Meet Chris
Hello! Thanks for dropping by. It’s possible we may have met already since God has enriched my family’s life with so many friends around the world. But if not, the biography below tells you a lot more than you really need to know. Sorry it’s a bit formal and third person, but that’s how these things work apparently.
Behind it lies a wee Belfast boy whose story I owe entirely to the loving forgiveness and grace of God. It’s more about Him than me. As it should be, and I’m thankful. Soli Deo Gloria (that’s Latin for, To God alone be the glory). And I should add, I owe more of it than we’ll ever know to half a century of loving patience and support from my dear wife, Liz.
About Christopher J. H. Wright
Rev. Dr. Christopher J. H. Wright was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1947, the son of missionary parents, and nurtured as an Irish Presbyterian. After university in Cambridge, he started his career as a schoolteacher at Grosvenor High School, Belfast. Then, after completing a doctorate in Old Testament economic ethics in Cambridge, he was ordained in the Anglican Church of England in 1977 and served as an assistant pastor in the Parish Church of St. Peter & St. Paul, Tonbridge, Kent.
In 1983, he and his family went to India and he taught at the Union Biblical Seminary (UBS), Pune for five years as a mission partner with Crosslinks (formerly BCMS). While at UBS he taught a variety of Old Testament courses at BD and MTh levels.
In 1988 he returned to the UK as Academic Dean at All Nations Christian College (an international training centre for cross-cultural missions). He was then appointed Principal there in 1993.
In 2001 Chris was appointed International Director of the Langham Partnership International. Langham Partnership, a group of ministries originally founded by John Stott, is committed to the strengthening of the church in the Majority World through fostering leadership development, biblical preaching, literature and doctoral scholarships. Chris is still with Langham Partnership and currently serves as their Global Ambassador and Ministry Director (www.langham.org).
In the year before and after the third Lausanne gathering, held in Cape Town in 2010, Chris was appointed the chair of the Lausanne Theology Working Group.
The Cape Town Commitment was released in 2011 and can be read at https://lausanne.org/content/ctc/ctcommitment
Chris and his wife, Liz, who have four adult children and eleven grandchildren, belong to All Souls Church, Langham Place, London, where Chris enjoys preaching from time to time as a member of the Staff team.
By the Numbers
Books authored
If you asked John Stott how many books he had written, he would say that he never counted, since, look what happened to David when he was rash enough to do a census of his army (2 Sam. 24). But it is reckoned that he authored more than 50 in his lifetime.
The problem is, books take on lives of their own. They get re-packaged, revised, updated into new editions, combined or split up, not to mention translated or turned into audio books and lecture courses. So what counts as “one book”?
My own writing career began with some Grove Booklets (the first was Human Rights in 1979), meandered through Scripture Union Notes, emerged as a first real book with an actual spine (Living as the People of God, 1983), and now hovers somewhere around 40. More precise than that I hesitate to guess (remember David…).
Years in mission
What? How old is this guy? 70 years on the mission field? Well, no, not if by “mission field” you mean some foreign land (though I did leave Belfast for England, which some folk back home might count as going abroad).
You see, I know that I became a follower of Jesus at the age of 5 or 6, and I’ve been on mission ever since – like all Christians are, if they know their Bibles. “Saved to serve,” they told us as youngsters in church. All of us are “sent” into whatever God’s plan for our life may be, and some happen to be sent further than others (geographically speaking).
However, God’s plan for my life’s mission, so far, has included: a few years as a school teacher in Belfast;
- 5 years of post-graduate study (Old Testament)
- 47 years as an ordained minister in the Church of England, including 5 years in parish ministry in Tonbridge, the rest in theological education
- 5 years in India
- 14 years at All Nations Christian College
- The last 23 years in the leadership of Langham Partnership and as an honorary curate at All Souls Church, Langham Place.
So, I didn’t “become a missionary” when we went to India, and I didn’t stop being on mission when I came back. If that’s still a puzzle, I can recommend a few books…
Connections
It’s astonishing how many people, churches, agencies, and institutions one can be connected with over a lifetime – some very directly and long term, some for shorter periods, but all with meaningful and enriching friendships.
Here are some of those that have been a blessing to my wife Liz and me, or where I have served in some capacity.
Churches we’ve belonged to:
Berry Street Presbyterian Church, Belfast
St. Peter and St. Paul, Tonbridge
St. Paul’s Church, Pune, India
St. Cuthbert’s, Rye Park, Hertfordshire
All Souls Church, Langham Place, London
Theological and missional institutions:
Union Biblical Seminary, Pune, India
All Nations Christian College, Ware
London Institute for Contemporary Christianity (LICC)
Oxford Centre for Mission Studies (OCMS)
Overseas Ministries Study Center (OMSC), Princeton, formerly New Haven
Missional Training Center, Phoenix
Kirby Laing Centre for Public Theology, Cambridge
Arab Baptist Theological Seminary, Beirut
International Baptist Theological Study Centre, Amsterdam (IBTS), formerly Prague
Agencies, organizations and networks:
Evangelical Fellowship in the Anglican Communion (EFAC)
International Council for Evangelical Theological Education (ICETE)
Development Associates International (DAI)
Korean Global Mission Leaders Forum (KGMLF)
International Fellowship of Evangelical Students (IFES)
International Fellowship for Mission as Transformation (INFEMIT)
Photo Gallery
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Book Reviews
The Great Story and the Great Commission
Fantastic book!
Wright distils his larger works and gives us a valuable gift in this book.
The Mission of God's People
Great reading
I have thoroughly enjoyed this book. I admire Chris' spiritual approach and also his faithfulness to the biblical text. This should read by all who are serious about being authentic Christians.
The Old Testament in Seven Sentences
Good Summary of the Old Testament
Christopher Wright, if you haven't read him yet, is an excellent writer.
This is a great summary of the metanarrative of the Old Testament in a way that deals (for what it is) comprehensively with the Old Testament and is quite accessible and easy to engage with.
Bibliography
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