 In the 1960s, Elson oversaw, along with the building committee, the construction of a large new church, which was dedicated in 1967 on Eisenhower's birthday, October 14.In 1967, he was named to a special committee of the Presbyterian General Assembly to study the Vietnam War.In September 1967, while he and his wife were still at their summer home in Cape Breton Island, he received a phone call from the White House asking him to be on a team to observe the upcoming elections in South Viet Nam.