Young mens christian association definition

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The first YMCA was conceived in industrial London in when a farmer-turned-department store worker and his friends gathered to organize a refuge for young men seeking escape from the hazards of the streets. Today, the Y still harkens back to its roots in creating safe, enriching spaces for communities across the globe. The formative years of the YMCA were ones of inspired growth. We saw the organization's mission spread to cities across the U. Once again, the Y played an instrumental role in times of crises during the s, providing essential services and support when and where it was needed most.

Young mens christian association definition

Growth of the railroads and centralization of commerce and industry brought many rural young men who needed jobs into cities like London. They worked 10 to 12 hours a day, six days a week. Far from home and family, these young men often lived at the workplace. Outside the shop things were bad — open sewers, pickpockets, thugs, beggars, drunks, lovers for hire and abandoned children running wild by the thousands. He and a group of fellow drapers organized the first YMCA to substitute Bible study and prayer for life on the streets. By there were 24 Ys in Great Britain, with a combined membership of 2, The idea proved popular everywhere. The next year the first international convention was held in Paris. At the time there were separate Ys in seven nations, with 30, members total. The YMCA idea, which began among evangelicals, was unusual because it crossed the rigid lines that separated all the different churches and social classes in England in those days. Also, its target of meeting social need in the community was dear from the start. In its activities and organization, the American YMCA experienced considerable growth in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. State and local associations flourished, organizing their own conventions; dormitories and restaurant facilities became a regular part of YMCA buildings. As a result, several association-affiliated colleges were set up in the late nineteenth century, including Springfield College in Massachusetts in and George Williams College in Chicago in Spurred on by men such as the clergyman Henry Ward Beecher, Y leaders accepted the precept that a healthy moral spirit is best maintained by a healthy body.

The game had to be interesting, easy to learn, and easy to play indoors in winter. All rights reserved. The YMCA idea, which began among evangelicals, was unusual because it crossed the rigid lines that separated all the different churches and social classes in England in those days.

YMCA , sometimes regionally called the Y , is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva , Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in countries. The organization aims to put Christian values into practice by developing a healthy body, mind, and spirit. From its inception, YMCA grew rapidly, ultimately becoming a worldwide movement founded on the principles of muscular Christianity. Local YMCAs deliver projects and services focused on youth development through a wide variety of youth activities, including providing athletic facilities, holding classes for a wide variety of skills, promoting Christianity, and humanitarian work. The national organizations, in turn, are part of both a geographically regional area alliance and the World Alliance of YMCA. YMCA programs vary between nations and regions, but are all based on the principles espoused in the Paris Basis.

It provides assistance in many areas, including accounting, financing, purchasing, and programming. It is through the Clusters that individual Ys have input at the national level. Each elects two members to its section Field committee. The four Field committees in turn elect thirty members, or three-fifths, of the National Board. The other twenty members include the immediate past chair and nineteen persons elected by the Board. Through its elaborate infrastructure and centralized administration, the YMCA of the USA assures that 2, individual YMCAs in America offer programs and services to the public that are consistent in quality and variety, but it does not micro manage the operations of any of the Ys, all of which are administered at the area and branch levels and maintain a high degree of autonomy. Of the total number of Ys in America, 1, are branches of the units that are formal members of the national organization. Its prime mover was George Williams, a draper a cloth and dry goods salesman who had migrated to London from a rural section of the country to seek work. At the time, the Industrial Revolution was still condemning many urban dwellers to abysmal working and slumlike living conditions, to lives, in short, of unrelieved gloom and despair.

Young mens christian association definition

The Young Men's Christian Association, known today as the YMCA, is familiar to most for its family fitness centers and recreational programs for youth. In the Civil War era, however, the organization was active throughout the nation, tending to the spiritual and social needs of the communities they served. In unhealthy social conditions in England at the end of the Industrial Revolution led George Williams — to begin a Bible study and prayer group for the men who roamed the streets searching for jobs. The idea caught on, and other groups formed throughout Great Britain and other parts of the world. Anthony Bowen c. By total membership worldwide had grown to 30, members, with YMCAs in seven nations. During the Civil War membership in the United States dwindled as men went off to war, until at the end of the war there were only fifty-nine chapters.

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YMCA pioneered the concept of night school , providing educational opportunities for people with full-time employment. Introducing the game of basketball at the next gym class Naismith did meet Gulick's deadline , Naismith posted 13 rules on the wall and taught the game to the incorrigibles. Toastmasters International was invented in as an older youth public speaking program by Ralph C. By , YMCA started a popular series of lectures that from were held at Exeter Hall , London, and started being published the following year, with the series running until The concept of physical work through sports, a new concept for the time, was also recognized as part of this " muscular Christianity ". Here is an overview of the YMCA and the military. In , however, the YMCA state secretary, Homer Hoisington, noticed both the sport's popularity and its need for standardized rules. Here are some organizations that drew on YMCA experience or assistance during their formative years. English idioms. Salem State had recently dropped their college team, and the youth director at the YMCA went to see about expanding their program by renting the colleges space. German grammar.

In , industrialized London was a place of great turmoil and despair. For the young men who migrated to the city from rural areas to find jobs, London offered a bleak landscape of tenement housing and dangerous influences. Twenty-two-year-old George Williams, a farmer-turned-department store worker, was troubled by what he saw.

Since many books didn't fit in with Communist ideology, they couldn't be printed under Communist rule. YMCA programs vary between nations and regions, but are all based on the principles espoused in the Paris Basis. Moody and John Mott , who dominated the movement in the last half of the 19th and first half of the 20th centuries respectively, the American YMCAs sent workers by the thousands overseas, both as missionary -- like YMCA secretaries and as war workers. There is record of lady members using YMCA gyms in The YMCA was given the opportunity to organize the Corps, but turned it down due to the burden of its other activities. The Chicago Y held devotional services for the soldiers and later helped maintain a home for men in transit, the sick and the wounded. From fitness to fun, the girls and boys who participate in the programs learn skills, flexibility and goal setting through personal achievement and team accomplishments. View all related items in Oxford Reference ». By there were 24 Ys in Great Britain, with a combined membership of 2, JSTOR French Third Republic.