Townend, son of a
Church of England vicar in
Sowerby Bridge,
West Yorkshire has three older siblings. Townend started learning to play the piano at age 7. At the age of 13, he made a Christian commitment, and began songwriting at age 22. He studied literature at the
University of Sussex. He is married with three children. Townend has led musical/sung worship and performed events across the world at conferences and festivals, including the
Stoneleigh Bible Week in the early 1990s to the early 2000s,
Keswick Convention and
Spring Harvest. He has appeared on
Songs of Praise and worked with other Christian musicians, including
Keith Getty,
Lou Fellingham and
Phatfish. In 2005,
Cross Rhythms magazine described Townend as "one of the most significant songwriters in the whole international Christian music field". The Christian website Crosswalk.com commented, "the uniqueness of Townend’s writing lies partly in its lyrical content. There is both a theological depth and poetic expression that some say is rare in today’s worship writing". ==Honours==