The Stott Legacy

Gail and Jorge Atiencia

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)

Frances Whitehead

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!

 

Kosta Milkov

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

Christopher Catherwood

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.

Dr Russell Moore

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.

Gottfried Osei-Mensah

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.