Stuart Townend

Stuart Townend is an English worship leader, songwriter, hymn writer, arranger, and producer born in 1963. He grew up in a Christian family in West Yorkshire, where his father served as a Church of England vicar. Townend began piano lessons at about seven, later taught himself guitar, and studied literature at the University of Sussex. By the 1990s he had become active in British evangelical and charismatic worship, including ministry connected with Church of Christ the King in Brighton and large gatherings such as Stoneleigh and Spring Harvest.

Before “In Christ Alone,” Townend had already written songs including “How Deep the Father’s Love for Us” and his setting of Psalm 23, “The Lord’s My Shepherd.” Keith Getty approached him in 2000 after admiring Townend’s ability to write substantial Christian texts. Getty supplied a melody, and Townend developed the primary lyric around a creedal narrative of Christ’s person and saving work. The two then revised the song together before completing it in early 2001.

Townend and Getty continued collaborating on hymns including “The Power of the Cross,” “See, What a Morning,” and “My Heart Is Filled with Thankfulness.” In 2017 Townend received the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Thomas Cranmer Award for Worship for his contribution to contemporary congregational song.