The Ten Most Influential Churches of the Past Century: And How They Impact You Today

by Elmer L. Towns

Your Church Can Influence the World History has shown that great leaders have the ability to reach beyond the walls of their churches to influence cultures for Christ. We’ve seen it in the Pentecostal/Charismatic movement, in the explosive growth of house churches in Communist China, in the expansion of the Southern Baptist Convention, and in the worldwide rise of praise and worship music led by Hillsong Church, among other phenomena. In The Ten Most Influential Churches of the Past Century , Dr. Elmer Towns presents evidence of the powerful influence of these churches and how their innovative strategies and faith accomplish these goals. Then he tells how you can apply these principles to your church. You will learn how some of the most influential leaders in Church history became conduits for your future ministry and how your church can experience exponential growth. Most importantly, you will see that the great results in these ten churches grow out of the power of the Word of God, the ministry of many dedicated lay workers, the faith-producing ministry of great leaders—all under the anointing of the Holy Spirit.

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 20, 2015

About the author

Dr. Elmer Towns is a college and seminary professor, an author of popular and scholarly works (the editor of two encyclopedias), a popular seminar lecturer, and dedicated worker in Sunday school, and has developed over 20 resource packets for leadership education. He began teaching at Midwest Bible College, St. Louis, Missouri, for three years and was not satisfied with his textbooks so he began writing his own (he has published over 100 books listed in the Library of Congress, 7 listed in the Christian Booksellers Best Selling List; several becoming accepted as college textbooks. He is also the 1995 recipient of the coveted Gold Medallion Award awarded by the Christian Booksellers Association for writing the Book of the Year, i.e., The Names of the Holy Spirit.

He was President of Winnipeg Bible College for five years, leading it to receive American Accreditation and Provincial authority to offer degrees (1960-1965). He taught at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, in greater Chicago, Illinois, in the field of Religious Education and Evangelism (1965-1971).

He is co-founder of Liberty University, with Jerry Falwell, in 1971, and was the only full-time teacher in the first year of Liberty's existence. Today, the University has over 11,400 students on campus with 39,000 in the Distance Learning Program (now Liberty University Online), and he is the Dean of the School of Religion.

Dr. Towns has given theological lectures and taught intensive seminars at over 50 theological seminaries in America and abroad. He holds visiting professorship rank in five seminaries. He has written over 2,000 reference and/or popular articles and received six honorary doctoral degrees. Four doctoral dissertations have analyzed his contribution to religious education and evangelism.

His personal education includes a B.S. from Northwestern College in Minneapolis, Minnesota, a M.A. from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, a Th.M. from Dallas Theological Seminary also in Dallas, a MRE from Garrett Theological Seminary in Evanston, Illinois, and a D.Min. from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, California.

Reviews

[Nick Jones · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's okay. I learned quite a bit, but probably not the way the author intended.

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was interesting and helpful to learn the stories of these churches and trends. I had been expecting a book which included churches of more denominations and would have appreciated that. The book could also have used some better editing. Dates were sometimes confused and information often repeated. Still, I found the book interesting overall.

[Roxanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an excellent book about what the author thinks are the most ten influential churches in the past century. I was familiar with some of the churches in CA since I am from there. The book discusses how the churches have evolved, how baby boomers have changed churches and it lists what each church believes and how they each teach and what the strengths and weaknesses of each one is. It was informative for anyone interested in learning more about how churches have progressed.