Do you know Mel Trotter?

Mel Trotter is a familiar name to folks living in West Michigan. It is the name of a large rescue mission and soup kitchen in Grand Rapids, as well as the name of a series of thrift stores found throughout the region. Unfortunately, many are unfamiliar with the man after whom these organizations are named.

Melvin E. Trotter was born into a family of seven children. His father was a bar tender who drank nearly as much as he sold. As a young man, Mel was determined not to follow his father’s pattern of life. He learned a trade – barbering, and married a fine Christian girl named Lottie. However, Mel found that self-determination was not enough. Lottie discovered three things within months of her marriage to Mel. She learned that her new husband was an alcoholic, a habitual gambler, and that he was unemployed. What money Mel earned was largely spent on drinking and gambling. Then whatever job he could find Mel would eventually lose because of his drunkenness. Numerous times he attempted to dry out, but each time he would relapse. One day, after a ten-day-long drinking binge, Mel returned to his house to find his wife cradling the lifeless form of their two-year-old son. At the funeral, Mel put his arm around his wife and promised that he would never drink again. His pledge lasted only a few hours before he staggered home drunk.

Mel Trotter blamed himself for his child’s death. If he had been sober, responsible, providing for his family like he should have, his son might not have died. Trying to escape the burden of guilt, Mel left home, traveled to Chicago, and went on a drunken spree. Poor and desperate for drink, he sold his shoes to buy liquor. Penniless and hungry, he staggered into the Pacific Garden Rescue Mission. Although he slept through the first half of the service, he heard a clear presentation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. At age 27, Mel Trotter trusted Christ and found deliverance from the dominating power of sin. He never gambled or touched alcohol again.

Mel Trotter believed the old saying, “saved to serve.” He worked full time as a barber to support his family and spent many spare hours helping others through soul winning and rescue mission work. Although he had no formal ministerial training, he was eventually asked to quit his job barbering to serve as the superintendent of the City Rescue Mission in Grand Rapids. Here he spent his life reaching the needy with the gospel. The mission that was renamed in his memory is testimony of a life redeemed and used by Christ.

Trotter’s mission work provided shelter to the homeless, clothing to the poor, and food to the hungry. But primarily his ministry provided people the gospel of Jesus Christ. Gospel preaching, gospel testimonies, and gospel music were central to the work. Trotter recognized that people have medical, financial, and social needs, but the greatest need is always spiritual. Trotter believed that when a man came to Christ, he would find not only forgiveness of sin, but also a new life of deliverance from sin. His favorite verse of Scripture was II Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

“When my mother lay dying, she told me, ‘You win all the souls you can to Jesus, and I will see you over there.’” Mel pursued his mother’s dying desire. In his lifetime, he founded sixty city rescue missions, and through his influence thousands were converted to Christ. Today, seventy years after his death, Mel Trotter’s name is still known. But what Mel Trotter would want is for his Savior to be known. He would want those following in his steps to be, as he put it, “everlastingly at it,” telling others of the saving grace of God in Jesus Christ.

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David A. Oliver is the pastor of Ashley Baptist Church in Belding, MI.

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Photo by Edwin Andrade on Unsplash