John Stott's Memorial Service to be held in London on January 13th

I TOOK THIS PICTURE IN EARLY 1985 AT THE LONDON

INSTITUTE. WHEN I RETURNED TO THE U.S., I REFERRED

TO THIS MOMENT BETWEEN JOHN STOTT AND THIS LADY

AS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING I SAW DURING MY YEAR

IN THE UK.

It has been almost 28 years since John and I first became friends. I was only 33 years old when he greeted me with a warm embrace and with very kind, receiving words at the door of All Souls: "Rod, my dear brother, how good it is to have you with us." That brotherly welcome and the genuine, loving interest he immediately took in my life forever altered the pathway of our family. He and Martyn Eden had allowed me to attend the Clergy School at LICC, although I was not a clergyman at the time. During those days in May of 1984, John granted my request to do the Christian in the Modern World course (and other studies) at LICC, and he invited me to be in his tutorial group and to meet with him individually over the course of my time at the institute. Becky, the boys, and I then moved to the UK in early August and were there for almost exactly one year to the day. But when we returned to the U.S., the friendship continued between John and each one of our five family members.

Jim, John, Becky, Jake, Uncle John, and Rod - London, 1984

Birdwatching on the levee of the Mississippi River, 1987

Uncle John and "Johnny" (Uncle John was

called this as a boy, and so he chose to

call our John the same.) pause at the edge

of an oxbow lake near the Mississippi

River to look at waterfowl, 1996.

I want to write much more about John's great friendship toward us -- of how he encouraged me to pursue ordained ministry (on a particular evening at 12 Weymouth), of how he initiated a visit to our home in Baton Rouge and spent several days with us (with no ministry engagements on the schedule here), of blessed days of birdwatching in Louisiana and at the Hookses, of laughter (until tears poured from his eyes!) over the reading of Saki, of the invitation to be a part of the Langham work, . . . . Beyond any further mention of our shared experiences, I will simply say that John was a real friend -- a lasting friend -- to Becky, to me, and to our sons, Jake, Jim, and John.