Researching Paul Cunningham

Cunningham was elected to the highest office in the Church of the Nazarene at the denomination's 23rd General Assembly in Indianapolis, Indiana in July 1993. Prior to his election he served as the senior pastor of College Church of the Nazarene in Olathe, Kansas. Cunningham retired from the office of General Superintendent after the 2009 General Assembly in June 2009.

Upon his graduation from Nazarene Theological Seminary in 1964, Cunningham took an assignment as pastor of Olathe Church of the Nazarene in Olathe, Kansas. He went to Olathe in 1964 to pastor the local Church of the Nazarene. He remained as pastor for the next thirty years, growing the church from 54 members in 1964 to a constituency of more than 3,000 upon his departure in 1993. Total financial giving grew from $11,000 to over $3 million in that same time.

Cunningham played a vital role in bringing MidAmerica Nazarene College (now MidAmerica Nazarene University) to the Olathe area. In 1969, Olathe Church of the Nazarene was renamed to Olathe College Church of the Nazarene. In 1975, the school awarded him the honorary Doctor of Divinity degree.

A lifelong churchman, Cunningham served the denomination in a number of capacities, including as chairman of the Board of Trustees of Nazarene Theological Seminary, a member of the general church Book Committee, secretary of the Board of Trustees at MidAmerica Nazarene University, and as a member of the Kansas City District Advisory Board. He also served on the General Board of the Church of the Nazarene, including two terms as its president.

At the 1993 General Assembly, Cunningham was elected as the Church of the Nazarene's 30th general superintendent. He held that office until his retirement in 2009.

In 1991 he was chosen by the Olathe Chamber of Commerce as Citizen of the Year. Two years later, the city of Olathe presented him with its highest honor, the J.T. Barton Award in recognition of his service to the community. In 2015 MidAmerica Nazarene University honored Dr. and Mrs. Cunningham with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Born on a farm in Indiana County, Pennsylvania near Kent, Cunningham attended the public schools.He graduated from State Teachers College, Indiana, Pennsylvania, in 1911, from the literary department of the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in 1914, and from its Law School in 1915.He was admitted to the bar in 1915 and commenced practice in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

During the First World War, from 1917 to 1919, he served as a first lieutenant in the Infantry.

He moved to Des Moines, Iowa, in 1919 and continued the practice of law. He served as member of the Iowa National Guard from 1920 to 1923. He was elected to the Iowa House of Representatives in 1933, and served until 1937.

On February 4, 1940, Congressman Cassius C. Dowell died, thereby creating a vacancy in Iowa's 6th congressional district. Cunningham fell four votes short of receiving the Republican Party's nomination as its candidate in the March 5, 1940 special election. Although Robert K. Goodwin received the nomination and won the special election, Cunningham received his party's nomination for the 1940 general election, where he defeated E. Frank Fox.

Iowa's districts were reapportioned before the next election to reflect the loss of one Iowa seat, placing Cunningham's home county (Polk) in Iowa's 5th congressional district. In 1942, and in the next eight elections, Cunningham was re-elected to Congress from that district.

In 1958, Cunningham faced a challenge from Neal Smith, then seeking his first term. Two weeks before the election, Cunningham was slightly favored to win, based on a split within the Polk County Democratic Party's organization. However, Smith defeated Cunningham, winning his first of eighteen terms. Cunningham's congressional service began January 3, 1941, and ended January 3, 1959. Cunningham voted in favor of the Civil Rights Act of 1957.

After his defeat, Cunningham resumed the practice of law. He died at his summer home on Gull Lake, Brainerd, Minnesota, on July 16, 1961. He was interred in Masonic Cemetery, Des Moines, Iowa.