The Young Men's Christian Association ("YMCA" or in the USA "the Y") is a worldwide movement of more than 45 million members from 124 national federations A federation , also known as a federal state, is a type of sovereign state characterized by a union of partially self-governing states or regions united by a central (federal) government. In a federation, the self-governing status of the component states is typically constitutionally entrenched and may not be altered by a unilateral decision of affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs. Founded on June 6, 1844 in London London is a leading global city, the world's largest financial centre alongside New York, and has the largest city GDP in Europe. Central London is home to the headquarters of most of the UK's top 100 listed companies and more than 100 of Europe's 500 largest. London's influence and strengths in the arts, education, entertainment, fashion, finance,, England The area now called England has been settled by people of various cultures for about 35,000 years, but it takes its name from the Angles, one of the Germanic tribes who settled during the 5th and 6th centuries. England became a unified state in AD 927, and since the Age of Discovery, which began during the 15th century, has had a significant by George Williams Williams was born on a farm in Dulverton, Somerset, England. As a young man, he described himself as a "careless, thoughtless, godless, swearing young fellow" but eventually became a devout Christian, the goal of the organization was putting Christian A Christian (pronounced /ˈkrɪstʃən/ ) is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, who Christians believe is the Messiah (the Christ in Greek-derived terminology) prophesied in the Hebrew Bible, and the son of God. Most Christians believe in the doctrine of principles into practice, achieved by developing "a healthy spirit, mind, and body." The YMCA is a federated organization made up of local and national organizations in voluntary association. Today, YMCAs are open to all, regardless of faith Faith is the confident belief or trust in the truth or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing. The word faith can refer to a religion itself or to religion in general.[clarification needed], social class Social classes are economic or cultural arrangements of groups in society. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political scientists, economists, anthropologists and social historians. In the social sciences, social class is often discussed in terms of 'social stratification'. In the modern Western context, stratification, age, or gender. The World Alliance of YMCAs is headquartered in Geneva Geneva (Arpitan: Genèva, IPA: [ˈd͡zənɛva]; French: Genève, IPA: [ʒənɛv]; German: Genf, IPA: [ˈɡɛnf] ; Italian: Ginevra; Romansh: Genevra) is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and is the most populous city of Romandie (the French-speaking part of Switzerland). Situated where the Rhône River exits Lake Geneva (, Switzerland Switzerland , officially the Swiss Confederation (Confœderatio Helvetica in Latin, hence its ISO country codes CH and CHE), is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe[note 4] where it is bordered by Germany to the north, France to the west, Italy to.^[1]

History

Ninety-nine YMCA leaders of individual YMCAs from Europe and North America met for the first time before the 1855 Paris World Exposition The Exposition Universelle of 1855 was an International Exhibition held on the Champs-Elysées in Paris from May 15 to November 15, 1855. Its full official title was the Exposition Universelle des produits de l'Agriculture, de l'Industrie et des Beaux-Arts de Paris 1855 to discuss the possibility of joining together in a federation to enhance co-operation amongst individual YMCA societies. This meeting resulted in the Paris Basis which is still a guiding principle of the organization today. Two themes resonated during the council: the need to respect the local autonomy of YMCA societies, and that the purpose of the YMCA is to unite all young, male Christians for the extension and expansion of the Kingdom of God. The need for the respect of local autonomy is expressed in the preamble:

The delegates of various Young Men’s Christian Associations of Europe and America, assembled in Conference at Paris, the 22nd August, 1855, feeling that they are one in principle and in operation, recommend to their respective Societies to recognize with them the unity existing among their Associations, and while preserving a complete independence as to their particular organization and modes of action, to form a Confederation of secession on the following fundamental principle, such principle to be regarded as the basis of admission of other Societies in future.

Timeline

• Before 1844: The oldest of all YMCA-like organizations is the Basel association, which was founded in 1787 as Lediger Verein. Bremen Jünglingsverein was founded in 1834. All German Jünglingsvereine were cancelled by Nazis and re-established after the war as CVJMs (German initials for the YMCA). In Britain the oldest association is in Glasgow where it was founded in 1824 as Glasgow Young Men's Society for Religious Improvement. In France the Société Philadelphique was founded in Nîmes in 1843.

• 1844: George Williams Williams was born on a farm in Dulverton, Somerset, England. As a young man, he described himself as a "careless, thoughtless, godless, swearing young fellow" but eventually became a devout Christian was a 23-year-old draper, typical of the many young men who were being drawn to big cities by the Industrial Revolution The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transport and technology had a profound effect on the socioeconomic and cultural conditions starting in the United Kingdom, then subsequently spreading throughout Europe, North America, and eventually the world. The. His colleagues were similarly employed, and they were concerned by the lack of healthy activities for young men in cities such as London. The alternatives were often taverns, brothels, and other temptations to sin Sin, in religion, is the concept of acts that violate a known moral rule. The term sin may also refer to the state of having committed such a violation. Commonly, the moral code of conduct is decreed by a divine entity, i.e. divine law. Sin may also refer to omitting to act or simply desiring to act in violation of a moral norm. Sin may also refer. On June 6, Williams founded the first YMCA in London for "the improving of the spiritual condition of young men engaged in the drapery, embroidery Embroidery is the art or handicraft of decorating fabric or other materials with needle and thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as metal strips, pearls, beads, quills, and sequins, and other trades."

• 1851: There were YMCAs in the United Kingdom, Canada The land occupied by Canada was inhabited for millennia by various groups of Aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the late 15th century, British and French expeditions explored, and later settled, along the Atlantic coast. France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763 after the Seven Years' War. In 1867, with the union of three, the United States ^ b. English is the de facto language of American government and the sole language spoken at home by 80% of Americans age five and older. Spanish is the second most commonly spoken language, Australia For at least 40,000 years before European settlement in the late 18th century, Australia was inhabited by indigenous Australians, who belonged to one or more of the roughly 250 language groups. After sporadic visits by fishermen from the immediate north and discovery by Dutch explorers in 1606, Australia's eastern half was claimed by Britain in 177, Switzerland Switzerland , officially the Swiss Confederation (Confœderatio Helvetica in Latin, hence its ISO country codes CH and CHE), is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe[note 4] where it is bordered by Germany to the north, France to the west, Italy to, Belgium Belgium (pronounced /ˈbɛldʒəm/ , BEL-jəm), officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a state in northwest Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, as well as those of several other major international organizations such as NATO. Belgium covers an area of 30,528 square kilometres (11,787 sq mi), and it, Germany A region named Germania, inhabited by several Germanic peoples, has been known and documented before AD 100. Beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire, which lasted until 1806. During the 16th century, northern Germany became the centre of the Protestant Reformation. As a modern nation-state,, the Netherlands The Netherlands (pronounced /ˈnɛðɚləndz/ ; Dutch: Nederland, pronounced [ˈneːdərlɑnt] ( listen)) is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located in North-West Europe. It is a parliamentary democratic constitutional monarchy. The Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany and France France is a founding member state of the European Union and is the largest one by area. France has been a major power for several centuries with strong cultural, economic, military and political influence in Europe and in the world. During the 17th and 18th centuries, France colonised great parts of North America; during the 19th and early 20th.

• 1855: YMCA delegates met in Paris Paris ([paʁi] in French, pronounced /ˈpærɪs/ in English) is the capital and largest city of France. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region (or Paris Region, French: Région parisienne). The city of Paris, within its administrative limits largely unchanged since 1860, has an estimated, (France), at the First World Conference of YMCAs, marking the beginning of the World Alliance of YMCAs. The conference adopted the Paris Basis,^[2] a common mission for all present and future national YMCAs. Its motto was taken from the Bible, "That they all may be one" (John 17:21). Other ecumenical bodies such as the World YWCA The World YWCA is the umbrella organization of the global network of the YWCA, a movement of women working for social and economic change around the world. It advocates for young women’s leadership, peace, justice, human rights and sustainable development, both on a grassroots and global scale. It is the largest women’s organization in the, the World Council of Churches The World Council of Churches is an international Christian ecumenical organization. Based in the Ecumenical Centre in Geneva, Switzerland 46°13′47″N 06°07′42″E / 46.22972°N 6.12833°E and the World Student Christian Federation, reflected elements of the Paris Basis in their founding mission statements.

• 1865: The Fourth World Conference of YMCAs, Germany, affirmed the importance of developing the whole individual in body, mind and spirit. The concept of physical work through sports was also recognised. This was a new concept for the time.

• 1878: The World Alliance offices were established in Geneva, Switzerland Geneva (French: Genève, German: Genf Genf , Italian: Ginevra, Romansh: Genevra) is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and is the most populous city of Romandie (the French-speaking part of Switzerland). Situated where the Rhône River exits Lake Geneva (in French also known as Lac Léman), it is the capital of the.

• 1880: The YMCA was the first national organization to adopt a strict policy of equal gender representation in committees and national boards. Norway After World War II, Norway experienced rapid economic growth, with the first two decades due to the Norwegian shipping and merchant marine and domestic industrialization, and from the early 1970s, a result of exploiting large oil and natural gas deposits that had been discovered in the North Sea and the Norwegian Sea. Today, Norway ranks as the adopted this policy in 1880.

• 1885: Camp Baldhead (later known as Camp Dudley), originally located near Orange Lake in New Jersey, was established by YMCA workers George A. Sanford and Sumner F. Dudley as the first residential camp in North America. The camp moved to Lake Wawayanda in Sussex County, New Jersey the following year and then to the shore of Lake Champlain near Westport, New York in 1891.^[3][4]

• 1900: North American YMCAs, in collaboration with the World Alliance, began working in European ports with millions of migrants leaving for the USA.

• 1910: The YMCA was an early influence upon Scouting Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement with the stated aim of supporting young people in their physical, mental and spiritual development, so that they may play constructive roles in society, including the Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over four million youth members in its age-related divisions. Since its founding in 1910 as part of the international Scout Movement, more than 110 million Americans have been members of the BSA (BSA) and German Scouting. Edgar M. Robinson, a Chicago Chicago ( /ʃɨˈkɑːɡoʊ/ or /ʃɨˈkɔːɡoʊ/) is the largest city in both Illinois and the Midwest, and the third most populous city in the United States, with over 2.8 million residents. Its metropolitan area, commonly named "Chicagoland", is the 26th most populous in the world, home to an estimated 9.7 million people spread-area YMCA administrator, briefly left the YMCA to become the BSA's first director.

• 1916: K.T. Paul became the first Indian National General Secretary of India Home to the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation and a region of historic trade routes and vast empires, the Indian subcontinent was identified with its commercial and cultural wealth for much of its long history. Four major religions, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism originated here, while Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Paul had started rural development programmes in India through co-operatives and credit societies. These programmes for self-reliance of marginal farmers became very popular. He also coined the term "rural reconstruction", and many of the principles he developed were later incorporated into the Government's nation-wide community development programmes.

• 1923: Y.C. James Yen of the YMCA of China China is seen variously as an ancient civilization extending over a large area in East Asia, a nation and/or a multinational entity devised the "thousand character system", based on pilot projects in education. The method became very popular, and in 1923, it led to the founding of the Chinese National Association of the Mass Education Movement.

• 1928: Establishment of historic YMCA in Jerusalem Jerusalem (Hebrew: יְרוּשָׁלַיִם‎ (help·info), Yerushaláyim (for the meaning, see below); Arabic: القُدس (audio) (help·info), al-Quds Sharif, lit. "The Holy Sanctuary"; Yiddish: ירושלים Yərusholáyəm)[ii] is the capital[iii] of Israel and, if including the area and population of East Jerusalem, its during the British Mandate The British Mandate for Palestine, also known as the Palestine Mandate and the British Mandate of Palestine, was a legal instrument for the administration of Palestine formally approved by the League of Nations in June 1922, based on a draft by the principal Allied and associated powers after the First World War. The mandate formalised British.

• 1939–1945: The YMCA became involved in war work with displaced persons and refugees and set up War Prisoners Aid to support prisoners of war by providing sports equipment, musical instruments, art materials, radios, gramophones The phonograph, record player, or gramophone was the most common device for playing sound recordings from the late 1870s through the 1980s, eating utensils and other items.

• 1947: The World Alliance of YMCAs gained special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council The Economic and Social Council of the United Nations constitutes one of five principal organs of the United Nations responsible for the coordination of economic, social, and related work of 14 UN specialized agencies, its functional commissions and five regional commissions. ECOSOC has 54 members and holds one substantive session each July for a.

• 1955: The First African President of the World Alliance of YMCAs was elected, Mr. Charles Dunbar Sherman from Liberia Liberia /laɪˈbɪəriə/ , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the west coast of Africa, bordered by Sierra Leone, Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire, and the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2008 Census, the nation is home to 3,476,608 people and covers 111,369 square kilometres (43,000 sq mi). At 37 years, he was the youngest President in World Alliance history.

• 1973: The Sixth World Council in Kampala Kampala is the largest city and capital of Uganda. The city is divided into five boroughs that oversee local planning: Kampala Central, Kawempe Division, Makindye Division, Nakawa Division and Lubaga Division. The city is coterminous with Kampala District, Uganda The Republic of Uganda is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by Tanzania. The southern part of the country includes a substantial portion of Lake Victoria, which is also bordered by Kenya, was the first World Council in Africa. It reaffirmed the Paris Basis and adopted a declaration of principles, known as the Kampala Principles,^[5] which include the principles of justice, creativity and honesty. It stated what had become obvious in most national YMCAs, that a global viewpoint was more necessary, and that in doing so, the YMCAs would have to take political stands, especially so in international challenges.

• 1985: The World Council of YMCAs passed a resolution against apartheid Bantustan · District Six · Robben Island , and campaigns against the system began under the leadership of Mr. Lee Soo-Min (Korea Korea (Korean: 한국 Hanguk [hanɡuːk] or 조선 Joseon [tɕosʌn] – South and North Korea, respectively ) is a territory of East Asia that was formerly unified under one state, but now divided into two separate states and a region in northeastern Asia. Located on the Korean Peninsula, it is bordered by China to the northwest, Russia to the), the first Asian Secretary General of the World Alliance.

• 1998: The World Council in Germany adopted "Challenge 21",^[6] giving even more focus to the global challenges, like gender equality Gender equality is the goal of the equality of the genders or the sexes, stemming from a belief in the injustice of myriad forms of gender inequality, sustainable development Sustainable development is a pattern of resource use that aims to meet human needs while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but also for future generations. The term was used by the Brundtland Commission which coined what has become the most often-quoted definition of sustainable development as, war and peace, fair distribution and the challenges of globalization Globalization describes a process by which regional economies, societies, and cultures have become integrated through a global network of communication, transportation, and trade. The term is sometimes used to refer specifically to economic globalization: the integration of national economies into the international economy through trade, foreign, racism CDE · CEDAW · CERD · ILO C100 · ILO C111 · ILO C169 · Protocol No. 12 ECHR and HIV Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus (a member of the retrovirus family) that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in humans in which the immune system begins to fail, leading to life-threatening opportunistic infections. Infection with HIV occurs by the transfer of blood, semen, vaginal fluid, pre-ejaculate, or/AIDS.

• 2002: The World Council in Oaxtepec, Morelos, Mexico, called for a peaceful solution to the Middle East crisis.

• 2008: In October 2008, and again in 2009, YMCA of Greater Toronto in Canada was named one of Greater Toronto's Top Employers by Mediacorp Canada Inc.^[7]

• 2010: On July 11, 2010, the YMCA of the USA re-brands its name to the popular nickname, "The Y".^[8]

Three principles

The YMCA's traditional symbol is the inverted triangle which represents the organization's three principles. It was created in 1891 by Luther Halsey Gulick, Jr. at Springfield College.^[9] The three principles are as follows.

Healthy spirit

The first YMCA was concerned with Bible study, although the organization has generally moved on to a more holistic approach to youth work. Around six years after its birth, an international YMCA conference in Paris decided that the objective of the organization should become "Christian discipleship developed through a program of religious, educational, social and physical activities" (Binfield 1973:265). More recent objectives as found on the YMCA UK website include no reference to discipleship.

Restore Ministries of the YMCA of Middle Tennessee provides an example of how the Christian influence in the YMCA still exists today.^[10] Founded in 2000 by Scott Reall, Restore provides support groups and individual counseling with an aim of “lifting the ‘C’” (of the YMCA).^[11]

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