Talk of the Towns

In 2009, Jackie Johnson Towns always sat in the front row of the Bible class taught by Liberty co-founder Elmer Towns.

Jackie got a lot out of that class — another course toward earning her degree in biblical studies, of course. But he also indirectly convinced her to travel to Texas and achieve her master’s in Theology at Dallas Theological Seminary a few years later.

But never in her wildest dreams could she have imagined that, nearly a decade later, she would be spending the rest of her life with the man she refers to as “the legendary Dr. Towns.”

Unbeknownst to many Liberty students, the two were married in a quiet ceremony May 22, 2016, after a whirlwind romance neither of them anticipated.

Despite Jackie’s enrollment as a student in Towns’ class, it was not until late 2015 when the two interacted again.  Jackie, 59 at the time, had been considering returning to Dallas for her doctorate, and wanted to meet the person who inspired her to go there in the first place.

“This girl walks into my Sunday school class,” Towns said. “And she gave me her card. It said, ‘Jackie Johnson: Biblical Story Teller.’”

“He said, ‘Yeah, you need to go back to Dallas,” Jackie said. “That was it.”

Or so she thought.

A few months later, while spending time with her children and grandchildren, Jackie received a text from Towns asking if she would be willing to collaborate with him on translating biblical stories for 12 of his courses.

She believed it to be a prank until she heard his voice over the phone, after which her skepticism turned to uncertainty. She was attending DTS again, and the task Towns had proposed seemed daunting. But Jackie knew the exact words that convinced her.

“He said, ‘Jackie, the greatest compliment anyone can give you is to ask you to do a job that is too big for you to do,’” Jackie said, pulling a blue paper heart from her purse dated Jan. 21, 2016. “I wrote it down (on here). I keep it with me all the time.”

At the time, there was nothing romantic about Towns’ proposal at all.

“We were supposed to be business partners,” Jackie said.

But after a few weeks of interacting, Elmer began to have different thoughts.

“I found out she was a former student,” Towns said. “And then I found out she was a widow and that she works at a church.”

Eventually, Elmer, a widower himself since 2013, outright asked her: could she entertain the notion of a relationship between the two of them?

For Jackie, it was a jolt.

“The man started pursuing me,” Jackie said. “It was weird. It freaked me out because I knew him (as a professor).  He wasn’t Elmer to me, he was Dr. Towns.”

Towns himself had uncertainties of his own—mainly, the gaping 25-year age difference. Dating Jackie would mean entering a relationship with a woman younger than his oldest daughter. Jackie, on the other hand, was unperturbed.

“He’s very energetic. He golfs. He travels around the world,” Jackie said. “He’s not a normal 85-year-old.”

What concerned Jackie was the possibility that a relationship might interfere with her mission as an evangelist.

After being widowed at the age of 45, Jackie made evangelical leadership the center of her life. The ministry she founded is called Stories of Glory, and she focuses on biblical storytelling across the globe. Her work gained her the title of the National Association of Professional Women’s 2016 Woman of the Year.

Her ministry has been her passion for nearly two decades, and she was unwilling to give it up for anything.

“I knew that if I was going to enter a relationship, I was not going to give up my calling,”
Jackie said. “It’s something you’ll die for.”

Besides, Towns had not been the first to pursue Jackie. Since the death of her husband 15 years ago, she has had similar offers from many other men—but she turned down all of them.

“I’ve been asked before, and God always said no,” Jackie said. “So, I prayed about it this time and God said yes. He gave me peace in my spirit, and I knew in my heart I was supposed to care for him and keep him happy.”

The two dated for about four months. On the weekends, Jackie would drive down to Liberty University from her home in Maryland.

And after some discussion on taking the next step, the two decided to get married.

“He actually texted me to pick out rings,” Jackie said. “I was like, ‘Oh, okay, this is happening.’”

The ceremony was held at Thomas Road Baptist Church, officiated by Jonathan Falwell and attended by Jerry Falwell and Charles Billingsley.

“We have one heart, and one mind,” Towns said, adding that it is not uncommon for theological debates to dominate their conversation. Nevertheless, Jackie has enjoyed adjusting to married life again.

The Townses do get to travel together, despite their busy schedules. In early October, they returned from South Asia, where Jackie is currently focusing her ministry. Days later, the two flew out again Oct. 18 to Kentucky for Elmer to present to a conference. They have even been able to lead a few couples’ retreats.

But they spend as much time together as they do separate.

With Jackie pursuing her Doctorate of Ministry in Texas, and Towns frequently leaving the country, they estimate that they have only spent nine of the past 18 months together.

“I tell her, ‘I love you as much when I’m with you as when we’re apart,’” Towns said.  “Because I know when we’re apart, we’re serving the Lord.’”

Elmer and Jackie Towns agree that the same passions that force them apart also keep them together.

“We are always God-centered, always God-focused,” Jackie said. “And that’s why we work.”