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Famous pastor from Louisville celebrates milestone birthday

Famous pastor from Louisville celebrates milestone birthday

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky – A famous Louisville pastor and civil rights activist celebrated a milestone.


What you need to know

  • Rev. Charles Elliott Jr. of Louisville celebrated his 90th birthday on Saturday, August 17
  • Elliott was a civil rights activist and marched with Martin Luther King Jr.
  • The King Solomon Missionary Baptist Church, where he has pastored for 63 years, hosted a party for him to honor this milestone.
  • Elliott was inducted into the Kentucky Civil Rights Hall of Fame in 2012


Rev. Charles Elliott Jr. turned 90 on Saturday, August 17.

“I feel good and it is a great blessing to have all of you and to share with the community a life that the Lord has enabled me to live,” he said.

The King Solomon Missionary Baptist Church, where he has pastored for 63 years, threw him a party that he said he will never forget.

“It was great,” he said. “I’ve experienced many in my life, but I’ve never experienced anything like this. I want to thank everyone who has been so kind to me and pray that God blesses us all so we can work together.”

Elliott spent much of his life helping people in poverty and bridging racial barriers, and during the civil rights movement of the 1960s he marched with Martin Luther King Jr. in Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky.

“He said, ‘Reverend, one day we’re not going to march and protest for our rights as black people, but we’re all going to walk together and little white and black children are going to hold hands,'” Elliott said.

More than 60 years later, Elliott said, King’s work was worth it because people today are often judged by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin.

“I thank God I was able to experience this,” Elliott said.

The church took time on Saturday morning to honor his work as a civil rights activist, pastor, father and teacher.

“Many of his colleagues are not here,” said Rev. Wanda Mcintyre of King Solomon Missionary Baptist Church. “Our pastor is still alive and with every breath we take we want to say ‘thank you’ to him.”

Elliott said there is a message in his nearly century-old work that is worth repeating.

“Together we are strong, divided we are weak,” he said.

Elliott was inducted into the Kentucky Civil Rights Hall of Fame in 2012.

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