SHELDON, CHARLES MONROE
(26 February 1857, Wellsville, NY- 24 February 1946, Topeka, KS). Education: B.A., Brown University, 1883; B.D., Andover Theological Seminary, 1886. Career. Minister, Waterbury, VT, 1886-88; minister, Topeka, KS, 1889-1919; editor-in-chief, Christian Herald, 1920-25; contributing editor, Christian Herald, 1925-46.
Charles Sheldon's career illustrates the popularity of the Social Gospel and "practical" Christianity in turn-of-the-century America. The son of a clergyman,
Sheldon spent part of his youth in a log cabin on the South Dakota prairie. He became interested in urban America while attending college in Providence, Rhode Island, at Brown. As minister in Topeka, Kansas, a rail center, Sheldon had contact with slums, immigrants, labor unrest, and other features of industrial America.
He contributed a series of stories, suggesting the role of Christianity in modem life, to the social gospel movement. Disappointed with the poor turnout at his Sunday evening services, he began substituting stories for sermons. These were so popular that they were serialized in Advance, a religious magazine, and later published as books. He struck a responsive chord when he portrayed several members of a church in a Midwestern railway town agreeing to live one year, asking themselves before any decision, "What would Jesus do?" The stories were published under the title, In His Steps, and became one of the most popular books of all time. Estimates of sales range from six to thirty million. The book's distribution was encouraged by the appeal of it subject-and by loose copyright laws that allowed the book to be pirated and translated into twenty languages without compensation to Sheldon. In 1936 the book was made into a movie. Although he received royalties from only one of the book's many publishers, Sheldon became a celebrated lecturer and writer.
In 1900 the owner of the Topeka Daily Capital invited Sheldon to edit the newspaper for one week-as he thought Jesus would have done. This experiment in walking "in his steps" won national attention. Sheldon turned down news and advertisements that he deemed inappropriate for a Christian newspaper. He published crime stories with comments on the underlying causes of crime. In stories of prize fights and vice he made it clear that such things were evil. The paper's circulation jumped from 15,000 to 367,000, with issues published in Chicago, New York, and London. This unique experiment in Christian journalism ended as one might expect. Advertisers, writers, and the owner eagerly reclaimed their paper and returned to the ordinary way of doing business. But Sheldon was able to turn his hand again to publishing a few years later, when he became editor of the Christian Herald.
Sheldon wrote more than thirty Social Gospel novels and spoke throughout America and England on social problems. He was an ardent prohibitionist as well as a pacifist. In 1914-15 he was a member of a "flying squadron" for prohibition, speaking in 247 American cities in 243 days. Sheldon once remarked that virtually his whole theology centered on the effort to put Christ's creed into practice.
Bibliography
A: Richard Bruce (Boston, 1892); The Crucifixion of Philip Strong (Chicago, 1894); In His Steps (Chicago, 1897; and many subsequent editions); Robert Hardy's Seven Days (New York, 1899); Born to Serve (Chicago, 1900); The Narrow Gate (Chicago, 1903); Of One Blood (Boston, 1916); Charles M. Sheldon: His Life Story (New York, 1925).
B: DAB 24, 740-42; DARB, 408; NCAB 34,368-68; NIT 25 February 1946, 25; SH 10, 390; John W. Ripley, "Another Look at the Rev. Mr. Charles M. Sheldon's Christian Daily Newspaper," Kansas Historical Quarterly, 31 (1965), 1-40; John W. Ripley, 'The Strange Story of In His Steps," Kansas Historical Quarterly, 34 (1968), 241-65; Paul S. Boyer, "In His Steps: A Reappraisal," American Quarterly, 23 (1971), 60-78; Jonathan A. Lindsey, "Sheldon's Serial Sermons," Journal of Library History, 21 (1986), 362-75.
Charles Sheldon's career illustrates the popularity of the Social Gospel and "practical" Christianity in turn-of-the-century America. The son of a clergyman,
Sheldon spent part of his youth in a log cabin on the South Dakota prairie. He became interested in urban America while attending college in Providence, Rhode Island, at Brown. As minister in Topeka, Kansas, a rail center, Sheldon had contact with slums, immigrants, labor unrest, and other features of industrial America.
He contributed a series of stories, suggesting the role of Christianity in modem life, to the social gospel movement. Disappointed with the poor turnout at his Sunday evening services, he began substituting stories for sermons. These were so popular that they were serialized in Advance, a religious magazine, and later published as books. He struck a responsive chord when he portrayed several members of a church in a Midwestern railway town agreeing to live one year, asking themselves before any decision, "What would Jesus do?" The stories were published under the title, In His Steps, and became one of the most popular books of all time. Estimates of sales range from six to thirty million. The book's distribution was encouraged by the appeal of it subject-and by loose copyright laws that allowed the book to be pirated and translated into twenty languages without compensation to Sheldon. In 1936 the book was made into a movie. Although he received royalties from only one of the book's many publishers, Sheldon became a celebrated lecturer and writer.
In 1900 the owner of the Topeka Daily Capital invited Sheldon to edit the newspaper for one week-as he thought Jesus would have done. This experiment in walking "in his steps" won national attention. Sheldon turned down news and advertisements that he deemed inappropriate for a Christian newspaper. He published crime stories with comments on the underlying causes of crime. In stories of prize fights and vice he made it clear that such things were evil. The paper's circulation jumped from 15,000 to 367,000, with issues published in Chicago, New York, and London. This unique experiment in Christian journalism ended as one might expect. Advertisers, writers, and the owner eagerly reclaimed their paper and returned to the ordinary way of doing business. But Sheldon was able to turn his hand again to publishing a few years later, when he became editor of the Christian Herald.
Sheldon wrote more than thirty Social Gospel novels and spoke throughout America and England on social problems. He was an ardent prohibitionist as well as a pacifist. In 1914-15 he was a member of a "flying squadron" for prohibition, speaking in 247 American cities in 243 days. Sheldon once remarked that virtually his whole theology centered on the effort to put Christ's creed into practice.
Bibliography
A: Richard Bruce (Boston, 1892); The Crucifixion of Philip Strong (Chicago, 1894); In His Steps (Chicago, 1897; and many subsequent editions); Robert Hardy's Seven Days (New York, 1899); Born to Serve (Chicago, 1900); The Narrow Gate (Chicago, 1903); Of One Blood (Boston, 1916); Charles M. Sheldon: His Life Story (New York, 1925).
B: DAB 24, 740-42; DARB, 408; NCAB 34,368-68; NIT 25 February 1946, 25; SH 10, 390; John W. Ripley, "Another Look at the Rev. Mr. Charles M. Sheldon's Christian Daily Newspaper," Kansas Historical Quarterly, 31 (1965), 1-40; John W. Ripley, 'The Strange Story of In His Steps," Kansas Historical Quarterly, 34 (1968), 241-65; Paul S. Boyer, "In His Steps: A Reappraisal," American Quarterly, 23 (1971), 60-78; Jonathan A. Lindsey, "Sheldon's Serial Sermons," Journal of Library History, 21 (1986), 362-75.
