The Cross and the Switchblade

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.

David Wilkerson (1931-2011) was a Pentecostal minister and an influential figure in Christian ministry best known for his work with troubled youth in New York City, as chronicled in his autobiographical memoir The Cross and the Switchblade. The son and grandson of Pentecostal preachers, Wilkerson experienced a profound spiritual awakening at the age of 12 and began preaching while a teenager. He attended Central Bible College in Springfield, Missouri, and was ordained as a minister in 1952 at the age of 21. The same year, he founded a nondenominational church, the Revival Tabernacle, in Philipsburg, Pennsylvania. It was while working at this church in 1958 that he saw the Life magazine article about the teens accused in the Michael Farmer case, which begins the action of The Cross and the Switchblade. Wilkerson gained national recognition after the publication of The Cross and the Switchblade, and he founded several ministries for teenagers and young people in the decades following.