About John Stott Ministries

John Stott Ministries is the U.S. chapter of the Langham Partnership International (LPI), a network of three integrated programs— Scholars, Literature and Preaching. LPI’s vision is to see Majority World churches being equipped for mission and growing to maturity through the ministry of Christian leaders and pastors who believe, study, expound, and apply the Word of God. The Scholars Program provides scholarships for theological Ph.D. studies to evangelical leaders who will have strategic influence in their home countries. The Literature Program distributes evangelical books to pastors, theological students and seminary libraries. In addition, Literature facilitates the writing, translating and publishing of materials in local and regional languages. The Preaching Program builds movements for biblical preaching in the Majority World.

Download a copy of “John Stott Ministries in Brief” (pdf format)

Vision and Mission

In his travels, pastor and author John Stott witnessed firsthand the major fact of church history in the 20th
century:  the phenomenal growth of the Christian Church in the continents of the south and east, the Majority World.

When he began his ministry at All Souls Church, Langham Place, London, right at the midpoint of the 20th century, it was still the case that most of the world’s Christians lived in Europe and North America.

However, now at the start of the 21st century, at least 75% of the world’s Christians are non-Western. It is disheartening to note, however, that so often this growth is without depth — that is, evangelistic and numerical growth takes place without discipling, teaching and maturity. So, the Langham Partnership and John Stott Ministries (in the United States) was created, based upon three convictions. These are convictions which can be demonstrated from the Bible, and which John Stott likes to call “The Langham Logic”:

            •           God wants his Church to grow up in maturity (not just in numbers). It is clear from the Bible as a whole that God is not pleased with shallowness and immaturity. The Apostle Paul, who was of course a great missionary and church-planter, was not content merely to multiply churches. His greatest aim, he said, was to present everyone mature in Christ (Col. 1:28-29).

            •           The church grows through God’s Word. The Bible is the primary means by which God nourishes his people. The Bible teaches and guides them in what they are to believe and how they are to live. It is the Word of God that grows the people of God. We live not by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God (Matt. 4:4, referring to Deut. 8:3). Churches that are regularly fed by the Scriptures show healthy growth in maturity and witness.

            •           The Word of God comes to people primarily through preaching. Of course, people can read the Bible for themselves — if they are literate, if the Bible exists in their languages, and if they can afford one for themselves. For many millions of Christians one or more of these conditions may not apply. So the only opportunity they have to be fed by the Bible is when it is preached or taught to them in the course of Christian worship. But the standards of preaching and clear exposition of the Bible are sadly very poor or non-existent in so many parts of the world. Even in many churches that call themselves “evangelical,” the Bible is hardly ever preached in a simple, systematic and applied way.

So, if we are concerned for the maturity and mission of the church around the world, and if the above three convictions are true, then the logical question to ask is:

What can we do to raise the standards of biblical preaching?

This basic question led John Stott to found the various ministries which have now come together to form the Langham Partnership International. They are all geared toward enabling and resourcing pastors and other Christian leaders to preach and teach the Bible, faithfully and effectively — in order to feed the church and deepen its growth.

Likewise, the mission of JSM is to serve the church in the Majority World by supporting evangelical graduate students who will disciple and train leaders and pastors in their own countries and in their local contexts. JSM accomplishes this by providing Ph.D. scholarships to these strategic leaders, and by facilitating programs to help pastors preach (and lead) effectively, and by supporting writers and providing literature to theological students, schools and pastors.

Statement of Faith

John Stott Ministries and Langham Partnership International are committed to the fundamental truths of historic biblical Christianity, in accordance with which we affirm:

A. There is one, eternal God, Creator and Lord of the universe who, in the unity of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, both governs all things according to God’s will and is accomplishing God’s purpose in the world and in the church.

B. The Holy Scripture in its entirety is inspired by God’s Spirit through human authors and constitutes the revelation of God’s truth to humanity. It is wholly true and trustworthy in all that it affirms. Whatever the Bible, rightly interpreted, is found to teach, we are bound to believe and obey. It is our supreme authority in every matter of belief and conduct.

C. All human beings are created in God’s own likeness and therefore have inherent value and equality before God. Human sin and guilt since the fall have rendered us subject to God’s wrath and condemnation and have resulted in our alienation from God’s life, suppression of God’s truth and hostility to God’s law. God’s love desires all to come to repentance and to be reconciled rather than condemned.

D. Salvation from the guilt, penalty and all other consequences of sin has been achieved solely through the work of Jesus Christ – his perfect obedience, substitutionary death, bodily resurrection and exaltation as Lord. Jesus alone is truly God and truly human, the only mediator between God and humanity. There is salvation through no other person, creed, process or power. Each sinner is justified before God and reconciled to God only by divine grace appropriated by faith alone.

E. The work of the Holy Spirit is necessary for the individual’s new birth and growth to maturity. The Holy Spirit empowers and indwells the church, enabling its constant renewal in truth, wisdom, faith, holiness, love, ministry, power and mission.

F. There is one, holy, universal and apostolic church, which is the Body of Christ, and to which all true believers belong. The church’s calling is to worship God forever and to serve God in the world.

G. As the Father sent the Son into the world, so the Lord Jesus Christ sends his church to participate in God’s mission by words and works. In this mission the church is called: to make Christ known; to proclaim God’s truth and the gospel of God’s grace; to make disciples among all nations; to exhibit God’s character through compassionate care for the needy; to demonstrate the reality of God’s kingdom through creative and sacrificial living, the community of love, the quest for righteousness, justice and peace, and the care of God’s creation.

H. As the Lord Jesus ascended to his Father, so he will return personally, visibly and in glory. He will raise the dead and bring salvation and judgment to final completion. God will then fully establish his Kingdom and finish the new creation - a new heaven and a new earth from which all evil and evildoers, all suffering and death, will be excluded and in which God will be glorified forever.

Organization

John Stott Ministries is overseen by a board of directors, with day-to-day management delegated to the president. Please click here for the complete list of board members.

View JSM's Annual Reports