John Stott: The Making of a Leader: A Biography of the Early Years

John Stott: The Making of a Leader: A Biography of the Early Years by Dudley-Smith, Timothy. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9780830822072.

Winner of the 2001 John Pollock Award for Christian Biography! John Stott stands as one of the towering figures of Christianity in the twentieth century. He was a key framer of the historic Lausanne Covenant (1974). And he wrote Basic Christianity which has sold over three million copies in more than fifty languages. From his home base of All Souls Church in Londons West End, he has shaped the face of evangelicalism around the world. But what has shaped John Stott? How did he become what Christianity Today calls "evangelicalisms premier teacher and preacher?" Timothy Dudley-Smith, a longtime friend and co-worker, offers in this book the beginning of a monumental study of Stotts life--tracking the early influences, challenges and achievements that set the course for a lifetime of Christian ministry. Dudley-Smith traces the growth of young Stott, who even as a child attended church and Sunday school at All Souls. He shows us Stotts conversion as a teenager and the subsequent influence upon his growth of Scripture Unions E. J. H. Nash. Here and in the British Inter-Varsity Fellowship of Cambridge, Stotts leadership abilities and concern for evangelism were already apparent. But strain between Stott and his father was pronounced as Stott began to follow his call to ministry while World War II embroiled his country. After his ordination at the close of the war, he renewed his association with All Souls, and he launched creative and energetic evangelism campaigns while providing leadership for the emerging evangelical movement within the Anglican Church and around the world. Covering Stotts first forty years, this volume reveals his lighthearted humanity and his resolute focus on Gods Word and Gods work in the world. Here youll discover the fascinating detail and rewarding overview of a life that is at once instructive and inspiring.