For over 30 years, John Stott has been asking Majority World Church leaders: “How can your brothers and sisters in the West be of assistance to you in a truly non-paternalistic way?” Their response has been: “Help our pastors preach and teach more effectively.” Dr Stott’s response was to begin the ministries which are now united in the Langham Partnership International and which provides scholarships, literature and preaching workshops which have each been intentionally created to enable non-Western churches to grow in both numbers and in spiritual depth.
Langham Partnership International now includes six national movements (UK & Ireland, USA-John Stott Ministries, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and Hong Kong, China). In addition, more than a dozen Regional Councils have been created so that Majority World church leaders can provide insight and direction for Langham’s ministry in their countries. Today three programs continue the efforts that John Stott pioneered more than 30 years ago. Langham Scholars, is directed by Steve Hardy, and provides Ph.D. training for up to 100 emerging leaders each year so they may serve in key leadership positions in seminaries, churches, and other ministries in their home countries. Pieter Kwant directs Langham Literature, which enables local church leaders to write and publish needed books and distributes tens of thousands of books to seminary libraries, students, and pastors each year. Langham Preaching is headed by Jonathan Lamb, and seeks to respond to requests to launch biblical preaching movements in countries around the world.
John Stott, in talking about the Langham Partnership International comments:
The church is growing everywhere of course, or nearly everywhere, but it’s often growth without depth and we are concerned to overcome this lack of depth, this superficiality, by remembering that God wants his people to grow. Now if God wants his people to grow into maturity, which he does, and if they grow by the word of God, which they do, and if the word of God comes to them mainly through preaching, which it does, then the logical question to ask is how can we help to raise the standards of biblical preaching? The 3 ministries of the Langham Partnership are all devoted to the same thing – either immediately or ultimately – to raise the standards of preaching through books, through scholarships and through Langham Preaching seminars.
In order for this strategic ministry to continue to grow, we need your support. To contribute please visit our donor page.