The Delinquent Miracle - The Spark that Set The Salvation Army on Fire in America, 1879

Over this past year, I have been busy researching the historical development of children’s and youth work in The Salvation Army in the United States. This has been an incredibly exciting journey – and one which continues daily to amaze me as I realize what a rich, vibrant history we have. So often, children are easily crowded out of our memory. In recent years, there has been a movement of historians and theologians who have sought to rediscover the voice of children – identifying their significant place in history. This is true of The Salvation Army, for without our ministries to children’s and youth, we would probably cease to be all that makes us The Salvation Army.

I would suggest that without children, The Salvation Army might never have succeeded in coming to the United States. In Dr. Ed McKinley’s book, Marching to Glory (1980), he provides an account of the ministry of the seventeen year-old, Eliza Shirley and her family – who are considered the pioneers of the Army in America. The Shirley’s came to Philadelphia in 1879 with a precondition from General William Booth that he would only officially launch the work in America if the Shirley’s mission “…was a success” (McKinley, 5).

Knowing that the mission of the Army was to “Go for souls and go for the worst,” they immediately set up a ‘Salvation Factory’ in one of the poorest neighborhoods they could find. They visited saloons and preached on perilous street corners, but were met with a spirit of apathy and failure. McKinley comments, “Penniless, friendless, and discouraged, they prayed for some sign from the Heavenly Commander that He favored their dying crusade, and would yet bless it” (McKinley, 7f.). That blessing would come – through a most unconventional means!

Delinquent. The term originated in the 15^th century and continues to be a word used to highlight those who break the law. During the 19^th century, the industrial revolution helped to churn out juvenile delinquents. In 1849, the New York City Chief of Police reported on “the constantly increasing number of vagrant, idle and vicious children,” whose numbers, he claimed were, “almost incredible” (Cunningham, 145). Children would not be tried separate from adults until 1899 (Cunningham, 151). Children would have to wait until 1906 before the Playground Association of America would be formed to provide organized play activities for urban children (Zelizer, 34). One wonders whether these kids were simply depraved hooligans or whether they were good children who happened to be the byproducts of an abusive, negligent, high-risk environment that provided the fertile ground for delinquent behavior.

The Lord would answer the Shirley’s prayer for a miracle through a gang of ‘delinquent’ boys who chose to entertain themselves by setting fire to a barrel of tar. McKinley elaborates:

…the horse-drawn fire engines had arrived promptly. Fire was a desperate threat in the crowded, wooden, gas-lit cities of the late nineteenth century; fear, along with the self-important clang and bustle of fire engines, always drew large crowds to fires. The Shirleys were certain the fire was providential, and threw themselves on the startled crowd with thankful hearts, singing, “Traveler, whither art thou going, Heedless of the clouds that form?!” (McKinley, 8)

That day, a delinquent act by a group of ruffian children became a delinquent miracle that helped to spark a literal flame that sparked a more profound spiritual flame that blazed a path for an array of ministries that would seek to reclaim hundreds of thousands of children throughout America for the next one hundred and thirty years – and continues to do so today. Without these children, the Shirley’s mission might never have been successful. Without these boys, William Booth might never have officially launched The Salvation Army one year later.

Today, boys just like these young men have an opportunity to enter through the doors of Salvation Army Corps and Community Centers. The Salvation Army provides a safe space where all of their needs: physical, intellectual, emotional, social, moral – and most importantly, spiritual; can be met. It is our prayer that at Railton School for Youth Worker Training, that we raise of a generation of young leaders who will be ready to welcome such children; and be committed to developing a reclaiming environment where new delinquent miracles can spark opportunities to blaze a trail into the lives of this next generation.

REFERENCES

· Cunningham, Hugh. Children and childhood in Western society since 1500. Essex, England: Longman, 1995.

· McKinley, Edward H. Marching to glory: The history of The Salvation Army in the United States of America, 1880-1980. San Francisco:Harper & Row, 1980/1992.
· Zelizer, Viviana A. Pricing the priceless child: The changing social value of children. NY: Basic Books, 1981.