John Stott Distinguished by Queen of England in New Year Honors List
Correction appended
The Rev. Dr. John R. W. Stott, who many regard as one of the most significant leaders in the evangelical movement, was awarded a CBE (Commander of the British Empire) in the Queen of England's New Year Honors List “for services to Christian scholarship and the Christian world.”
The leading British evangelical Anglican and honorary chairman of the Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization received his CBE from the Queen after an illustrious life-long service to Christ. The news was released at midnight on Dec. 31, 2005.
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In response to the recognition, Stott said he was grateful that the citation read “for services to Christian Scholarship and the Christian World,” according to the LCWE.
However, he said he was somewhat embarrassed by the continuing reference to the “British Empire,” which “has long ago ceased to exist.”
The New Year Honors List is a long-standing British tradition that allows the Queen to recognize people each year for a wide variety of public, charitable, sporting and other contributions to national and international life.
Over the years, Stott has held numerous leadership positions within the international Christian community. He was chair of the Church of England Evangelical Council, president of the British Scripture Union and the British Evangelical Alliance, president four times of the Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship, and he also served as a chaplain to the queen of England from 1959 to 1991. He also founded The London Institute for Contemporary Christianity and served as its first director and president onwards, to name a few.
One of Stott’s major contributions to world evangelization was through the 1974 International Congress on World Evangelization held at Lausanne, Switzerland. Stott acted as chief of the drafting committee for the Lausanne Covenant – a declaration that provides the theological foundation for intentional world evangelization.
As chair of the Lausanne Theology and Education Group from 1974 to 1981, he contributed strongly to the growing evangelical understanding of the relation between evangelism and social action.
Stott’s commitment to the renewal of evangelicalism in the worldwide Anglican Church led to his involvement in the Evangelical Fellowship in the Anglican Communion (EFAC); from 1960 to 1981 he was honorary general secretary, and from 1986 to 1990 he served as its president. His desire to strengthen ties between evangelical theologians in Europe was a key force in the founding of the Fellowship of European Evangelical Theologians (FEET) in 1977.
Also, having written over 40 titles and hundreds of articles and other contributions to Christian literature, Stott has a prodigious literary reputation and is one of the leading Christian writers of the era.
The Rev. Billy Graham called Stott “the most respected clergyman in the world today,” and John Pollock said he is “in effect the theological leader of world evangelicalism,” according to the Langham Partnership International website.
In April of last year, Stott was named one of the 100 most influential people in the world in an article featured in TIME magazine.
Daniel Blake contributed reporting from London for this article.
Correction: Saturday, February 4, 2006:
An article on Monday, January 9, 2006, about the Rev. Dr. John R.W. Stott being distinguished by the Queen of England in her New Year Honors List incorrectly reported that he was awarded Knighthood as a CBE (Commander of the British Empire). Only the two highest ranks in the Order of the British Empire entail admission into knighthood - Knight or Dame Grand Cross (GBE) and Knight or Dame Commander (KBE or DBE).
