DAVID LAWRENCE SHELTON, SR.

David Lawrence Shelton, Sr., affectionately known as “Rev,” was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, on December 2, 1924, to the union of Ernest Shelton, Sr. (born in Newbury, South Carolina) and Henrietta Elam Shelton (born in St. Bernard Parish). Surrounded by family, he peacefully transitioned to Heaven on Friday, January 31, 2025, at his home in Harvey, Louisiana.Rev. Shelton was the fourth born of eight children. He graduated from Booker T. Washington High School in 1944 with a major in carpentry. At the tender age of 14, Rev. Shelton’s father began to teach him the construction trade. Rev. Shelton often described his father as a fine carpenter, contractor, and home builder. Following graduation, Rev. Shelton began working full-time with his father. Rev. Shelton completed the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Basic Course in Government Contract Administration through Louisiana University in New Orleans and became a general contractor at the age of 26. In 1952, Shelton Contractors, Inc. was established. Rev. Shelton served as President of the company and worked as a sub-contractor and builder. Rev. Shelton also served as chaplain for The Amalgamated Builders and Contractors of Louisiana, Inc. While working as a contractor, he was selected to do U.S. Small Business Administration Set-Aside Work. He received contracts to construct the first Nursing Station on the sixth floor at the then Veterans Administration Hospital and the Officers Club for the Coast Guard Station. Shelton Contractors was also selected to build a family health clinic. Shelton Contractors had a $50,000 line of credit with the First National Bank of Commerce, a remarkable feat at that time for a black-owned construction company. Over the course of his life, Rev. Shelton built, renovated, and refurbished countless properties and constructed numerous apartment buildings from the ground up throughout New Orleans, all of which were completed and accepted with much praise. Rev. Shelton boasted forty years of success in all facets of construction, specializing in carpentry, framing, and finishing. Rev. Shelton accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior at the age of 36 and was called to preach God’s Word two years later. At the age of 39, Rev. Shelton became the Pastor of the New Orleans Revival Center Pentecostal Holiness Church (later renamed “Restoration Embassy Church” but always lovingly referred to as the “Revival Center”), then located on St. Philip Street and eventually at 2218 St. Thomas Street in the Irish Channel where the church remained until 2021.
Rev. Shelton was trained by Morris Cerullo of World Evangelism to preach the gospel to his culture, to establish a church, to help the poor, to care for orphans and the homeless, and to provide jobs. He was commissioned by eldership from James Robinson Evangelism to be an Apostolic Father to this region and beyond. Many signs and miracles of deliverance and healing followed Rev. Shelton as he performed the work of the Lord. Rev. Shelton’s ministry was not confined to the Greater New Orleans area. He traveled the world on mission trips to South Africa, Haiti, Belize, and Guyana throughout the 70s, 80s, and 90s. He also worked closely with Rev. Geoffrey Mariki, an evangelist from Tanzania, to enlist involvement and participation by black Americans in missionary work in Africa. Nationally, Rev. Shelton played a key role in the New Orleans Chapter of Promise Keepers, a national male-centric organization that traveled throughout the country organizing prayer rallies in major cities. He visited Atlanta, Birmingham, Chicago, Seattle, and other major cities as a Promise Keepers representative. In his local community, Rev. Shelton served as chaplain to short-term and long-term inmates in the Orleans Parish prison system, was Co-Chairman of the Shalom Drug Rally (Community Prayer Rally Against Drug Abuse) at Jackson Square in 1989, and played integral roles in the Shalom Steering Committee, the monthly Concert of Prayers, and Pray for the Peace of the City movement. As Pastor of the Revival Center, Rev. Shelton worked with black farmers in Mississippi to develop a Farmer’s Market and coordinate the pre-sale of crops to local churches and their members, one of the first of its kind in the Greater New Orleans area. These confirmed pre-sales allowed black Mississippi farmers to sell their crops at market prices. Rev. Shelton also collaborated with President Jimmy Carter on his Habitat for Humanity initiative, working to provide homeownership opportunities to lower socio-economic families in the Irish Channel and raise funds related to the effort. Rev. Shelton also desired to fulfill God’s commission to feed the hungry, which he accomplished by way of what is likely his greatest contribution to his local church community—the Revival Center Feeding Program. Commencing on July 13, 1987, Rev. Shelton fed hundreds of thousands of homeless men, women, and children for nearly 20 years. He never preached to the homeless but instead offered them the two things he believed they needed most—a well-balanced meal and love. Rev. Shelton was gifted with a vision for the growth and development of his local church community and, through the Revival Center, administered programs that provided the homeless with GED preparation and testing. He also worked tirelessly to establish a carpentry and construction trade school and teach employable skills to young men recently released from Orleans Parish jails and prisons, a vision that was not realized prior to his death. Rev. Shelton’s commitment and dedication to sharing his faith at home and abroad (through action and not words alone) led to his 1983 invitation and attendance at the 31st Annual National Prayer Breakfast hosted by President Reagan, receipt of the New Orleans Bread for the World 1990 Hunger Awareness Award, receipt of the NAACP Community Service Award, receipt of a Certificate of Merit from Mayor Ray Nagin awarded on May 25, 2003, for Rev. Shelton’s contributions to the City of New Orleans, Governor Buddy Roemer declaring May 4, 1990 as Pastor David Lawrence Shelton, Sr. Day, and the Council of the City of New Orleans declaring the week of April 29 through May 5, 1990 to be Ministers Appreciation Week and publicly acknowledging Rev. Shelton’s operation of the homeless feeding program and its impact on the poor and troubled citizens in the New Orleans community. The Revival Center also served as a safe haven for children in the community when Rev. Shelton secured state funding to establish a feeding program for the youth in the summer of 2002 and to provide after-school tutoring in 2002 and 2003 through the New Orleans Revival Center Youth Enrichment Program. Well before government funds were granted to his ministry, a daycare and nursery were operated out of the Revival Center. A man that was led by the Holy Spirit to touch lives wherever he went, Rev. Shelton was known for his joy, faith in God, love for people, excitement for the Lord, and boldness to pray or witness wherever and whenever led to do so. He was a man that taught the fullness of God and held fast to the living Word of God. He was anointed to teach an uncompromising message of holiness and righteousness and was faithful in the work of the Lord. But more importantly, he taught that we are to forgive each other with sincerity and without hesitation and to love each other as Christ loved the Church. God installed him in the highest honor of ministry – Apostle. Rev. Shelton was an example of leadership, commitment, fortitude, steadfastness, servitude, humility, and strength to all who knew him. Above all, Rev. Shelton was most proud of his family, which in later years he proudly referred to as his seed. Rev. Shelton leaves to cherish and carry on his legacy four children born from his union with the late Alasia Toval: David Lawrence Shelton, Jr. (Evelyn), Russell Joseph Shelton (Jacquelyn), Annette Theresa Raby (Milton), Sherman Louis Shelton, Sr. (Corrine); three children born from his union with Alicia Shelton-Hotard: Shawn David Shelton, Shannon Alicia Shelton (Emon), and Shea Lawrence Shelton (Janelle); his daughter-in-law, Shelly Aguilar Shelton; over 100 grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren; his sister Clara Mae Patterson; and a host of cousins, nieces, nephews, and other relatives, friends, and church family. Rev. Shelton was preceded in death by his parents: Ernest Shelton, Sr. and Henrietta Elam Shelton; his siblings: Ernest Shelton, Jr., Geraldine Shelton Merridith, Ethel Edith Griffin, Henry Emile Shelton, Sr., Josephine Johnson, and Theodore Shelton, Sr.; and his children: Vincent Andrew Shelton, Sr., Arlene Marie Shelton Gray, and Anthony James Shelton, Sr. Relatives and friends of the family, also pastor, officers, and members of at Full Life Faith Ministries, and all neighboring churches are invited to attend the Celebration of Life at Celebration Church Westbank 5058 Lapalco Blvd. Marrero, LA on Saturday, February 15, 2025, at 10:00 a.m. Visitation will begin at 9:00 a.m. at the above-named church. Interment: St. Louis Cemetery #3 New Orleans, LA. Arrangements by Davis Mortuary Service, 230 Monroe St. Gretna, LA. To view and sign the guestbook please go to davismortuaryservice.com. 

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