"C" for "Christian" was the primary concern in starting the YMCA

Among the millions of people who work out on treadmills and in swimming pools each day at their local YMCAs, most probably do not realize the central focus was on Bible study and prayer when the Young Men’s Christian Association began in London in 1844.

The “C” of YMCA was George Williams’s main concern when he left a farm in rural England and moved to London to begin a sales career at the age of 21. He rallied other young men who wanted Christian fortification against the temptations and threats they faced in the big city.

As a Christian organization for young men, YMCA caught on in Great Britain and in North America as well. In 1851, branches were established in Montreal in November and in Boston on today’s date, December 29.

YMCA work began among white Protestant men, but it crossed barriers of denomination, gender, and race to include women and children, as well as men, of all races, religions, and nationalities.

After the Civil War, Y work focused on evangelistic work, with preaching in saloons and street corners. In the 1880s, YMCAs began hiring full-time staffs and putting up buildings. Those buildings included gyms and swimming pools, auditoriums and bowling alleys, and college dormitory type rooms with baths on the hall.

In World War I, YMCA ran military canteens, known today as post exchanges, in the United States and in France, as well as relief work for refugees and prisoners of war on both sides. 

YMCA became a social welfare agency, doing much of the work that federal government agencies later would adopt. For example, Y’s did relief work for the poor in the Great Depression of the late 1920s and early 1930s.

The contemporary logo features a large “Y,” as the organization is popularly known, but “YMCA” is there in little letters.

On the athletic front, YMCA claims credit for inventing various games, including volleyball, softball, and basketball.

Recognitions of the broad social impact of YMCA came as founder George Williams was knighted by Queen Victoria in 1894, and a later YMCA leader, John Mott, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1946. 

Athletics is a major factor in attracting 17.9 million people in the U. S. and 30 million worldwide, but leadership is determined to re-focus on the sometimes less conspicuous “Christian” in Young Men’s Christian Association.

Taking the historic look at YMCA and its varied emphases across the years, we are reminded that broader aspects of Christ’s coming include the physical, mental, and social along with the spiritual dimensions of life.

Verses for Today

“And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in divine and human favor” (Luke 2:52).

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 10:27).

Each day through New Year’s Day, January 1, 2013, inspirational thoughts will appear, in keeping with Christmas and New Year’s Day.  These are from my book, Reflections for the Festive Seasons.  © 2002.  All rights reserved.