Bishop Keith Elford is the bishop

Bishop

A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...

 of the Free Methodist Church in Canada

Free Methodist Church in Canada

The Free Methodist Church is a denomination of Methodism, which is a branch of Protestantism. It was founded in 1860 in New York by a group, led by B. T. Roberts, who was defrocked in the Methodist Episcopal Church for criticisms of the spiritual laxness of the church hierarchy...

. Prior to becoming bishop in June 1997, Rev. Keith Elford was 24 years in the pastorate, serving as Senior Pastor of Calgary Free Methodist Church at the time of his appointment. His earlier positions included Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan

Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan

Moose Jaw is a city in south-central Saskatchewan, Canada on the Moose Jaw River. It is situated on the Trans-Canada Highway, west of Regina. Residents of Moose Jaw are known as Moose Javians. It is best known as a retirement and tourist city that serves as a hub to the hundreds of small towns...

; Whitby, Ontario

Whitby, Ontario

Whitby is a town in Durham Region. Whitby is located in Southern Ontario east of Toronto on the north shore of Lake Ontario, and is home to the headquarters of Durham Region...

; and a church plant in Willowdale, Ontario. While pastoring in Moose Jaw, he doubled as chaplain of Aldersgate College

Aldersgate College

Aldersgate College is a private college located in Solano, Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines. Not to be confused with another school of the same name, which started as Moose Jaw Bible School and later transitioned to this name...

. Since 1999, Bishop Elford has served the international ministry of the Free Methodist Church

Free Methodist Church

The Free Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination within the holiness movement. It is evangelical in nature and has its roots in the Arminian-Wesleyan tradition....

 as President of the Free Methodist World Conference.

He holds a B.A. from Spring Arbor College

Spring Arbor University

Spring Arbor University is a Christian institution of higher education located in Spring Arbor, Michigan, in the United States. SAU is affiliated with the Free Methodist Church...

 in Michigan

Michigan

Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

 and an M.A. from Canadian Theological Seminary in Regina, Saskatchewan

Regina, Saskatchewan

Regina is the capital city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province and a cultural and commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. It is governed by Regina City Council. Regina is the cathedral city of the Roman Catholic and Romanian Orthodox...

. He has been a regular columnist in The Free Methodist Herald for many years.

Keith and his wife, Donna, have two adult children, Rebecca and Greg.