1966 And All That: Reflections On Evangelical Unity Fifty Years After The Public Disagreement Between Martyn Lloyd-Jones And John Stott

Oct 18, 2016 by Jill

by John Stevens:

Tuesday 18^th October 2016 marks the 50^th Anniversary of Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ address at the Second National Assembly of Evangelicals organised by the Evangelical Alliance and held at Westminster Central Hall. I was not at the Assembly, which is unsurprising because I had not even born when it took place! However what happened there has deeply shaped my experience of British evangelicalism over the last thirty years. Lloyd-Jones’ address, which was characterised by many as a call for evangelicals to leave mixed denominations and join a “united evangelical church”, led to a parting of the ways between Non-Conformist and Anglican evangelicals, and a division between the two great evangelical statesmen of the era, Lloyd-Jones and John Stott. The hostility and mutual suspicion generated fractured gospel unity for a generation.

Many have written about what happened, often to defend either Lloyd-Jones or John Stott, and have shared their recollections and their testimony to the impact that the evening had on their lives and ministries. Initial assessments tended to be highly critical of Lloyd-Jones, whereas more recent work has identified weaknesses with the approaches of both main protagonists.

It is all too easy to judge the past with the benefit of perfect hindsight, but these are my reflections on what took place, and some important lessons I think we can learn for today.

Read here