CAVE CREEK, AZ – The vision of the Langham Partnership 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.

The ministry concept and partnership was created under the leadership of John Stott in 1969. Originally the Langham Trust, it was named for the Langham Place community where Stott pastored All Souls Church, Between 1996 and 2011, the partnership in the United States became John Stott Ministries to capitalize on his status as a pastor, author, and teacher. In accordance with his wishes, the name was changed to the Langham Partnership following his death in 2011.

The Langham Logic

Langham, its purpose, and its methods were birthed using a syllogism to lay a foundation upon which to build the vision.

Whereas God wants His church to grow up in maturity (not just numbers), and

Whereas the church grows through God’s Word, and

Whereas the Word of God comes to people primarily through biblical preaching,

Therefore, the logical response is to strive to raise the standards of biblical preaching so that the church may grow in maturity and fulfill its mission in the world.

The Langham Strategy

The partnership has intensely focused on God’s Word for the purpose of raising the standards of biblical teaching to better equip believers with His Word so that they grow in Christ-likeness and are equipped to accomplish the Great Commission.

Team members trust God’s Word to bring about lasting changes, “to yield immeasurable results, change hearts and minds, create lasting impact, and address sin and social issues with the truth. This combination inevitably leads to personal application and action.

Langham implements its strategy through three tactical approaches.

• Equipping Bible-teaching Pastors
• Developing biblical resources
• Cultivating theological leaders

The Langham Methods

Did you realize that more than 80% of pastors around the world have little or no biblical training? There are more than two million pastors who are not equipped to help the believers in their churches to understand and apply God’s Word.

“If it is true (as Jesus said quoting from Deuteronomy) that human beings live not on bread alone but on God’s Word, it is equally true of churches. Churches live, grow, and flourish by the Word of God, and they languish and die without it.” – John Stott

Pastors receive regular training at Langham seminars. They bring it home to local “preaching circles” in which they provide continual training for other pastors and lay leaders who then apply it to their shepherding of local believers. As the Word takes hold in individual lives, their churches become more effective salt and light in their communities.

Langham funds and guides future Bible scholars along the path to obtain graduate degrees in Bible and theology. These scholars become the trainers and mentors for pastors and future pastors. The trained pastors start new ministries and make new disciples.

But Langham does not leave the pastors and scholars without resources. Especially in the Majority World, i.e., the “Third World” or the “Developing World” where the majority of the world lives. They provide books for 599 Bible colleges and seminaries around the world. Many of those books become required texts. Nearly 85% of those schools would not have the books they need without the Langham Partnership.

The Langham Impact

The need for ministries like the Langham Partnership is greater than one might realize.

“In many regions around the world, the growth rate of Christianity exceeds the general population growth. In Asia alone, the growth of Christianity is twice as fast.”

Tens of millions of new believers are struggling to grow in Christ because of a lack of Christian leadership and resources. They are, therefore, extremely susceptible to accepting false teaching or remaining captive to cultural beliefs. The sheep need trained and equipped shepherds. Langham is helping to provide them for countries all around the globe.

“The statistics of church growth are enormously encouraging. But it is often growth without depth, and there is much superficiality everywhere. As in first-century Corinth, there is a tension between the divine ideal and the human reality, between what is and what ought to be, between the ‘already’ and the ‘not yet.’ Thus, the church is both united and divided, both holy and unholy, both the guardian of truth and prone to error. Everywhere the church boasts great things, and everywhere it fails to live up to its boasts.”  – John Stott

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