As a Christian Emphasis Director with the YMCA, my work includes paying attention to how the “C” is doing in our name, and how it builds “healthy spirit, mind and body for all.”
One assumption for the need of a position like mine is that the “C” is anemic, timid, or unhealthy, and thus in need of strengthening, of building up.
In my experience, though, a case can be made for how vigorous and influential the “C” in the Y is, and a position like mine can add vitality to it, emphasizing the way it fuels our inclusion and equity, our aim to love, serve and care for all.
There is an interesting dynamic with the “C” in the Y these days – it is obviously a significant factor in almost every element of our organization, yet there is only occasional official acknowledgment of it, little public discussion or endorsement of the “Christian principles” in our mission or the “loyalty to Jesus Christ” in our Constitution.
Why is that? And is that okay?
Which is better: that we do the work or talk about how we do the work?
In reading a number of articles and books about the history of the YMCA, one in particular is connecting a lot of dots for me on the arc of the Christian origins of the Y, how it got started and how it played out for the first hundred years; my assumption is that it’s still affecting how we experience it now.
I’m currently drawing conclusions from this document, written by Martti Muukkonen, Ecumenism of the Laity: Continuity and Change in the Mission View of the World’s Alliance of Young Men’s Christian Associations, 1855-1955.
Something that would help any Y leader who is concerned about the role of Christianity in the organization: take Christianity more seriously as a complex, dynamic, multi-faceted reality.
My concern is that too many Y leaders look at Christianity too narrowly – either through their own sectarian tradition and experiences (positive or negative) or through what they hear about it via popular culture, media and gossip (human nature and algorithms maximize negative features).
Obviously there are many Christians that give the religion a bad name, that represent Christ in abhorrent ways, and are toxic to their community.
And there are Christians who are beautiful people, agents of healing and reconciliation, building bridges of understanding and solidarity.
As Alexander Solzhenitsyn remarks when it comes to be reviled by the evil in the world:
If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from teh rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?”
Alexander Sozhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago
The YMCA was birthed by a dozen British Protestant Christian young men who wanted to do something about the evil that was wrecking the spirits of their co-laborers in the drapery factories; they also wanted to do something about the wickedness within their own hearts.
George Williams and his Anglo-Saxon friends formed prayer groups as a way to build solidarity, spiritual vitality, religious humility, mature character, and professional excellence; they sought to overcome evil with good, by God’s grace and a personal loyalty to Jesus Christ.
For many different reasons, their efforts spread rapidly, and between their first official declaration in 1844 of the Young Men’s Christian Association to their 1855 World Alliance meeting where they adopted the Paris Basis to guide their burgeoning global movement, prayer and trust in Christ, fellowship and evangelism, mutual aid and social transformation were their means and ends.
Taken from Muukkonen’s excellently researched and thorough documentation, the following is a brief synopsis of the expansion of the “C” in the Y – from that embodied by George Williams to that of a worldwide, multi-million member institution.
In 1855 there were already three different kinds of Christian emphasis amongst Protestant Evangelical leaders of the Y: British, West Europe (Germany/Swiss/France), and United States. With all that they had similar, it was there differences which shaped how the Y was able to survive, adapt and flourish.
The British Christian way of the Y was similar to the USA Metropolitan associations – highly centralized with many branches, led by Christian businessmen.
The USA way of the Y included the tension of many small non-Metro associations that shaped the national conversation and strategy – fierce independence towards operations and membership activities led by non-clergy Christian businessmen.
The Western Europe way of the Y was closely tied to churches; youth work was often an extension of nationalized congregations and clergy held many of the leadership positions.
In producing the Paris Basis, different preferences and perspectives emerged which would have to be addressed over the course of the next hundred years, and to which we must also deal with in our generation (2021).
For example, while the British and US Y’s were not led by clergy or closely tied to churches like in Germany, the US Christians were unwilling to take a stand on racism and also wanted stricter standards on what kind of Christians they would permit to join the Y.
The German Y was more open to non-Christians joining their organization, but since it was clergy led, only Christians would be in leadership roles; because the British Y was not tied to the church in the same way, similar to the US, they had a more difficult time figuring out how to let non-Christians join. Eventually, the global expectation became: open membership, Christian leadership.
But even this became a challenge as the Y rapidly spread across the world, taking root in diverse cultures, while still seeking to maintain a spirit of unity, per the prayer of Jesus in John 17:21.
First, the Y had to figure out how to strengthen their interdenominational relationships amongst the great variety of Protestants, the Paris Basis carefully words what they could agree on both passionately and strategically.
Over the years, then, this experiment then opened up inter-confessional relationships between Protestants and Orthodox Christians, and then eventually Catholics – the Paris Basis being a strong enough document to build bridges of solidarity.
When the Y began to flourish in majority non-Christian countries like Turkey, Bolshevik and Soviet Russia, the Middle East, and elsewhere, the inter-faith dialogue became crucial – and again the Paris Basis was mature enough to support it.
So by 1955, what kind of Christianity was embodied by the YMCA – how had it changed since the days of George Williams?
It wasn’t just British Protestant Evangelical – it was also German and Nordic Lutheran, Swiss and French Reformed, American Methodist and Presbyterian, Greek and Russian Orthodox, Mexican and Chilean Catholic, Chinese Buddhism, Indian Hinduism, Palestinian Islam, Turkish Secularism, and eventually Russian Soviet Communism.
And even with the United States – with the opening up of membership to women, to blacks, to working-class immigrants, to Jews, etc, the Christian experiences of minorities and the oppressed became increasingly important to the work of the Y.
With the preference for open membership and Christian leadership, there was still quite a bit of variety on what kind of Chrisitans and what kind of leadership was encouraged, allowed, trained, and highlighted in the Y.
For example, through the Paris Basis, the Cleveland World’s Conference of 1931 noted there were three kinds of tendencies regarding Christians and active membership in the Y.
Muukkonen describes it like this:
First, there were those associations that were firm in keeping the membership idea of the Paris Basis. Second, some associations distinguished the requirements of membership and those participating in services. Third, there were associations, which had focused primarily on the services without paying attention to religious issues.
The same report also identifies two kinds of associations and calls them dogmatic and purposive. The dogmatic associations emphasize the words in the Paris Basis: “young men who, regarding Jesus Christ as their God and Saviour, according to the Holy Scriptures.” The purposive associations, instead, underline the words: “The Young Men’s Christian Associations seek to unite those young men who…desire to be His disciples in their doctrine and life, and to associate their efforts for the extension of His Kingdom amongst young men.” Then the report criticises the former in that they do not reach the youth that do not come from Christian families and have a Christian world-view. The purposive associations face the criticism that they dilute Christianity to character building, and regard “Jesus Christ as the Great Model of Youth” only, and that in these associations “Christianity has ceased to be a living force.”
The Cleveland World’s Conference emphasized both the status of the Paris Basis as the basis for affiliation with the World’s Alliance, and the autonomy of the local associations. In spite of the autonomy, the conference recognised the ‘danger’ of the trend that the YMCA was becoming a service agency with clients instead of a movement with members.
Martti Muukkonen, Ecumenism of the Laity, pages 230-231
This is the state of the YMCA in 1931; it seems to still be the case 90+ years later.
It’s somewhat ironic that at the Cleveland World’s Conference the Portland Basis was overturned, which had restricted YMCA membership in the USA to only those of approved Evangelical faith – but the damage was done.
According to Muukkonen, the magentism of the Y had attracted enough non-Evangelical/associate members, and through serving them created a clientele model. “Their needs created the emphasis on professional leadership, which, in turn, required financial support from this clientele, which, in turn required more services for their money, etc.”
The Y was stuck; if they stayed with the Portland Basis and a dogmatic view of the Paris Basis, they would actually diminish their outreach to non-Christians while simultaneously offering them more professionalized services.
By ending the Portland Basis they flattened out the membership; however, whether dogmatic or purposive in their posture towards the Paris Basis, there was still missing that original Revivalistic flame that converted members to become disciples of Jesus and regard Him as their God and Saviour.
The Y attracted men who were already converted, or those that wanted to be served by the converted but not actually convert.
The YMCA now makes room for every kind of Christian in every kind of role – this is a significant reality that was not easily achieved.
Where once Christian women, Christian immigrants, Christian blacks, Christian Hispanics, Christian Asians and others were not permitted to be members or leaders – now they have influence across the whole movement, adding to the diverse “C” that was envisioned in the original Paris Basis.
Inclusion and equity have been Christian conversations within the YMCA since the beginning.
While it has often been a hard-fought struggle, there have always been Christians, albeit often initially the minority, who advocate for full inclusion and equity – first for women in the YMCA, then children and youth, then non-white and working class, immigrants, and those of non-Christian faith, and in our current generation LGBQT+ Christians and those with diversabilities.
It’s worth acknowledging that travel and communication radically affected the ability of the YMCA to organize, lead, and care for their members and community.
It would seem that Christians in the Y are now in an interesting situation: with the internet and advanced communication skills, exclusion and inequity get’s addressed more quickly, vigorously, and insistently than ever before.
Where once minority voices could be silenced, marginalized, discounted easily, such is not the case in the same way anymore.
In the Bible, the word “equity” is the same word for “justice” and “righteousness”; it’s at the root of the experience of “peace” of “shalom” – which is the ground of “unity” – of “theosis” – which is what Jesus prays for in John 17 – that we all may be made one – with each other and God like Jesus is with us and the Father.
For Christians in the Y to still be striving for equity and inclusion – for unity and peace – this is at the heart of the Y, at the heart of Christ and his gospel – the extension of his Kingdom in the world.
With more members globally than any other decade in the existence of the YMCA, there are also more Christians in solidarity with the Y than ever before.
The Y is more diligent than ever regarding Christians striving for inclusion and equity in the Y.
Where once white middle aged Christian Protestant men kept women and blacks out of membership and leadership, now they are CEO’s and Presidents of the movement.
While we have much more work to do to embody the unity of Christ, the prayer of Jesus is alive and well in the Y.
But what about conversions? What about the revival spirit of George Williams in 1844 London? What about calling men and women to become disciples of Christ? What role do missionaries have in the Y today?
Is there any YMCA in the world that would forbid a member to convert to Christianity? Unlikely.
Do Christians in the Y with a calling to missionary work have more complicated cultural dynamics to navigate than in 1855 or 1905 or 1955 or 2005? Maybe.
Does the increased complexity mean that the “C” is weaker or gone in the Y? No.
Do Christians with a yearning for revival in and through the Y have a historical precedence for their desire? Yes? Is it a good desire? Yes. Ought they to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit on it? Yes.
So what is stopping Christians with a call to revival from doing their work? Nothing.
Is Christ still compelling us to love, serve and care for all as his hands, with his heart? Even if our demographic numbers are declining? Always. His loyalty to us never wavers, He is with us to the very end.
May our loyalty never waver either, may our worldwide fellowship continue to flourish in this age, amidst all the violence and war, amidst the ecological disasters and devastating inequities, may the true and reconciling peace of Christ prevail in our spirit, mind, and body, may good overcome evil, may the YMCA endure for the glory of God and our joy.
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