Paul Elledge Celebrates 100th Birthday, 80 Years Of Ministry
By Eva Wilson
January 2010
Paul Elledge, veteran Kansas City minister and retired director of missions, celebrated his 100th birthday on Thursday, Dec. 17.
Although his body is frail, Elledge’s sense of humor remains sharp.
“I’m an old man. I remember lots of things,” he quipped.
He and his wife, Marie, live in a retirement community in Overland Park, Kan. Both lost their spouses in the mid-1980s, and they were married in 1987.
Elledge was director of missions in Kansas City, Kan., Baptist Association from Feb. 1, 1962, to Dec. 31, 1974.
Before becoming director of missions, Elledge was pastor of Broadway Baptist Church in Kansas City, Mo., for nine years.
When he moved across the state line to Kansas, the area was mostly farmland.
“It was grass. It was weeds. It was rabbits,” he recalled.
In those days, Marie knew Paul as “Brother Elledge.”
“When he came here, what he got was an old typewriter and a desk. He built a strong association from that,” she said.
Kansas City, Kan., Association had only 22 churches when Elledge arrived. That was in stark contrast to Missouri, where Southern Baptist work had existed for more than 100 years.
“When I moved out here, I discovered the nearest Southern Baptist church was 5 miles away.”
So Elledge devoted part of his energy to starting churches, including Emmanuel Baptist in Overland Park.
Emmanuel “started off in my home with a prayer meeting,” he recalled.
In March 1964, Emmanuel held its first service in the south tower of what is now K-Mart at 95th and Metcalf.
After stepping down as director of missions on Dec. 31, 1974, Elledge continued ministering in high gear. He did interim and supply work in Missouri, Iowa and Kansas.
He was pastor of Blue Valley Baptist Church in what is now Overland Park for two years.
After that, he became pastor of Fellowship Baptist Church in nearby Olathe. The church was in a discouraging situation and had decided to disband.
But Elledge led the church in a successful effort to get back on its feet.
During his 80 years of ministry, Elledge has experienced many highlights.
These include the growing number of ethnic churches in Kansas City, Kan., Association. Such churches once seemed “clear out on the other side of possibility,” he said. “It thrills me to death.”
Another source of joy for Elledge was going on in international mission trips.
As a student at Southern Seminary during the Depression, he “wanted to go to Brazil as a foreign missionary.”
That door never opened, but he always led his churches to be strong missions supporters.
In the mid-1980s, Elledge went on mission trips to the Philippines, India, Jamaica and Argentina.
He told the Lord, “You’ve made me a foreign missionary after all. Thank You.”
Despite his wealth of wisdom accumulated in 80 years of ministry, Elledge remains modest.
When asked if he wanted to pass on some advice to pastors, Elledge declined. His brown eyes twinkled, and he replied, “No way!”
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