SAN DIEGO, CA, July 01, 2020 /24-7PressRelease/ -- John H. Townsend has been inducted into Marquis Who's Who. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.
Leading a diversified and successful career for nearly five decades, Mr. Townsend was responsible for co-founding MATTHEW 25:34-40 Ministries, for which he has additionally served as the senior pastor and the chief executive officer since 1998. During this time, he has become an instrumental leader who has taught prayer, biblical leadership and leadership development for many years. Likewise, he has been active on various non-profit religious organization boards, including The Most Excellent Way and Mission Valley Community Chapel. Mr. Townsend is presently on the boards of the San Diego Downtown Fellowship of Churches and Ministries and Emmaus Road International.
Mr. Townsend was commissioned into the US Navy upon graduating from Purdue University in 1969 with a BSEE (R&D), where he was in the NROTC program. He then served as an anti-submarine warfare officer aboard the USS Gurke (DD783) from 1969 to 1971 and a project officer in the Navy Electronics Laboratory Center in San Diego between 1971 and 1973. He volunteered as a spiritual lay leader during combat operations on the Gurke. Honorably discharged after four years of Navy service, Mr. Townsend transitioned to a career as a civilian engineer with the Naval Electronics Laboratory Center/Naval Ocean Systems Center in San Diego as an electronics systems engineer, a senior projects manager, the head of electronic systems design, and as a business development manager, contributing to dozens of systems delivered to the Fleet. He retired from federal service in 2002 after over 30 years of civil service added to his 8 years of credited service in the Navy. He continued as a consulting engineer to several companies for another decade while he was also developing the MATTHEW 25:34-40 Ministries.
Mr. Townsend and his wife, Dr. Susan E. Townsend, established MATTHEW 25:34-40 Ministries in 1998. MATTHEW 25:34-40 Ministries is a church and an umbrella for over 40 ministries of service, all of which are functioning in over 80 nations and spanning every continent; it has mission headquarters the US, India, and Ukraine. MATTHEW 25:34-40 was founded to encapsulate ministries that the Townsends had been involved in through their volunteer activities throughout their marriage, having been officers in the San Diego County Jail Ministries and volunteers at the San Diego Rescue Mission, the Metropolitan Correctional Center, San Diego (1983-1998), and Forefront Ministries (Save Our Students). While still working for the Navy, Mr. Townsend started daily prayer meetings, Bible studies, and discipleship studies among his engineering and scientific coworkers which evolved into Church@Work, now a key ministry of MATTHEW 25:34-40 Ministries. Church-On-The-Streets (COTS) is another ministry to homeless camps, currently in about 2 dozen cities in the US; Church@Work oversees the COTS ministry. Church@Work has spread to every continent with tens of thousands of daily participants. Mr. Townsend has been a tireless advocate of the homeless and youth ministries, to which he has contributed in numerous capacities. He represents the SD Downtown Fellowship on the San Diego Youth Homelessness Consortium.
A published author, Mr. Townsend has written several books relating to engineering, including "Project Management/System Engineering Guide" in 1989 and "Suggestions for Designers of Navy Electronic Equipment" in 1985. He holds a U.S. patent for a protective communications helmet and has also offered his expertise to solar powered electronic bibles and beta tested numerous Bible study software editions going back to 1980. He has been published in several religious works as well, including "God Is…" in 1990, "The Lord Said, 'Be…'" in 1994 and "Ecclesiastes, A Course for Small Group Discipleship" in 2009. He has been doing original research in spiritual trauma and health, leading to ministries to victims of post-traumatic stress, sexual abuse, bullying, and homelessness. The practical applications of his research are published in resources on the MATTHEW 25:34-40 Ministries website (https://www.mt25v34.org). In the coming years, Mr. Townsend plans to publish a new book titled "Seeking Truth" that will serve as a spiritual and philosophical teaching guide, printed in several different languages.
Raised in a very religious family, Mr. Townsend's father, J. Russell Townsend, Jr. and his great-grandfather, Rev. Dr. Samuel R. Ferguson, a Presbyterian Missionary in the western US, inspired him to become involved in the church and its works in the community. Russell Townsend, an elder, took his son on visits to the local rescue mission, sick members, new members, and shut-ins of the church. John Townsend became an avid reader of the sermons and letters written by his great-grandfather and stored at his grandparent's home, where young Townsend spent every Saturday night while growing up. Mr. Townsend later became ordained to ministry through the Christ Fellowship Church in 1988.
Mr. Townsend briefly chaired the San Diego Engineering Management Society and was recruited to several other professional societies during his career, including the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He has contributed to several ethical codes of professional societies. He is a lifetime member of the U.S. Naval Institute and the Purdue Alumni Association. He was honored with a Publications Award for his 1989 book, "Project Management and Systems Engineering Guide." He was awarded a Navy Achievement Medal for his engineering services to the Navy while on active duty. A celebrated Marquis listee, Mr. Townsend has been featured in the 72nd edition of Who's Who in America, the 21st edition of Who's Who in the West and the second and third editions of Who's Who of Emerging Leaders in America.
J(ohn) Russell Townsend, Jr. is listed in WW in the Midwest 9th ed, WW in Finance & Industry 26th ed, & WW in the World 9th ed., (John Holt Townsend's father); Virginia Holt Townsend is listed in WW in American Women 3rd ed, (John Holt Townsend's mother); Susan Elaine Townsend (Phd) is listed in WW of Emerging Leaders in America 2nd ed., WW in American Women 16th ed., & WW in America 1994 Vol 2. (John Holt Townsend's wife)
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