An introduction to Langham Partnership

Langham’s optimal goal and reason for existence is set out in its vision and mission

Our Vision

Our vision is to see churches in the majority world equipped for mission and growing to maturity in Christ through the ministry of pastors and leaders who believe, teach and live by the Word of God.

Our Mission

Our mission is to strengthen the ministry of the Word of God, through:

  • nurturing national movements for biblical preaching (Langham Preaching)
  • fostering the creation and distribution of evangelical literature (Langham Literature)
  • enhancing evangelical theological education (Langham Scholars) especially in countries where churches are under-resourced.

A number of key distinctives can be associated with Langham Partnership worldwide that shape the way we do ministry and present ourselves to supporter audiences. These are:

1.We seek to foster church growth with depth. This is fundamentally a church growth ministry. We endeavour to see churches, which may or may not already be seeing numerical growth, establish deep roots through meaningful discipleship. It is the conviction that, God is not honoured by a church that is not maturing and reflecting God’s priorities in daily living, that drives this ministry.

2.We are focused on ministry needs in the Majority World. This means that our interest is in the development of Christian leaders outside the UK & Ireland. This very clear regional focus (Latin America, Africa, Asia, the Pacific, Central Europe, and the Middle East) will always be a major factor in deciding where support will go and to which kinds of beneficiaries.

3.We are focused on Christian leadership. The Langham Logic (found on our website) drove the formation of the 3 programmes and continues to be a major driving force in determining how and where our ministry takes place. This means that supporters need to be able to see a vision for change based on a focus on leadership as being the major influencers of the church. Supporters need to think “leadership development” as crucial to church growth.

4.We are focused on high quality training. Whether facilitating PhD degrees or high quality library books for individuals or college / seminary libraries or faithful preaching based on the Bible, Langham Partnership has a very clear commitment to church growth with serious depth.

A brief history of Langham Partnership

In 1969 John Stott founded the Langham Trust to fund scholarships for young evangelical leaders from the Majority World. Recipients would study at British universities, working toward doctorates in biblical and theological fields and then returning to teach in seminaries in their home countries. The name was taken from All Souls Church, Langham Place, London—the church where John Stott was Rector (Senior Pastor) at the time. Those who received scholarship funding from the Trust became known as Langham Scholars, a worldwide family that has now grown to well over 350. The programme is now known simply as Langham Scholars.

In 1971 John Stott founded the Evangelical Literature Trust, into which he assigned all the royalties from his extensive writings in order to provide books for students, pastors and theological libraries in the Majority World. Royalties from John Stott’s books still form a substantial portion of the funds deployed by Langham Literature (as the Evangelical Literature Trust is now known).

These two trusts continued as independent charities in the U.K. for many years with separate boards and administrators. In 2001, the Evangelical Literature Trust and the Langham Trust were joined as a single charity: the Langham Partnership in the U.K. and Ireland. LP(UKI) has now absorbed and replaced ELT and LT and the merging of the two produced a single Board.

Friends of John Stott in other countries wished to support these strategic ministries. In the United States, after a period known as John Stott Ministries, the Langham member there is now Langham Partnership USA. Similar offices were started in Canada, Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand.

In 2002 a third Langham programme was added to Scholars and Literature, namely Langham Preaching.

In 2001 the national organizations in the U.K., United States, Canada and Australia decided to work together as a network with a common statement of faith, vision and mission, and so the Langham Partnership International was formed (the name has since been shortened simply to Langham Partnership). Chris Wright was appointed as International Ministries Director to provide coordination for the national bodies and for the programmes, and to take over leadership of the overall ministry from John Stott.

In 2003, the five national organisations signed a Langham Partnership Protocol for Members and Programmes that defines their common purpose and convictions, and commits them to working together in delivering the three programmes. This Protocol is regularly reviewed and revised as the organization grows and develops. The Protocol contains the organisations core statements of Vision, Mission, Faith and Values. Each national member of Langham Partnership remains an autonomous charity in its own country, but by working closely together in the Langham Partnership, they strive to fulfil the original vision and longing of John Stott. This was to see churches in the Majority World served by godly Christian leadership, both clerical and lay, who are well trained and well resourced, and who know how to preach the Bible faithfully and relevantly in their own context.

LPUKI Finance Function

The LPUKI Finance function is being re-organised in preparation for the introduction of a global accounting system. A desire to make finance a core part of the support of the three Programmes has led to the appointment of a Bookkeeper as a member of staff in the Programme Support Centre in Carlisle. The CFO will manage this member of staff but will also be part of the LPUKI national team under the Executive Director.

There is a genuine occupational requirement for this post to be filled by a practicing Christian.