Putting an End to Worship Wars

by Elmer L. Towns

This book explains that there are numerous approaches to worship, all biblically and culturally appropriate. The result is that everyone gains a new appreciation for differing styles within a context of courtesy, selflessness, and a willingness to listen openly to opposing views.

193 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

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

[Dr Author O Wright, PhD, MinD, ThD, DD · Rating 4 out of 5]

Putting an end to Worship Wars by Elmer L. Towns presents an enlightening research on the dynamic behind Worship Wars in the American churches. In so doing, Dr. Towns describes six worship paradigms (or styles) involving church growth. He meticulously described each of the paradigms pointing out the strengths and weaknesses of each worship style. Even though he says that some of the worship styles can be found in all churches, he does align certain worship styles with certain churches. This book has a wealth of knowledge on how people worship and provides invaluable insight on the dynamic behind each of the different worship paradigms. It is truly a valuable aid to biblical students who desire to know more about advance worship in the American churches in the 21st Century. It is also highly recommended for all Bible and Seminary students.