Elmer Leon Towns (born October 21, 1932) is an American Christian academic, pastor and writer who co-founded Liberty University alongside Jerry Falwell in 1971.
Towns Jr. frequently attended Eastern Heights Presbyterian Church as a teenager, though he believes his real conversion to Christianity came in 1950, following an evangelistic meeting earlier in the evening.
[5][6][9] Towns acquired a teaching post at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and moved to Deerfield, Illinois, where he earned his Master of Religious Education from the nearby Garrett–Evangelical Theological Seminary in 1967.
Towns commuted to Savannah to serve as pastor of the church during his junior year at Columbia Bible College, and the congregation grew to over 100 attendees under his leadership.
[5][9] Following graduation from Dallas Theological Seminary, Towns accepted an assistant professorship in Christian Education at Midwest Bible College in St. Louis, Missouri.
[5][6][9] 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.
[5][9] In 1970, Jerry Falwell, then pastor of Thomas Road Baptist Church, began a fund-raising campaign to create an institute of higher learning 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.
[5] 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 acquaintances to a special seeker-friendly service at a local church.