Charles Monroe Sheldon was born February 26, 1857, in Wellsville, New York, to Stewart and Sarah (Ward) Sheldon. His father was a Congregational minister and reassigned to churches five times before the family finally settled in South Dakota. Sheldon’s family supported the temperance movement and at the age of seven he signed a total abstinence pledge, promising not to use alcohol and tobacco.

Sheldon studied at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, and graduated from Brown University in 1883 and Andover Theological Seminary in 1886. He was hired by the Congregational Church in Waterbury, Vermont, in 1886. Sheldon was inspired by the social gospel movement, which encouraged churchgoers to help solve social problems of the day. His Waterbury congregation was not receptive to the message.

A visitor from Kansas introduced Sheldon to his granddaughter, Mary Abby Merriam, and encouraged Sheldon to bring his ideas to Topeka. Central Congregational was impressed with Sheldon’s passion and hired him as pastor of the Topeka church. Sheldon and Merriam were married on May 20, 1891. They had one child. To attract young followers, Sheldon developed a Sunday evening sermon series with a dramatic ending to be concluded the following week. Response was enthusiastic. One story in particular resonated with the congregation as Sheldon asked “What would Jesus do?” A religious magazine from Chicago published the stories in weekly installments and then in book form as In His Steps.