Shuler Opinions

When Jack Shuler held a crusade in Oregon in 1952, one night he spoke on the evils of drink. In the August 25, 1952 Eugene Register-Guard,  Peter Tugman reported on it. In that article, under the headline, Shuler Raps Evil Found in Bottles: Tugman said:

   “He [Shuler] took as his text the Sermon on the Mount, especially the verse ‘Ye are the salt of the earth.’ Shuler took pains to explain the importance of salt in the world’s system. He tied this into his warnings on liquor by explaining that everything is an extension of the Diety and His system. And “Anything that attacks the body and the soul of man, which injures his chance to go to heaven is attacking God, because man and his soul are a part of God.”

   In his enthusiasm, some would say Shuler wandered from orthodox Christianity in saying humans were part of God. If he would have said that man and his soul are a part of God’s creation, there would have been no problem. And maybe that’s what he meant. Some Christians and others outside of Christianity would have agreed with what he did say. In fact early Gnosticism tried to interpret Christianity in that way. They believed that the immaterial part of people could be God.

   Several days later, a letter to the editor touched on this issue. The writer, Bob Hamill, said “In Peter Tugman’s coverage of Jack Shuler’s sermon on Sunday Shuler is quoted as using the phrase ‘… because man and his soul are now a part of God.’ That sounds smooth but I wonder how many ministers present winced a bit. Careful Jack, your theological slip is showing.”

   That same year (1952) Shuler’s book, Jack Shuler’s Short Sermons, was released. In it he had one sermon called “Earth’s Greatest Preacher,” which referred to the human conscience. Within a few years Shuler was preaching a sermon called “America’s Greatest Evangelist” and instead of referring to one’s conscience, he spoke of the Holy Spirit. This seemed a wise change since a conscience can be distorted or deadened (1 Timothy 4:2) but the Holy Spirit can’t.

Dan Betzer

   Many more people expressed thankful praise to God for Shuler’s sermon leading them to Christ. Dan Betzer, the face and voice of Revivaltime and Byline radio/TV broadcasts to millions and author of more than 20 books, devoted one article to Shuler in his book, Godcast (2008).

    In 1950, as a 13-year-old, he attended a Jack Shuler crusade in Sioux City, Iowa. His church participated in the crusade which had a shaky beginning. “The meeting, scheduled for two weeks, began with a soft thud,” he said. “Maybe 300 people in that huge arena. But the preacher was evangelist Jack Shuler. To this day, nearly 60 years later, Jack was the greatest preacher I ever heard. The crowd grew to 500, then 800, and past 1,000. By the scheduled end of the meeting, the arena was packed with thousands of eager hearers. The revival continued another two weeks.”

   One night Betzer himself went forward and gave his life to Christ. “Jack himself prayed with me in the prayer room,” he said. “Although I grew up in a Christian home and knew the Bible well, I had not had a time when I gave my heart, soul, and life to Jesus.” He also said, “I often thank the Lord that my path crossed that of Jack Shuler.”

   In his prayer at the end of the article, he said, “O God, You have graced my life with men and women who were standouts in Your divine army. I am so grateful. To this day when I listen to recordings of Jack, I am still deeply moved in my spirit…”

On Jack Shuler

   In the August 19, 1957 Eugene Register-Guard, a letter to the editor from Mrs. Eugene Hastings said the following:

   “My husband and I wish to express our appreciation to the Register-Guard for the fine feature article you printed in last Sunday’s paper about Jack Shuler and the Eugene-Springfield Gospel Crusade.

   Perhaps a lot of people wonder how effective the Crusade really is, whether the conversions really last. Five years ago, Jack Shuler was here for a similar campaign. During these meetings, my husband accepted Christ as his Savior. He was 25 years old, and until then he had never attended Sunday school or church in his life. He did not even know that God had a Son, much less that He sent His Son to die for him.

   “Following his conversion, Gene joined a Gospel church here in Eugene, where he received excellent Bible teaching. Immediately, he began to grow spiritually and to experience changes in every aspect of his life. Gene and I met the following spring and were married on January 10, 1954. Gene has taught Sunday school almost continually since we met. We spent 10 months as youth directors in a small church. Most of the time Gene has worked as a truck driver. On the job, his testimony as a Christian has always been respected.

   “We know that the greatest thing we me do to please God is to build our lives on the firm foundation, Jesus Christ, and to make ours a truly Christian home. When the storms of life come and we stumble (which we surely do) we know that we shall not fall, for we are building on the solid rock. Our most sincere desire is that we may help our two little daughters know Christ, too.

   “Gene would probably not have gone to the meetings five years ago had it not been for the faithfulness of a Christian girl who gave him her own testimony and invited him to attend.

   “A few days ago a man Gene drives truck with asked him ‘What do you think of Jack Shuler?’ or ‘Have you heard him yet?’ Gene replied, ‘Yes, I’ve heard him. And since you asked me I was converted in his meetings here five years ago. That’s the best thing that ever came into my life and good things have been happening ever since.’”

Southern U.S.

     In a book called Nalley, a Southern Family Story by Evelyn Nalley McCollum (2002), a letter between relatives dated March 9, 1952, said, “Danville [Virginia] is having a city-wide revival in one of the big tobacco warehouses. Jack Shuler, Herb Hoover and the organist are former students of Bob Jones University.      He surely preaches the Gospel. His services are similar to those of Billy Graham. Some here like Jack Shuler better than B. Graham.”

Revival and Jack Shuler

   When Billy Graham held his two-month long 1949 Greater Los Angeles crusade, he was not the only American evangelist  then preaching. In fact, some would say at that time perhaps the most popular evangelist was Jack Shuler. And had it not been for William Randolph Hearst1 and Graham’s organizational abilities,2 Shuler probably would have remained the main attraction through the 1950s.

   Few would argue that the forties and fifties saw a huge growth in the number of revivals and evangelists. As Kansas City journalist L. Prescott Platt said in 1952, “That a national revival is under way in America is made clear by statistics.” He then pointed to the huge growth in church membership and a jump in sales of Christian books, especially the Bible.

   In addition to these statistics, there were a large number of evangelists holding extended campaigns by the fifties. But the most successful ones were Billy Graham and Jack Shuler. These two were the ones journalist Platt concentrated on in his article.

   Shuler was holding a crusade in Kansas City at the time Platt wrote his article. He described Shuler’s approach as follows:

   “Shuler’s main attention-getting device is dramatics. He has studied dramatics and was offered a motion picture contract, but turned it down to do evangelistic work. One night he gave a sermon on David and Bathsheba, and acted out both parts with intensified facial expressions. On another occasion Shuler delivered a sermon on liquor and its evils. While speaking he had a liquor bottle before him. He backed up his views with statistics and brought the talk to a climactic ending by tossing the liquor bottle over his shoulder.”

   Platt concluded his article by quoting Billy Graham. “Today – July, 1952 – I feel that God has developed a super highway from this single trail of evangelism,” Graham said. “To me it is headed straight for a world revival."3
   To show how popular Shuler was in 1952 alone, an earlier June article on preparation for his crusade coming in August in Oregon gave some insight. "Jack Shuler of Los Angeles will conduct an evangelistic 'crusade' at McArthur Court beginning Aug. 3 for an indefinite period," it read.  "Shuler is nationally prominent as an evangelist. He recently returned from Anchorage, Alaska and is now conducting a union campaign in Rochester, New York. Before coming to Eugene in August he will hold a series of meetings in Houston, Tex., and Kansas City, Mo."4 

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[1] The power of the press, especially that of William Randolph Hearst's paper, no doubt influenced Graham’s popularity beginning with Youth for Christ. But it didn’t end there. In the 1949 Greater Los Angeles crusade, many have said that Hearst told his reporters to “puff Graham” meaning to write him up in the papers. And the rest is history.

   On the other hand, Shuler’s father, “Fighting Bob,” became a long-time enemy of Hearst. See Robert P. Shuler III, Fighting Bob Shuler of Los Angeles, 104f, 193f, 221, 240, 251-3. So there is little doubt that Hearst had no desire to promote one of “Fighting Bob’s” sons.

[2] Billy Graham saw a problem as early as 1948 during his Modesto, California crusade. The Sinclair Lewis book, Elmer Gantry, which became a best-seller when it came out in 1927, depicted traveling evangelists as unprincipled, immoral, greedy hucksters preying on innocent victims. Graham thought he needed to counter this image. He brought his team together.

   His team, consisting of Cliff Barrows, George Beverly Shea, and Grady Wilson, came up with four major problems among evangelists: first, money; second, sexual immorality; third, local church competition; and fourth, exaggerations in publicity.

   Graham attempted to resolve these problems by making all campaign finances public, never being alone in the same room with a woman, inviting churches to join his crusade and directing converts to join a local church, and complete honesty in crowd sizes and other statistics. He later incorporated these precautions when forming the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. See Billy Graham, Just As I Am, 127-129,

Jack Shuler attempted to be honest on his own in his handling of money, sexual temptations, church relations, and publicity. This had as much to do with his personality as anything else. He never joined Youth for Christ probably for the same reason. He figured he had been called by God and needed no overseeing from anyone else.

[3] The Southeast Missourian [Cape Girardeau, Missouri], July 16, 1952. 
[4] Eugene Register-Guard, May 17, 1952.  

Two Jacks - Shuler and Holcomb

   Jack Shuler bookended the 1950s preaching with Jack Holcomb. It 1950 it was a three-week “sawdust crusade” in southern California in September.[1] In 1960 it was a three-day “crusade for souls” in Tucson, Arizona from February 28 to March 1.[2]

   The “sawdust crusade” was backed and planned by the Board of Directors of Christ for Greater Los Angeles, Inc., the same group that planned the Billy Graham 1949 crusade in Los Angeles. Following that 1949 crusade, the CFGLA committee released a letter telling of their history and future plans. In it they stated that “There are many calls on us for united campaigns for 1950. One has already been set up for the Harbor Area, taking in San Pedro, Wilmington, Harbor City, Lomita, etc., with Jack Shuler and Jack Holcomb as the evangelists, for September, 1950.”[3]

   The lede sentence in the Peninsula Press, September 14, 1950 stated, “Jack Shuler, 31-year-old dramatic – fiery evangelist opened a 22-day ‘sawdust crusade’ in a 2500-seat circus tent at Vermont and Pacific Coast Highway Sept. 10 and religious leaders of the 50 cooperating churches in the Los Angeles harbor area predict that it will be the greatest religious awakening in the history of the harbor section of Southern California.”

   The article went on to say, “With the assistance of Jack Holcomb, stratospheric tenor, the Shuler evangelistic party assisted by a 100-voice choir and hundreds of personal workers, ushers and others has started what many believe will be the most vital thrust at ungodliness ever made in this community.”

    Holcomb, also an Assembly of God preacher, would become one of the most popular Christian vocalists in the 1960s. By the time of his “Crusade for Souls” in Tucson in 1960 his star was already beginning to rise while Shuler’s was setting. By the end of that year Holcomb was billed as “America’s greatest gospel recording artist – television star – evangelist. Thousands have thrilled to his tremendous voice…”[4] An article in a more recent newspaper stated that “Jack Holcomb was a speaker and singer for the nationwide movement, Youth for Christ, and he also performed on radio and television in Southern California for a preacher named Jack Shuler, an evangelist who was a contemporary of Billy Graham…”[5]

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[1] Peninsula [Torrance] Press, September 14, 1950.

[2] Tucson Daily Citizen, February 27, 1960.

[3] From photocopy of report by the Christ for Great Los Angeles Committee, ca. December 1949. The three-page report by the Committee gave a historical background on previous evangelistic campaigns they had sponsored, summed up the results of the campaign led by Billy Graham, and concluded with brief comments on plans for 1950. From Collection 141, box 5, folder 33. http://www2.wheaton.edu/bgc/archives/exhibits/LA49/08after01.html

[4] St. Petersburg [Florida] Times, December 30, 1960. His given name was Harold Jackson Holcomb.

[5] Victoria [Texas] Advocate, Saturday, July 26, 2003.

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Whatever Happened to Jack?

     Jack Shuler entered my world when I was a child. It came at a time when little else entered it (outside my family).

     I grew up a PK (preacher’s kid). My dad met my mom while they were attending Midwest Bible and Missionary Institute in Salina, Kansas. After graduation, dad was ordained as an IFCA minister. The ordination was conducted by Dr. F. William May, then president of MBMI. Dad pastored a number of small independent Bible churches after that, whether in Wichita, Kansas (Beechwood Community Church, Planeview Community Church) or surrounding areas (Atlanta, Mulvane, Arkansas City, Rose Hill). The churches usually had only a handful of members – maybe 20 or 30 – and could not pay dad enough to support a family, so he held down a full-time job elsewhere. He had jobs at a meat packing company, at Boeing Aircraft, or as a carpenter and housing contractor.
     At home, he and my mom raised my three brothers and later two sisters religiously. We had daily Bible studies and discussions. Dad would sometimes read to us Sugar Creek Gang books. Dad started a Child Evangelism Fellowship class by inviting neighborhood kids to our home and buying a used 16-millimeter reel-to-reel film projector to show gospel films. I can remember some phrases from the films, such as “Beer, sin’s powerful curse; cigarettes, even worse.” On one of my birthdays I remember my parents giving me a copy of a John R. Rice book called What is Wrong with the Movies? The first movie my siblings and I were allowed to watch was the 1927 Cecil B. DeMille silent film, King of Kings, shown at the Wichita Forum.

     When not pastoring a small church, my father along with our family would often attend Calvary Bible Church in Wichita (affiliated with the IFCA). The pastor there, Kenneth Peterson, often had his brothers sing with him in the service. The Petersons were known in Wichita as the Norse Gospel Trio, which performed on radio. The trio consisted of Kenny, Bob, and Bill, who played guitars and sang close harmony. Their younger brother, John W., would later become well-known as a songwriter.[1] He too sometimes performed at the church and played a Hawaiian lap guitar.

At Calvary Bible Church, Wichita, Kansas. Coke family included

back row, right, James W. Coke, second from right, back row,

Esther A. Coke. Standing in front of James and Esther, Coke boys,

from right, Jim, Tom, Jon, and sitting in front of them, Richard.

     My mother knew the Peterson brothers from the late 30s when they played on KFBI radio in Salina, Kansas. She loved their music. At the time they first performed as the Norse Gospel Trio, they had very little money. One time when they were performing at a church where my mother heard them, they were out of money and hoping for some help. When my mother found this out, she invited Kenny and the others to her place for food and rest. Kenny never forgot that. Years later he preached at my mother’s funeral where he recalled that incident. At the time my mother helped them they were touring throughout Kansas and had toured with Paul Harvey as their announcer.[2]

     Hearing the Norse Gospel Trio perform at Calvary Bible Church in Wichita became a real treat. I longed to learn to play like the Peterson brothers with their sunburst-colored arch-top, f-hole acoustic guitars. Eventually I learned to play while attending Prairie Bible Institute in Three Hills, Alberta, Canada, and my brothers and I later performed where our father pastored at Rose Hill Bible Church on Andover-Rose Hill Road east of Wichita.

     Dad often had fellow Christians over to our house for Bible study and prayer. Discussions sometimes morphed into debates/arguments. Dad loved to discuss theological issues. An animated and passionate preacher, he never feared to defend his faith. One incident comes to mind.

     A strong proponent of baptism as a public witness to salvation rather than part of salvation itself, he decided to debate the issue when the opportunity presented itself, which it did when he talked to a member of a Church of Christ in Wichita, a friend of his known as "Mack". The man arranged for Dad to defend his faith at Mack’s church.

     My brothers and I sat near the front of the auditorium while Dad vented. I felt like we were stranded on an island surrounded by pools of people. Dad brought up such points as the thief on the cross. I can’t say who impressed the audience most, but I know people admired Dad for his nerve. Many years later, my cousin, who was a Church of Christ member present at the debate, told me he thought my dad got the best of it.

     When Dad pastored a church in Arkansas City, we traveled the 60 miles in a 48 Ford with the radio on, usually tuned to the gravelly voice of M.R. DeHaan or “Heavenly Sunshine” on Charles E. Fuller’s “Old Fashioned Revival Hour.” When my parents took notice of Billy Graham, they had their doubts. (They weren’t sure how to take his cooperation with liberal churches).

     During those years growing up, my parents took me and my brothers to hear Jack Shuler speak at the Wichita Forum. The Forum was the largest capacity auditorium in Wichita where major events took place. In the past, the Forum had booked prominent figures, among them Billy Sunday, Gipsy Smith, and Aimee Semple McPherson.[3]

     I can remember running up the ramp of the Arcadia next to the Forum just for the fun of it before Shuler’s children’s meeting took place there. In Wichita, Jack Shuler was hugely popular.

     My siblings and I traveled different paths as we grew up, some attending Bible schools and Christian colleges as well as state universities. I graduated from Wichita State University before moving to the Chicago area. There my wife and I found an outstanding church where I taught a high school Bible class. The students asked questions that made me think harder about my faith. This in turn led me to more training at Northern Baptist Theological Seminary.

     After completing a degree there, I realized that there is no end to learning. Though my understanding of the gospel has gone through some changes (hopefully growth rather than distortion), my core beliefs and faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior have remained.

     I have continued to think about my childhood memories of the Shuler crusade and how it fit in with my upbringing. While Billy Graham stayed in the news, Jack Shuler seemed to vanish after our family heard him in Wichita.

     Those memories of Shuler’s dramatic preaching have somewhat faded. I do remember one story he told about a father who went to buy his little boy a pair of shoes but instead spent the money on booze. The way he told it had lots of drama. You could hear the tear in his voice. I also still remember the children’s meeting. I believe it was a Saturday and Jack looked under the weather – seemed to have a five o’clock shadow and hoarse voice. And he apologized for it. But the children who sat up front loved it. (Being shy, my brothers and I stayed toward the back of the auditorium).

     A few years ago I decided to dig into some history and perhaps discover something more about the evangelist. Gradually I came up with information, some of it surprising, some of it disturbing, but all of it interesting and enlightening. Many questions have been answered while many remain.

     I found, for example, that Shuler also liked music. He played guitar and wrote a number songs. He was a P.K. though not raised as strictly as I was. He rebelled against his background as some of my siblings did. The more I found out about him, the more I understood his situation.

     The more I’ve studied Shuler’s role in the forties and fifties, the more I believe he has been overlooked as a part of resurgent evangelism after World War II. Now, after a lifetime wondering about Shuler’s role in American evangelism at mid-20^th century, a clearer picture has emerged. And I hope others find this equally enlightening about an unusual man – a man who played a significant role in mid-20^th century evangelism in America.

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[1] Gene A. Getz, MBI: The Story of Moody Bible Institute (Chicago: Moody Press, 1969), 155. See also “Peterson at Tabernacle” (Altus Times, Altus, Oklahoma, July 16, 1982).

[2] Paul Batura, Good Day!: The Paul Harvey Story (Washington, D.C.: Regnery Publishing, Inc., 2009), 64-65.

[3] Fay Graves. Q and A Times Journal. August 1, 2007. http://theqandatimes.com/userend/catdesc/219 (accessed 2012). Fay Graves, a Wichita celebrity, had careers in media and the church. He served as a Southern Baptist pastor in addition to radio and television work. He remembered one Shuler meeting in Wichita when Shuler’s guest was singer/songwriter Stuart Hamblen. “Jack filled the three-balcony auditorium with people standing around the perimeters that Sunday afternoon,” he said.

Last Days

      The last few years of Jack Shuler’s life are somewhat shrouded in mystery. But a few incidents in these years may throw some light. One of the most important may have been related to Billy Graham.

      The forties and early fifties saw a mostly united body of conservative Christians holding evangelistic campaigns throughout the United States and in other countries. They all seemed to have a single purpose and message. But behind the scene a gradual shift was taking place. As Billy Graham became increasingly popular, he became increasingly open to other Christian leaders less conservative than himself appearing at his crusades. This did not set well with those who supported him at the beginning. Leading fundamentalist Christians such as Bob Jones, Jr., John R. Rice, and denominations such as Independent Fundamental Churches of America (IFCA) and General Association of Regular Baptists (GARB) gradually became increasingly concerned about Graham’s direction.

      Jack Shuler was caught between a rock and a hard place. He and his father were close friends with Bob Jones, but also with Billy Graham. In 1957 the split between Graham and the fundamentalists became obvious. Shuler’s internal conflict came to a head sometime in 1957. Bob Jones thought Shuler remained on the fundamentalist side of the split while Shuler himself so far hadn’t decided. An incident that took place around the time of the 1957 Billy Graham New York City campaign showed what Jones thought.

      Historian William Martin mentioned a showdown between Bob Jones and Billy Graham during this time that revealed Jones’ feeling about Shuler. It happened in Birmingham, Alabama, where Bob Jones happened to be staying at the same hotel as Graham and Graham knew it. Though he was meeting with around 20 others at the time, Graham thought this would be a good time to attempt reconciliation between himself and Jones. Martin related the interchange as follows:

          Graham asked his old adversary if he could call on him in his room: ‘I wanted to tell him that I still loved him and would answer any question he had about my ministry. It wasn’t an organized meeting; some of us just came in to visit. I remember Dr. Bob was in bed, and he was as nervous as a cat.’

          One participant recalled that Graham greeted Jones warmly and told him he was ‘looking great.’ Instead of returning the compliment, Jones harrumphed, ‘You’re on your way down, Billy.’ Graham said, ‘If that’s the way God wants it, then it’s settled.’ The reason, Jones said, was because ‘your converts don’t last.’ Graham turned the other cheek: ‘I don’t have any converts. I have never led anybody to Christ. Missionaries can say they have done that; I can’t. There are so many factors – prayer, Bible classes, pastors, hard work by lots of people. I come along and point to the door. I can’t claim any as mine.’

          Graham’s self-effacing responses fell on stony ground. ‘We’re taking over evangelism in America, Billy,’ Jones announced. ‘Jack Shuler is going to be the man now. I know because I trained him.”[1]

      While Graham and Bob Jones separated and Jack Shuler remained the fundamentalist’s hope for the future, Shuler himself didn’t fill that role as Jones envisioned it. Instead, as Jack had done in the past, he showed his independence, this time by remaining close to Graham.

      A Christianity Today writer reported Shuler’s presence at Graham’s 1957 campaign in New York City. The article read as follows:

Garden Seems Small After Rally At Yankee Stadium

By George Burnham

Christianity Today Magazine

          New York City – In the tradition and style of Broadway columnists, here are notes, quotes from the Billy Graham New York Crusade:

          “I never realized Madison Square Garden was so small.” Commented Graham in addressing 15,000 at the first meeting after Yankee Stadium’s 100,000 … Cablegrams poured in from all over the world after stadium rally…

          Noted evangelists from throughout America are dropping into the Garden to view the happenings. Merv Rosell and Jack Shuler were among those greeted by [Billy] Graham…[2]

      Once Shuler identified with Graham, he lost the support of Graham’s fundamentalist enemies. This meant he could not count on as much conservative Christian support as he had in the past when he held city-wide revivals throughout America.

      Shortly after his appearance with Billy Graham in New York City, Shuler conducted his own three-week crusade in Eugene, Oregon. Graham’s crusade was still taking place when Shuler began his Oregon campaign in early August. And Shuler’s would end toward the end August while Graham’s continued till the middle of September. Being bookended by Graham could have been somewhat discouraging for Shuler though he averaged 1,300 attending each meeting (a fraction of the number attending Graham’s).

      By this time Shuler probably was aware that his crusades were seeing their last days. On top of that he must have gotten word that people were becoming more critical of his dramatics, the reality of the converts, and his money management. Otherwise an article defending his crusade practices would not have been needed.

      As to criticism about his stage dramatics, Shuler said, “Oh, I’m a trouper, but the people don’t need to be entertained. They need to be helped.” By “help” he pointed to Christ as the answer.

      He discussed the longevity of converts, Much depended on the local church, he said. “When the churches need a shot in the arm, they invite me,” he explained. “And so Shuler preaches to the people. When admitting to problems, they go forward into the prayer room, Shuler talks to them in a group before they are turned over to local counselors."

      The most controversial issue, though, had to do with the money collected at Shuler’s crusades. The article asked and answered that question as follows: “And what happens to the money collected during the crusade? Local men, from participating churches, serve as ushers. The collection plates are gathered and the contents counted by the local gospel crusade finance committee.

      “According to Shuler, no member of his team has anything to do with this. The money is counted and banked, locally. Each night at the crusade, the audience is informed of the total received and of how much more is needed to meet the crusade goal.

      “This goal is a budget set up to cover crusade expenses. This includes payment to the singer, [Sam] Allred, and pianist, [Bob] Andersen, who are on salary. Shuler said that none of the funds come to him.

      “Money that he receives for his work comes in the form of ‘love offerings’ requested of the audiences after expenses are met. [Don] DeVos, who manages Shuler’s affairs, directs the choir and serves as master of ceremonies, is paid in the same manner – by ‘love offerings.’”[3]

      Concluding the Eugene crusade, Shuler relied on two sermons he had preached for some time, one on his rejection of an acting career to become a preacher, and the other on “America’s greatest Evangelist,” somewhat of a gimmick to speak about the Holy Spirit.

      By 1959 Shuler was preaching in individual churches.[4] In 1959 a St. Joseph, Missouri paper editorialized on the lack of interest in Jack Shuler.  Part of the article stated:

          It is not often a newspaper gets enthusiastic over a “mere preacher.” Evangelist Jack Shuler though is more than a mere preacher. He is a great influence for good. The man was here long months ago and stirred our complacent Protestantism as it has not been stirred since Billy Sunday was here much more than a generation ago.

          More recently Jack Shuler was here for one night. So well was he received that worshippers asked him to return. Booked far ahead, it was accident – or providential – a series in the East had to be changed to a later date. So this week Evangelist Jack Shuler is at a church out in Wyatt Park.

          The man is dynamic. Those of you who heard him will swear to that. The Los Angeles Examiner gave him a whole half page, and page one at that, with a picture mind you. Wichita newspapers gave him wonderful page one display. The man has been highly acclaimed by men of national import: Missouri’s Stuart Symington and Kansas’ Frank Carlson.

          If we were running the St. Joseph Ministerial Alliance or the St. Joseph Council of Churches we would come out of our shell and invite him to let us sponsor his meetings. How about rotating to use every downtown Protestant church? A wager, if one bets on things religious, that he will fill the churches.[5]

     By this time Jack Shuler’s home life was falling apart. He was divorced from his wife, Dorothy, and remarried, this time to Ruth Eloise Wehr by 1960.[6] What happened after that is hard to figure out. The last public record available appeared in the L.A. Times on December 22, 1962. It stated:

Evangelist Jack Shuler, well known in the Southland and across the nation, died at his Van Nuys home Dec. 8. He was a son of the Rev. Bob Shuler Sr., longtime pastor of Trinity Methodist.[7]

      In an email correspondence with the author, Jack Shuler’s nephew, Robert P. Shuler, III, when asked about what happened to Jack, said “He died in 1962 of a collapsed lung, having always had weak lungs. His crusades ended in 1960, give or take, due to his addiction to meds and later alcohol.”[8]

      A former Youth for Christ director in Salina, Kansas sent the author an email in which he said:

Jack Shuler … had a brother, Phil Schuler, who I met at a church where he was holding a crusade some time ago. I asked about Evangelist Jack Schuler because I had booked him in several churches in and around Salina, Kansas where I was YFC director until 1963. Phil told me that his brother had back-slidden for several years, but that he had repented and had several years of successful ministry before he passed away. There are many things about Jack that are better left untold. They are covered by the blood of Calvary and forgiven by the grace and mercy of God.[9]

     The full story of what happened in the last few years of Jack Shuler’s life may never be publicly known, but whatever it was won’t change the good he did from his conversion in 1940 through his nearly two decades of evangelism.

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[1] William Martin, A Prophet With Honor (New York: William Morrow and Co., Inc., 1991), 240.

[2] Burnham, George. "Garden Seems Small After Rally At Yankee Stadium." Park City Daily News. Bowling Green, Kentucky, July 28, 1957.

[3] Eugene Register-Guard, August 11, 1957.

[4] Spokane Daily Chronicle, November 15, 1958.

[5] St. Joseph News-Press, January 7, 1959.

[6] http://vitals.rootsweb.ancestry.com/ca/death/search.cgi?surname=Shuler&given=Ruth Dorothy later married Stanley M. Sundin. Jack Shuler’s nephew, Robert P. Shuler, III, said Jack’s new wife’s name was Ruth Campbell. Jack and Ruth had two children, Todd Murphy, born March 29, 1960; and William T., born June 1, 1962.

[7] Los Angeles Times, Sat., Dec. 22, 1962, page 12.

[8] Email correspondence between the author and Robert P. Shuler, III, July 24, 2012.

[9] Email correspondence between the author and Dale Kurtz, March 21, 2013.

Versatile Artist

      Jack Shuler admitted he was no singer. Yet he played guitar and wrote songs. He also recognized musical talent. Shortly after Cliff Barrows graduated from Bob Jones College, he became Jack Shuler’s music director and song leader for the evangelist’s crusades. In fact, when Barrows and his wife Billie first met Billy Graham, the Barrows were still part of Shuler’s evangelistic team. Graham used the Barrows when his own song leader, Strat Shufelt, was not available.[1] Other musicians Shuler worked with included Jack Holcomb, Don DeVoss, and Stuart Hamblen.

      Jack Holcomb was a pentecostal evangelist himself. But his fame in the fifties and sixties came from his Irish tenor voice. As early as 1948 Holcomb was appearing at evangelistic meetings. For example, the February 25, 1948 Lodi News-Sentinel ran an article headed “Angeles Temple Trio to Appear at Glad Tidings.” The article lead said “Arriving in Lodi this afternoon are Rev. and Mrs. Howard Rusthoi and Jack Holcomb, radio tenor, for a special rally service in Glad Tidings Temple tonight.” Rusthoi was then serving as associate pastor of Angeles Temple, founded by Aimee Semple McPherson in Los Angeles. In the early twenties McPherson had founded the Four-Square Gospel denomination.

      Christ for Greater Los Angeles, Inc., continued to plan evangelistic campaigns after the success of Billy Graham there. And one of the earliest ones had to do with Jack Shuler and Jack Holcomb together. In a letter of its committee, it wrote, “There are many calls on us for united campaigns for 1950. One has already been set up for the Harbor Area, taking in San Pedro, Wilmington, Harbor City, Lomita, etc., with Jack Shuler and Jack Holcomb as the evangelists, for September 1950.”[2]

      The two Jacks continued their friendship through the 1950s. Toward the end of Shuler’s career, he held a city-wide campaign in Tucson, Arizona with him preaching and Jack Holcomb singing. Called “Crusade for Souls,” It was held from Sunday, February 28 through Tuesday, March 1, 1960 (three days since that was a leap year) at Central Assembly of God in Tucson.[3]

      Though Shuler used a number of musicians, the music director through his most successful campaigns was Don DeVos. He joined Shuler in the early fifties and was with him in his most successful campaign in Belfast, Ireland.

      After the 1949 Billy Graham campaign where country western musician Stuart Hamblen became a Christian, Hamblen appeared at most of Shuler’s crusades in the fifties. But their connection predated that. Hamblen’s father, Dr. James Henry Hamblen, was a well-known pastor of a Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in Texas, and a founder of the Evangelical Methodist Church. In 1946 J.H. Hamblen and Jack Shuler both were members of the Board of Trustees for Bob Jones College. And Jack’s father at the same time was on the school’s Cooperating Board.

      Jack Shuler, himself, wrote a number of songs, among them “In His Time,” “His Promise is True,” “Close to the Savior’s Side,” “The Prisoner,” “A Holy Day,” “Hallelujah for the Cross,” “The Man With the Nail in His Hand,” “The Wesley Brothers,” and others. He also authored a Crusade Hymn Book.

      Shuler, in addition to authoring a book of sermons called Shuler’s Short Sermons (1952), compiled a book of poems, The Valley of Silence (1956) of which he included five of his own and one by his sister. His sermons contained much well-crafted, poetic language. All in all, he displayed talent in a number of pursuits.

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[1] Billy Graham, Just As I Am (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., 1997), 101. After the 1949 Los Angeles crusade, the Barrows became permanent members of the Billy Graham team. Cliff became part of Jack Shuler’s crusades shortly after graduating from Bob Jones College in 1944.

[2] http://www2.wheaton.edu/bgc/archives/exhibits/LA49/08after01.html While the 1949 Los Angeles crusade launched Billy Graham into national prominence, much of its success depended on what preceded it. And the Christ for Greater Los Angeles, Inc. committee was a key part of that history. In reviewing its past, Jack Shuler played perhaps the most crucial role as any single evangelist. When the committee started in 1943, it organized city-wide revivals. The first was led by Hyman Appelman in 1944. In 1945 Jack Shuler conducted a youth rally at the Hollywood Bowl in which 15,000 attended and 400 made decisions for Christ. In 1946 Joe Hankins held revivals. In 1947 the evangelists were Charles Templeton and Merv Rosell who spoke at Adams and Grand. Also Billy Graham spoke at the Hollywood Bowl. In 1948 Jack Shuler spoke at Adams and Grand. In 1949 “because of the intensive work necessary to prepare for the Billy Graham campaign, only one other meeting was held. This was the Jack Shuler meeting in the San Gabriel Valley in June, a most successful and fruitful crusade.”

[3] Tucson Daily Citizen, February 27, 1960. In 1963 Holcomb was named “Mr. Gospel Music” by RCA Records.

Growing Up Shuler

     Robert Pierce Shuler surprised no one when he became a preacher. His father, John William Wesley Shuler, was a Methodist preacher, as was his grandfather, Philip Lofton Shuler. Robert was born to John William Wesley and Rosa Elvira (Cornett) Shuler on August 4, 1880 at Comer’s Rock which was on top of Iron Mountain in southwest Virginia. He spent the first 12 years of his life there. He remembered his Christian conversion at the age of nine.[1]

     The family moved a number of times. After graduating from Emory and Henry College in Virginia, J.W.W. along with Rosa Elvira and their children (Robert was then 12), moved to Bluff City, Tennessee. Robert remembered this move.

     “My father’s first pastorate as a Methodist circuit rider was the Bluff City Circuit in east Tennessee,” he said.[2]

     J.W.W. was responsible for five churches in the Holston Methodist Conference there. The family remained there three years before moving to Russell County, Virginia in 1895. Three weeks after Robert’s 16^th birthday, on August 25, 1896, his mother died from appendicitis. No doctor lived in the area and by the time J.W.W. could get one, it was too late. Robert became the head of the house for the time being.

     Robert (Bob) was licensed to preach a year after his mother died. He jumped at every opportunity. In 1898 he enrolled at Emory and Henry College and continued school while preaching at various Methodist churches. He graduated from Emory in 1903 and was ordained the same year.

     In April 1905 Bob Shuler held revival meetings at Austin Springs, Tennessee, where he met Nelle Reeves, whose father persuaded her to help in the revival. She played the organ and led the singing for the meetings. On October 4th Bob and Nelle were married.

     The newlywed Shulers started their life together in Bristol, Tennessee where Bob preached under the auspices of the Methodist Conference there. For the next 15 years Bob would continue preaching for the Methodist Conference, often becoming the center of controversy which would lead to his becoming widely known as “Fighting Bob” Shuler. His last four years as a “circuit rider” were spent in Paris, Texas. By the time they left Texas, the Shulers had five children, William, 10, Dorothy, 7, Robert, Jr., 4, Jack, 2 (born July 12, 1918), and Nelle, an infant. In October 1920 “Fighting Bob” moved his family to California to become the pastor of a Methodist church there. The Los Angeles Times, October 2, 1920 reported the move. 

     “After twenty-three years [of] service in the ministry of the Methodist church,” it said, “four of which have been recently spent in Paris, Tex., Rev. R.P. Shuler, known throughout Texas as "Fighting Bob" Shuler because of his evangelistic fervor and activity in social and political matters of the Lone Star State has arrived in Los Angeles, and will occupy the pulpit in his new pastorate at Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church tomorrow.”

     Bob and Nelle had two more sons after moving to California: Edward H., born in 1923, and Phil R., born December 29, 1924. “Fighting Bob” entered his new pastorate with enthusiasm and a large family, which kept Nelle with her hands full. With two older brothers, two younger brothers, one older sister and one younger, Jack was the middle sibling among the seven.

     Jack grew up surrounded by media attention. Trinity Methodist Church in Los Angeles was the most popular church in the area (not counting Angelus Temple which was started by Aimee Semple McPherson in 1923). Later that year (1923) when Jack was five, his dad preached a series of sermons against “McPhersonism”.[3] When Jack was eight, Sister McPherson continued to make headlines with her California disappearance and reappearance in Douglas, Arizona and with her controversial ministry at Angelus Temple.

     When Jack was 12, the Federal Radio Commission charged his dad with violating radio laws on his KGEF radio station.[4] Bob was judged guilty of some of the charges and was then sentenced to 20 days in jail. He served 15 of them.[5] When Jack was 13, Sister Aimee eloped to Yuma, Arizona and married David Hutton. When Jack was 14, his dad ran as the Prohibition candidate for the U.S. Senate and received more than half a million votes.[6]

     When Jack was 15, his dad considered running for California governor.[7] No doubt about it: When “Fighting Bob” Shuler spoke, people listened. When he wrote, people read it. His periodical publication, Bob Shuler’s Magazine, clearly bolstered his fame as the pastor of the popular Trinity Methodist Church.

In the Spotlight

     So Jack grew up surrounded by the media in an area that had become a hotbed of religious newsmakers. His father perpetually attracted attention and created continuing publicity. This publicity became a way of life. With his parents being public figures, Jack became accustomed to media around him and his brothers and sisters. Everyone reacts differently to such a situation. The fact that Jack was a preacher’s kid only added to the pressure. “Preacher’s kids” have been known to rebel against their upbringing. And Jack lived up to that. Billy Graham’s son also would one day go through that.

     Jack described himself as the “black sheep” of the family.[8] His younger brother, Phil, described him as the “smartacre” (smartaleck? wiseacre?) of the family. Phil remembered one time when they were kids and some thugs drove up to them while they were walking home in El Monte. (Such thugs bombed the Trinity Methodist church twice).[9] While in their car they asked the kids, “Are you the Shuler boys?” Jack quickly answered, “The last time I checked we were.”[10] The kids were lucky to make it home.
     This sense of humor continued into adulthood. In 1950 he pulled one over on his audience in a St. Joseph, Missouri crusade. The headline in the Reading, Pennsylvania Eagle, August 4, 1950 reported: Evangelist’s Query Traps Unwary Group. The article stated, "Evangelist Jack Shuler, leading an interdenominational revival, yesterday asked his audience how many heard 'my program this morning on radio station KRES?' About 50 persons held up their hands. 'Friends,' said Shuler, 'the devil is at work in St. Joseph. I wasn’t on the air this morning.'

     Jack’s sometimes reckless and impulsive behavior also showed up in his teens. By that time he was determined never to become a preacher like his father and their family history. He had become a “rebel without a cause” except for one. He developed a strong desire to become an actor. He pictured his name in lights and signing autographs as a movie star. He joined the Poet Theater in Los Angeles to go about reaching that goal.[11] By all accounts he was good at it. And he did have an additional asset. He was strikingly handsome. Besides that he was an exceptional athlete, playing football like both older brothers, Bill and Bob, Jr.

     What he did as a “rebel” when 17 had repercussions long after the event. It reflected his passionate personality.

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[1] Robert Shuler, “Fighting Bob” Shuler of Los Angeles (Indianapolis, Indiana: Dog Ear Publishing, 2011), 1-4.

[2] Bob Shuler, Some Dogs I Have Known (Murfreesboro, Tennessee: Sword of the Lord Publishers, 1953), 15.

[3] Edith L. Blumhofer, Aimee Semple McPherson: Everybody’s Sister (Grand Rapids, Michigan:William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1993), 257-258.

[4] “Charges Against Bob Shuler Filed” (Oxnard Daily Courier, July 22, 1930).

[5] “Court Upholds Punishment of Rev. Bob Shuler” Meriden Daily Journal, October 2, 1930. See also “Shuler Contempt Sentence Upheld” Milwaukee Journal, October 2, 1930.

[6] Milwaukee Journal, December 15, 1931.

[7] “Restore Prayers Instead of Beer, Says Bob Shuler” San Jose News, August 7, 1933.

[8] “Shuler ‘Acted’ Himself Into Ministry” Spokane Daily Chronicle, September 10, 1956.

[9] Gettysburg Times, October 27, 1930.

[10] My Life Story by Phil Shuler. n.d. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLLoWY-6Tuc.

[11] Jack Shuler, Shuler’s Short Sermons: Thirty-eight selected sermons by Jack Shuler (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1952). The dust cover said “Jack Shuler … received, as a promising young actor with the Poet Theater, opportunities to prepare himself for a movie career in Hollywood.”