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Brothers Indeed: D. Shelby Corlett and Lewis T. Corlett
David Shelby Corlett and Lewis T. Corlett were born in Homestead, PA, in 1894 and 1896 respectively. Their parents, William and Isabel, were devoted Christians converted in a union (inter-denominational) revival meeting. The family belonged to the Methodist Episcopal Church during the boys’ early childhood.
A Nazarene pastor made an unsolicited visit in 1910. After thoughtful prayer, their parents joined his church. Neither Shelby nor Lewis was entirely committed at this time, but they made commitments later during revival services conducted by evangelist Will Nerry. Altogether, about 20 young people were involved. The pastor suggested they form a Nazarene Young People’s Society. Shelby was elected president and Lewis treasurer.
The young people purchased a revival tent and set it up at different locations throughout the summer. Preaching was conducted by ordained ministers, like Rev. C. A. Imhoff, but the young people were responsible for the preparations, music, and visitation.(1)
In 1915, the brothers went to Arkansas Holiness College in Vilonia to prepare for the ministry. They stayed two years. Shelby began preaching during the summers. In 1917, general superintendent E. F. Walker visited the school and took a deep interest in Shelby, inviting him to California to work at Pasadena College while continuing his preparation there. Shelby was ordained in 1919.
Shelby was drafted into the Army near the end of World War I and spent several months in France, where he was shot in the thigh by a sniper. After months in a hospital, he was discharged and returned to the United States.
The brothers rose gradually to new positions of influence in the young denomination. After ordination, Shelby became pastor of the church in Upland, CA.
He attended the 1923 General Assembly, which authorized and approved the General NYPS. Shelby was elected to be its first Executive Secretary. Until 1929, he pastored while also leading the church’s youth auxiliary. In 1929, he was given an office at the Nazarene headquarters and asked to devote himself full-time to youth work, which he did. Through his efforts, the youth auxiliary was organized throughout the United States and elsewhere.
He founded the NYPS periodical, The Young People’s Journal, and a successor, Youth’s Comrade. He was also founding editor of Standard, the Sunday school story paper.
Other tasks came his way. He became managing editor of The Preacher’s Magazine and Herald of Holiness, and then Herald of Holiness editor from 1936 to 1948.
After his brother moved to California, Lewis Corlett went to Peniel College in Texas for his senior year, where he made friends with J. B. Chapman. He was ordained by general superintendent John Goodwin in 1918 and pastored churches in Los Angeles (Grand Avenue), Montana, Colorado, and New Jersey.
From 1934 to 1942, he taught in the religion department of Bethany-Peniel College (now Southern Nazarene University), serving some of that time as department chair. In 1942, he was elected president of Northwest Nazarene College and served there for ten years. Richard Etulain, NNC’s official historian, wrote that Lewis Corlett kept up a steady correspondence with the young preachers he had taught at Bethany and elsewhere. Like Chapman, he wanted to develop the competencies of pastors.(2)
In 1952, Lewis Corlett was elected president of Nazarene Theological Seminary, succeeding Hugh Benner, founding president, who had been elected general superintendent. Lewis’ notion of the seminary’s purpose was crystal clear. In 1961, in his Message to the Faculty, he stated: “We must always keep in mind that the Seminary was established and is maintained for the training of a ministry for holiness churches.”(3)
During his tenure, Lewis Corlett enlarged the seminary faculty, strengthened the curriculum, pushed the seminary toward accreditation, and emphasized institutional self-study. He served as seminary president until 1966, when he retired.(4)
In retirement, he taught part-time in the religion department of Pasadena College (now Point Loma Nazarene University) until 1973. He was a prolific writer for church publications and wrote several books, including Holiness: The Harmonizing Experience (1951). A religious memoir, Thank God and Take Courage, was published posthumously. In 1980, Northwest Nazarene College dedicated Corlett Hall, a residential hall, in his honor.
Shelby, meanwhile, ministered in various capacities after leaving the Nazarene headquarters: pastor in Anaheim, CA, religion professor at Northwest Nazarene College, associate pastor at Bresee Avenue Church of the Nazarene in Pasadena, and author of nearly two-dozen books on the Holy Spirit and other religious topics.
Both brothers were thoughtful and spiritual people. D. Shelby Corlett died December 4, 1979, in Pasadena. Lewis died in Duarte, CA, on January 1, 1992.
Dr. Stan Ingersol, Ph.D., is a church historian and former manager of the Nazarene Archives.
1 “David Shelby Corlett.” A typescript memoir by Lewis T. Corlett contained in Shelby’s profile folder in Nazarene Archives.
2 Richard W. Etulain, Seeking First the Kingdom: Northwest Nazarene University: A Centennial History (2012): 90.
3 The Nazarene Weekly (Jan. 25, 1981): 1.
4 Harold E. Raser, More Preachers and Better Preachers: The First Fifty Years of Nazarene Theological Seminary (1995): 74-80.
