Elmer L. Towns

Early Life and Education

On October 21, 1932, Elmer Leon Towns, Jr. was born to Elmer Leon Towns, Sr., and Erin McFaddin Towns in Savannah, Georgia, the oldest of three children. Senior Towns was a clerk at a local hardware store. Though Elmer Sr. made middle class wages, his addiction to alcohol strained the family’s finances and eventually claimed his life. Despite the difficulties at home, Towns Jr. was consistent in attending Eastern Heights Presbyterian Church as an adolescent, though he believes his real conversion to Christianity was in 1950, at the edge of his bed following an evangelistic meeting earlier in the evening. Towns attended Columbia Bible College for three years (1950-1953) before transferring his senior year to Northwestern College in Minneapolis, Minnesota and completing his Bachelor of Arts degree. He also married his wife Ruth Jean Forbes in 1953. He then attended Dallas Theological Seminary in pursuit of a Master of Theology degree. While in that program, Towns also enrolled in Southern Methodist University to study for a Master of Arts degree in Education. He received both Masters degrees in 1958. A teaching post at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School moved Towns to Deerfield, Illinois, where he earned his Masters of Religious Education from nearby Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois in 1967. Following an extended break from being a student, he attended Fuller Theological Seminary and received a Doctor of Ministry degree in 1983.

Ministry and Influence on the Christian Church

Towns’ work in ministry began at the age of 19, when he re-opened and was pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Savannah, Georgia in 1952. Towns commuted to Savannah for ministry during his junior year at Columbia Bible College, and oversaw the church grow from being closed to over 100 attendees.

While attending graduate school at Dallas Theological Seminary, Towns attended and later joined the First Baptist Church of Dallas. Towns’ affiliation with First Baptist Church was the catalyst for his career-spanning interest in church growth and promotion of large, vibrant congregations. First Baptist Church also introduced Towns to the importance of Sunday School as an education and retention tool within the Church. Also during his time in Dallas, Towns taught philosophy at Dallas Bible College, served as Education Director for Southwest Baptist Tabernacle and pastor of Faith Bible Church.

Following seminary graduation from Dallas Theological Seminary, Towns accepted an assistant professorship in Christian Education at Midwest Bible College in St. Louis, Missouri. Towns was instrumental in helping the college achieve accreditation, and the experience earned him a place on the Accrediting Association of Bible Colleges(AABC). Towns’ involvement with AABC led to his selection in 1961 as president of Winnipeg Bible Institute and College of Theology in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada (now Providence University College and Theological Seminary). During his tenure the college became accredited, doubled enrollment and increased fundraising efforts.

In 1965, he became Associate Professor of Christian Education at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. A year later Towns became the Sunday School editor of Christian Life magazine, which he held for 22 years. Both of these appointments corresponded with a remarkable increase in published works from him. Both posts also provided Towns with an environment for gathering and analyzing data on Sunday Schools, Christian education and church growth through the use of yearly surveys, interviews and church attendance records. This combination of sociology and ministry to create models for church growth was unique. Towns used the editorial appointment to communicate to a national audience through articles and books his vision for effective Sunday School teaching and church growth, eventually becoming a leading figure in the field of Christian education. It was during this period that Towns released his first research compilation in the ground-breaking bestselling book The Ten Largest Sunday Schools and What Made Them Grow. The reception for this book was so overwhelming that Towns used his position at Christian Life to publish the list the 100 largest Sunday Schools annually for ten years. Also during this period he became an advisory board member for the Evangelical Teacher Training Association and authored a textbook and two teacher manuals.

Co-founding and Involvement with Liberty University

In 1970, Jerry Falwell believed he was called to establish an institute of higher learning. Falwell, then pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church, began a fund-raising campaign and started researching candidates to help lead the school. Falwell and Towns had met previously during the preparation for The Ten Largest Sunday Schools and What Made Them Grow, as Thomas Road Baptist Church was number nine on the list. Towns’s academic work in Christian Education and previous experiences with the college accreditation process made him a strong candidate. In 1971, Falwell and Towns co-founded Lynchburg Bible College in Lynchburg, Virginia (now Liberty University), with Falwell in an executive and fund-raising role and Towns as academic director and the school’s only full-time instructor. In 1973, Towns left Lynchburg Bible College on sabbatical and became a consultant for the consolidation of seven small Bible colleges into Baptist University of America, in Atlanta, Georgia. He then served as Vice President and Academic Dean. In 1977, Towns returned to Lynchburg Bible College as Editor-in-Chief of all publications. During this time, Towns was editor of Faith Aflame, and started and edited Fundamentalist Journal and The Journal Champion (later renamed the Moral Majority Report). He was named Dean of the seminary in 1979, and then two years later, Dean of the B.R. Lakin School of Religion, a position he still holds. Under his leadership, the School of Religion received accreditation in 1984 and started a doctoral program in 1987. During Towns academic career, he has given theological lectures and seminars at over 111 theological seminaries and colleges worldwide. He holds visiting professorship rank in five seminaries and received six honorary doctoral degrees. He has published over 2,000 reference and/or popular articles. Five doctoral dissertations have analyzed his contribution to religious education and evangelism.

Church Growth Institute

In 1983, Towns joined with Larry Gilbert to found the Church Growth Institute, Inc. for the purpose of creating and distributing educational content and seminars on the area of church growth for local congregations (both pastors and laymen). A popular seminar on Sunday School revitalization was attended by over 60,000 people in the first five years it was offered. The most recognizable contribution by the Institute to the ministry community was the creation of the Friend Day program, in which congregation members were encouraged to invite non-believing friends to a special seek-friendly service at a local church. Over 15,000 churches participated in the first Friend Day, and it became a perennial event in many churches over the next decade. Towns continues to be active in this ministry, producing resource packets and education material.

Awards and Acknowledgements

In 1995 Towns’ book The Names of the Holy Spirit received the Gold Medallion Award for Book of the Year by the Christian Booksellers Association. In 2009 Towns was awarded the Bronze Telly Award for Through the Decades.