Leadership past and present

The coming month marks the centenary of the birth of that notable Anglican evangelical leader, John Stott. We carry some reflections on his legacy here.

Stott’s influence was and is immense, of course – just as that of some of his contemporaries, such as J. I. Packer and Martyn Lloyd-Jones, continues to be. Today there are fewer who exercise this sort of overarching leadership, though Tim Keller is perhaps one notable figure who does.

Nowadays, especially after recent scandals, we are maybe rightly more sceptical of what has been called ‘Papal Evangelicalism’, which carries many potential snares with it. But no hint of impropriety has ever attached itself to those mentioned above. Perhaps many of our predecessors were better at remembering that right doctrine and right behaviour go together. Simply ‘being sound’ is useless without holiness and love.