Rev. Dr. Kelly Bender

Dr. Kelly Bender has served as Senior Pastor of Paradise Valley United Methodist Church since July 1, 2001. Prior to his appointment at Paradise Valley, he served for nine years as Senior Pastor of the First United Methodist Church in Wichita, Kansas, where he preached "live" on Sundays to thousands of viewers across most of Kansas via television. He is a native Kansan, raised in Ulysses, and a 1968 graduate of Southwestern College, Winfield, from which he received both the Masterbuilder and Foundation Builder awards. Pastor Kelly is a 1971 graduate of St. Paul School of Theology. He is a Certified Family Life Educator, holds both an M.S. in Family and Child Development and a Ph.D. in Family Life Education from Kansas State University. He was awarded a Doctor of Divinity honorary degree from Baker University in 1990. From 1973-1981, he served as pastor of College Avenue UMC in Manhattan, KS; from 1981-1989 as Senior Pastor of Countryside UMC in Topeka; and from 1989-1992 he served as Senior Pastor of First UMC in Olathe, Kansas. Pastor Kelly has led numerous workshops around the Midwest. In 1985, he was a guest lecturer at a theological and evangelization conference in Poland. In 1987, he returned to Poland as a guest preacher of the Polish Methodist Annual Conference. During the summer of 1989, Pastor Kelly and his family participated in a ministerial exchange with a pastor and his family from Bristol, England. He served as chairperson of the Kansas East Conference Board of Ordained Ministry. He was elected by his clergy peers as a 1992 General Conference delegate from the Kansas East Annual Conference, and as a 1996 and 2000 Jurisdictional Conference delegate from Kansas West. In 2001 he was awarded the Community Enrichment Award by the Sedgwick County Commission, Wichita, Kansas for his leadership in downtown redevelopment. Pastor Kelly was the 2003 recipient of the Distinguished Graduate Award, Saint Paul School of Theology, Kansas City, Missouri. He served as Trustee at Southwestern College from 1988-2000 and is currently serving as Trustee at St. Paul School of Theology. He was a 2004 recipient of the Heritage Registry of Who's Who for his accomplishments in the field of religion and the 2005 National Register's Who's Who in Executives and Professionals. Pastor Kelly was selected to preach from the historic pulpit of the National Cathedral in Washington D.C. on August 21, 2005 . He represented his native state of Kansas as part of the National Cathedral's Major State Day. Kelly is married to Vickie, an early childhood educator. Both were delegates to the World Methodist Conference in Brighton, England in July 2001. They have two young adult, married daughters, Brianna and Sundee, and four grandchildren.