I have posted a number of tributes to John Stott from around the web. “Uncle John,” as some affectionately called him, died this past Wednesday at the age of 90. John Stott was a leading evangelical figure, if not the leading evangelical figure, in the Church of England in the second half of the twentieth century and well into the first decade of the twenty-first century. He influenced more than one generation of evangelicals both in and outside the Anglican Church.
What I find disquieting is that the Anglican Church in North America, the Anglican Diocese of Pittsburgh, and the Anglican Mission in the Americas have not acknowledged his death on their web sites, much less posted a tribute to John Stott, who was a globally prominent Anglican leader. Even the Trinity School for Ministry, with whom John Stott had a long relationship, has nothing on its web site.
John Stott will be missed in some quarters even if his passing elicits no reaction in others. Or do I hear a collective sigh of relief behind the deafening silence?
12 comments:
I would hope they would comment by the end of the week. If not, then Houston we have a problem!
David,
So would I.
One RE Bishop in North dakota just put the notice on his report but did not say anything personally about him. I commented though of course being the pesky fellow I am!
David,
Which bishop? What's his URL?
If the ACNA, Pittburgh,and the AMiA do not post something in a reasonable time period and make the right noises, it will be further evidence of the distance between those bodies and the Anglican evangelical community, the same folks who are backing them as GAFCON in North America.
National Review had a post on his death last night. I linked it to my blog. Stott's "Basic Christianity" was the first book I read after becoming a Christian in college, 1972. So few heralds of the gospel in the Anglican church today... he will be missed.
Robin,
As I said earlier to you, I do not find it particularly that the ac/na & Co. haven't issued obituaries of their own for John Stott. I believe that they are not really interested in anything but what they perceive may promote themselves and their own agenda. They're no more authentically evangelical than they are Anglican. This apple, time and time, again and again, prove not to have fallen very far from the tree from which they fell.
The American Anglican Council web site posted the BBC article reporting John Stott's death. But the ACNA, ADP, AMiA, and TSM web sites have so far posted nothing.
Anglican Essentials has posted a brief announcement of John Stott's death and a link to the John Stott Remembrance page. The Anglican Network in Canada website has nothing.
Among those who have posted a tribute to John Stott on the John Stott Remembrance Page is the Rt. Rev. Dr. Mark Camp. Bishop Camp was the former Archbishop of the Anglican Province of Christ the Good Shepherd. He now serves as an Assistant Bishop to the Rt. Rev. Foley Beach, Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of the South, a member judicatory of the Anglican Church in North America. Bishop Camp is also the rector of the Church of the Trinity, an Anglican parish in Hiram, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta. He has so far been the only ACNA bishop to post a tribute to John Stott. None of the AMiA bishops have posted a tribute. Bishop John Rodger's reticence is particularly surprising.
The Episcopal News Service ran an article, "Anglican evangelist, biblical scholar John Stott dies," on July 28th. It is on the Internet at: http://www.
episcopalchurch.org/80263_129264_ENG_HTM.htm
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/george.b.fincke
He had it on his Fincke report the other day Robin.
Trinity School for Ministry has finally posted a tribute to John Stott on its web site. TSM also held a memorial service. However, the ACNA and the AMiA still have nothing on their web sites.
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