Stott died on 27 July 2011 at the College of St Barnabas in Lingfield at 3:15 pm local time. He was surrounded by family and close friends and they were reading the Bible and listening to Handel's Messiah when he peacefully died. An obituary in "Christianity Today" reported that his death was due to age-related complications and that he had been in discomfort for several weeks. The obituary described him as "An architect of 20th-century evangelicalism shaped the faith of a generation." His status was such that his death was reported in the secular media. The BBC referred to him as someone who could "explain complex theology in a way lay people could easily understand". Obituaries were published in "The Daily Telegraph" and "The New York Times".