The Cross and the Switchblade

The Cross and the Switchblade (1962) is a best-selling memoir written by Reverend David Wilkerson with Christian authors John and Elizabeth Sherrill. It is an autobiographical account of Wilkerson’s time as a Pentecostal minister working with troubled youth in New York City in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Wilkerson believes he is called by God to help young people turn away from drugs and crime. He faces many personal and fiscal challenges as he goes about his work, but he overcomes these to set up a successful ministry known as the Teen Challenge Center. Major themes in the book include Redemption Through Baptism of the Holy Spirit, The Sacrifices Necessary for Missionary Work, and The Societal Roots of Gang Violence.

This guide uses the 1977 Jove mass-market edition, which is available as an ebook.

Content Warning: The source material contains descriptions of drug abuse and addiction, sexual and physical violence against minors, and animal cruelty. Additionally, the source material endorses dated ideas about sex workers, sexually active women, and persons with substance use disorders. The source text also shows anti-gay bias and is prejudiced against Black and Hispanic people.

Summary

David Wilkerson, a pastor in Philipsburg, Pennsylvania, discovers an article in Life magazine about seven boys charged with the murder of a man named Michael Farmer. He feels a powerful calling to help the boys, so he travels to New York City and attends the trial. However, when Wilkerson tries to approach the judge, guards throw him out of the courtroom and the media mocks him for being a religious zealot. Discouraged, he returns to Philipsburg but soon feels called to go back to New York. In the city, he preaches on the streets and many people—including some teen gang members Wilkerson hopes to connect with—recognize him as the pastor who was thrown out of the Farmer trial.

Wilkerson learns that the only way he can meet the boys on trial in the Farmer case is to get their parents’ permission. Soon after, Wilkerson is miraculously guided to the home of the boys’ leader, Luis Alvarez, and he succeeds in obtaining signatures from all seven families. Still, the prison chaplain rejects his request to meet the boys. Wilkerson is frustrated and turns to his grandfather for advice. His grandfather, a retired Pentecostal traveling preacher, tells him that God is not calling him to help just the seven boys on trial but to help all troubled young people in New York.

After this, Wilkerson begins visiting New York every week to learn more about teens involved in gangs. He hears another calling to build a loving home for these teens where they will have the opportunity to start a new life. Wilkerson is still unsure if such a transformation is possible for these hardened young people. When he preaches on the street in Fort Green, Brooklyn, some gang members from the audience join him in prayer. Wilkerson takes this as a sign that he is on the right track.

With the support of local church leaders, Wilkerson organizes a week-long youth rally to reach out to gang members. The rally is initially a failure, which saps Wilkerson’s spirits. However, the final day is a huge success, and hundreds of boys, including Israel and Nicky from the Mau Mau gang, pray to accept God and change their lives. After this, Wilkerson returns to Philipsburg, but he feels unfulfilled with his life there. One year after the rally, he reconnects with Nicky, who has given up gang life and wants to be a pastor. Wilkerson helps him enroll in the Latin American Bible Institute.

When Wilkerson learns that Israel has been arrested for murder, Wilkerson decides to leave his church in Philipsburg and start a new one in New York City. Despite the mission’s humble beginnings, Wilkerson succeeds in getting large donations, which he attributes to God’s hand. Following a vision from God, he uses the donations to buy a home in Bedford-Stuyvesant to house troubled teens. To fix up the house and get the mission running, he brings together a coalition of teenage volunteers, pastors of all denominations, and civic leaders. Workers from Bible colleges come to New York to staff the house, and the Teen Challenge Center officially opens in the spring of 1961. Within the first five months, 500 teenagers choose to leave their lives of crime and addiction and join a church. As the Center grows, Nicky returns to New York to join its staff. Wilkerson attributes the success of the Center to the enthusiasm of its workers and the generosity of its donors.

As the due date for the second mortgage payment approaches, however, Wilkerson grows anxious since the mission has run out of money. He is equally worried about the growing threat of drug abuse in the teen community. Following interviews with persons who used to have substance use disorders, Wilkerson realizes that baptism is a crucial step of addiction treatment. He describes the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which is at the heart of Pentecostalism: According to practitioners, if a person prays for the Holy Spirit to enter them, they will be given incredible powers, including the power to speak in tongues; Wilkerson believes that persons with substance use disorders who receive baptism of the Holy Spirit can use this power to fight off addiction. He shares stories of persons who used to have heroin use disorders, including Maria, who were cured by baptism.

When the mortgage payment due date arrives, the Center is unable to pay and receives an extension. After two weeks of desperate fundraising, the Center still doesn’t have enough money to make the payment. However, at the last minute, a check miraculously arrives for the exact amount of the mortgage. In the Epilogue, Wilkerson reflects on the continuing work of the Teen Challenge Center in New York and announces the opening of new Centers in Chicago and other major cities.