Lausanne Committee Names John Stott as Honorary Chair
The Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization has named the Rev. Dr. John R. W. Stott as Honorary Chair
The Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization has named the Rev. Dr. John R. W. Stott as Honorary Chair, according to an announcement made Wednesday.
In announcing Stott’s new connection with Lausanne, the Rev. S. Douglas Birdsall, Executive Chair of Lausanne, said Stott’s name is synonymous with Lausanne in many ways because of the key role he has played in the development of the movement.
As an exemplary churchman, scholar and preacher committed to the full counsel of God, Stott has “a heart and a vision for the world,” Birdsall said in the June 28 announcement released by Lausanne. “Thus, he models the catchwords of Lausanne – the whole church taking the whole gospel to the whole world.”
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According Birdsall, Stott’s life-long service to Christ and to the work of the church provides a valuable model for emerging leaders and established leaders around the world to live a life that is “consistent with the gospel we proclaim.”
Stott’s involvement with Lausanne will also “provide inspiration for Christian leaders worldwide as they come together to address the task of global evangelization through a revitalized Lausanne movement,” Birdsall added.
Since the beginning of the Lausanne movement, Stott has been involved with Committee in various leadership roles. At the 1974 International Congress on World Evangelization, Stott served as chair of the drafting committee for the Lausanne Covenant and was one of the Covenant’s principal writers.
From 1974 to 1981 Stott chaired the Lausanne Theology and Education Group. During the Second Lausanne International Congress on World Evangelization in 1989, Stott was drafting committee chair for the Manila Manifesto, a document that affirmed the Lausanne Covenant and stated, among other things, “the urgent need for churches, mission agencies and other Christian organizations to cooperate in evangelism and social action.”
Together, the Lausanne Covenant and the Manila Manifesto continue to provide a theological and historical underpinning for denominations, ministries and individuals committed to sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Today, 84-year-old Stott is regarded by many as one of the most significant leaders in the evangelical movement and, according to the Rev. Billy Graham, is “the most respected clergyman in the world today." In April, Stott was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world in an article featured in TIME magazine.
