her country’s poorest people, a concern which led her to doing social work studies as an undergraduate.   After years of gaining experience in other organisations, she was eventually able to start up her own: Indonesian Care. This exists to be a catalyst for Indonesian churches to wake up to the needs on their doorstep and to channel their members into viable and constructive projects. Over the last decade and a half, this has led to extraordinary opportunities, including partnerships with the office of the Governor of Jakarta, an astonishing feat in what is the world’s most populous Muslim nation.   And some of the biggest influences on her vision and ministry? John Stott’s books Christian Mission in the Modern World (1975) and Issues Facing Christians Today (orig. 1984).   - Indonesian Care - the website is in Bahasa Indonesia but use Google Translate to get an idea! - Perkantas - the Indonesian IFES movement

Greg Johnson is Lead Pastor at Memorial Presbyterian (PCA) in St Louis, Missouri, a church he has served in various capacities for nearly 20 years. He is also a church historian, who completed a PhD in Historical Theology through St Louis University. But the reason he finds himself at the centre of various church political storms is that he is described, variously, as a gay or same-sex-attracted celibate Christian, a situation which sees him the target of attacks from conservatives and liberals alike within and without the church.    His new book Still Time To Care (out next month), traces the various approaches to homosexuality taken by evangelicals over the last 50 or 60 years and is both fascinating and chilling (in equal measure). Its most encouraging aspect, however, is the thread he draws between the complimentary, careful stances of four key leaders: Billy Graham, Francis Schaeffer, C.S. Lewis, and John Stott. So Mark met up with him in St Louis back in June to discuss the impact of Uncle John in particular.   For more about Memorial Presbyterian, St Louis. For Greg’s new Book Still Time To Care

Gail and Jorge Atiencia speak to Mark Meynell from Ecuador, Jorge's home country, in this episode of The Stott Legacy. Gail is originally from Canada, and the couple met while Jorge was training at Regent's College Vancouver. For many years now, they've lived in Colombia and were involved in Langham Preaching right from the start, helping to establish the movement across Latin America. In this episode both Jorge and Gail speak warmly of John Stott's personal example to them, with anecdotes and stories, including a time in Cuba when John woke at 5.30am to wash dishes for 70 people! We also learn about the sighting of a very rare bird and his willingness to preach the Gospel faithfully even in Cuba. For more on John Stott's life and ministry visit johnstott.org (NB: poor sound quality from internet connection)

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!  

Dr Kosta Milkov is a man of many parts. But strikingly, several of the strings to his bow could be said to have resulted from meeting John Stott in the early 90s. Having studied theology at a seminary in Osijek in Croatia, he would go on with his wife Nada to start up the IFES work in his native Macedonia (in former Yugoslavia). Having met Uncle John at an IFES conference in Poland, he would go on to study one summer at the London Institute for Contemporary Christianity (LICC) with Stott and others; in time this would lead him to do a Masters at Gordon-Conwell in the USA and, as a Langham Scholar, a doctorate at Oxford in Patristics. Then in recent years, he has been instrumental in starting Langham Preaching in Macedonia. He is a real livewire, a published poet and brilliant teacher, and above all, an inspiring disciple of Christ.   The Stott books referred to in this episode: * Essentials: A Liberal-Evangelical Dialogue (1988) * The Cross of Christ (1986) * Christ the Controversialist / ‘But I Say To You’ (2013 edition) Other Links: * The LICC website  * More on the Balkan Institute for Faith and Culture

It is not a debate many outside the UK are aware of, nor is it that well known today within Britain. But the consequences of the impassioned address given by ’the Doctor’, Martyn Lloyd-Jones of Westminster Chapel, at the October 1966 National Assembly of Evangelicals, are argued over to this day. He had been given the topic of ‘unity' and explained his incomprehension at believers working in denominations that weren’t simply mixed but full of people who actually denied the gospel. So he appealed for people to come out to work in some kind of loose network or partnership. Immediately afterwards, the chairman, John Stott stood up and challenged the premise and appeal. It was a watershed moment for the British Church. Andrew Atherstone does a good job here at putting it into its wider context.   Not many people know that in the gallery at that event was an 11-year old boy, sitting with his mother to watch his grandfather speaking. And he is the guest on this episode of The Stott Legacy! Christopher Catherwood is a modern historian (who has specialised amongst other things on Winston Churchill). But it is his memories as Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ grandson and as a friend of John Stott that is the reason for talking with him here.

Russell Moore has a unique influence in American public life: he is President of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention (the largest protestant denomination in the USA) and so is frequently called upon to comment on matters of public policy and political events. What has set him apart from many on the Christian right in recent years, however, has been his principled and consistent opposition to the policies and impact of President Trump.   He has taught and exercised leadership in a seminary setting (Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky), written a large number of books, and is widely regarded as a careful and discerning cultural critic. Even though he never met John Stott, he regards him as a major influence.    But it was when he posted a photograph of John on his instagram feed in the aftermath of the shocking events in Washington DC on 6th January, that prompted a conversation for this podcast.

Gottfreid Osei-Mensah started out his professional life in the oil industry in his native Ghana before serving in student ministry in west Africa. It was from his position in Nairobi Baptist Church in Kenya that he was urged by John Stott and others to help with the inaugural Lausanne Congress in 1974 whereupon he became the first General Secretary. In his conversation with Mark, he looks back on key influences on his life and especially his work with John Stott with warmth and deep affection. Visit johnstott.org/podcast for more info about this episode.