David Tatum Elms

David Tatum Elms was born April 7, 1943, in DeLeon, Texas, to “Fireball” Finley and Pauline (the Great) Elms. The family moved to San Diego during the war years and became founding members of Revival Tabernacle under Pastor David F. Gray (a 2016 Order of the Faith inductee). Revival Tabernacle, with its fervent worship and relentless mission, left an indelible mark on the Elms family, inspiring all four sons—Bernard, Royce, David, and Wendell—to become credentialed ministers of the UPCI. The Elms brothers’ pastoral and evangelistic ministries would ultimately span coast to coast as they pioneered works, pastored churches, and preached the gospel. 

In 1962, David Elms married Linda Marlene Benson, the love of his life. Those early years required a blend of grit and ambition. Following in his father’s footsteps, David Elms worked for the Navy, but he dreamed of teaching high school. To chase that dream, he worked third shift while studying at San Diego State University. Exhaustion never dimmed his drive, and he graduated in 1971 with a degree in English Literature. 

David and Linda’s family began to grow during this time, with Melody Lynn arriving in 1964, David Timothy in 1966, and Nathan in 1971. Under Pastor Gray’s mentorship, David Elms’ ministry also thrived. He learned to serve in a multitude of ways: youth ministry, Sunday school teacher, bus captain, song leader, Bible teacher, street meeting coordinator, and campus ministry director. 

Elms’ call to ministry grew undeniably louder as time passed. Pastor Gray wisely cautioned him on the challenges of stepping into full-time ministry at age thirty with three young children. “It was now or never,” he recalled. In 1973, the family of five stepped into full-time evangelism, carrying the gospel message from California to New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Arkansas. 

In 1975, David Elms answered a new call, a call to North Carolina, where he would serve as pastor of the First United Pentecostal Church in Charlotte for nearly fifty years. The Elms family poured themselves into the work of God, making significant sacrifices as they prayed, preached, and reached for the lost. After a few years of revival and growth, Elms cast the vision for the construction of a new church building. When the new facility was completed in 1985, new people began filling the pews, and First United Pentecostal Church received North American recognition as the fastest growing Sunday School in the UPCI. 

Elms also was actively involved in the various ministries of the UPCI’s North Carolina District, which at that time, was relatively new. Elms became one of several key figures who helped the North Carolina District become a model for growth and revival. Over time, he served in nearly every district leadership role, a testament to the confidence Elms’ fellow ministers had in his character and competence. Elms was elected to serve as 

district youth president in 1977. In 1979, he transitioned to Children’s Ministries director, a post he held until 1981, when he became Global Missions director. In that role, he established what may have been the first Pastors on Missions trips in the UPCI. In 1990, Elms became the district’s North American Missions director, as well as the UPCI’s first Metro Missions director. He also served as a sectional presbyter and was eventually elected district superintendent, a post he held from 2005 until 2013. As superintendent, he exhibited wisdom and steady leadership as the district navigated the inevitable growing pains that accompany revival. In part because of Elms’ influence, North Carolina became a model for other districts that were seeking to plant new churches and create a climate for growth. 

From the day he arrived in the state, Elms encouraged evangelism and church planting in North Carolina and up and down the Eastern Seaboard. Elms also studied successful churches and ministry leaders and attempted to emulate their methods and strategies whenever possible. Despite the cultural upheaval of the late 1960s and 1970s, many UPCI churches across the nation were thriving, and Elms sought out the leaders of these congregations. He gathered the principles and best practices gleaned from these conversations and compiled them in a book, Revival Churches for the Rapture Generation. In time, the ideas Elms espoused would become standard operating procedures for growing Apostolic churches across North America. 

Despite his busy schedule, Elms did not allow his passion for ministry to diminish his attention to and affection for his family. He wrote unique songs for each of his children and grandchildren, which he enjoyed singing loudly and joyfully whenever he saw them, even in public settings. He maintained a deep, lifelong bond with his three brothers. Most of all, he was devoted to his wife, Linda, with whom he shared sixty-two years of marriage. When he passed on January 18, 2025, his final words were an expression of his love for her.