Church of the Month
Triniti Methodist
Los Angeles
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Bob Shu ler , S r . re tire s a fte r 56 y e a r s as a M e th od is t m i
T his month in Los Angeles, Dr. Bob Shuler is retiring after 33 years as pastor of Trinity Method ist Church. It is his 56th year \as a Methodist preacher and his 50th year in the itinerant ministry. The well-known preacher and evangelist was born 73 years ago in a log cabin in the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia. Just over the ridge in a log church he was con verted at nine years of age. Today he is being used to win many people through his dynamic testimony for the deity of Christ. When he came to the church in 1920 there were 900 members and a $55,000 mortgage on a building with no seats. Today the church has 3750 members, the result of years of untiring work and determination on the part of Dr. Shuler and his staff. It is by the law of the Methodist church that he is retiring, not by choice of this crusading minister. Future plans include a summer home in Oregon on Lake Woahink near Florence. To reach the place, one must cross the waters by boat. Shuler is an out-door man at heart and likes fishing. Recently he caught a prize
swordfish in Southern California waters. Destination of any edible catch is the kitchen of his wife, Nelle Reeves Shuler. In 1905 he met, courted and mar ried her, a Tennessee Methodist girl. It all happened within six months. Today they have 7 children and 21 grandchildren. Of their five sons, three are preachers. Shuler was educated at Emory and Henry College. He worked his way through, in fact, he was self-support ing at the age of 13. He and his wife rode the Grand view Circuit in Texas and spent 16 years in southwest churches until their arrival at Trinity in 1920. As well as his duties as pastor of this growing church, Shuler is editor of The Methodist Challenge, a monthly paper with 22,000 circu lation promoting evangelism in the Methodist church. This publication was started 22 years ago, and today they have published the equivalent of more than 17 volumes of a series of books containing 250 pages. Most of the subject matter has been writ ten by Shuler himself, and he will continue writing after his retire ment.
Trinity Methodist, a friendly down-town church founded more than 80 years ago.
Shuler has five sons and two daughters. Three sons are preachers, two engineers.
When the Shuler clan gathers they literally pack out the family home. The grand children are always fascinated by stories of Dr. Shuler's early life in Virginia. 18
Nelle Shuler is never far from 21 grand children— all in Los Angeles and vicinity.
THE KING'S BUSINESS
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