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.