Keith
08-01-2006, 07:30 PM
A long story worth reading....
YMCAs weigh faith vs. fitness
Some conferees in Nashville urge focus on the 'C'
It's known simply as the "Y" to most people, but among some of the 5,000 YMCA leaders gathered here last week for their national convention there's a growing movement to "lift up the C."
The Young Men's Christian Association was founded 150 years ago to provide Bible study and a helping hand to down-and-out men.
In recent decades, however, YMCAs have become better known for their family fitness centers than their Christian outreach programs.
And that's not an entirely positive shift as far as YMCA executive directors such as John Alexander are concerned.
"Unfortunately, people look at us and just see a swim and gym," said Alexander, whose Danville Family YMCA in Danville, Ill., has taken recent steps to redress that: displaying the Ten Commandments, banners with biblical verses and a Bible in its lobby.
"Many people are uncomfortable with religion, and I understand. But it's a Christian organization. It's nothing to be ashamed of."
But not everyone agrees.
"I think there's a strong desire at our Y to not be Christian focused," said Amy Amich, membership and marketing director of the McGaw YMCA in Evanston, Ill., where, 30 years ago, the chapel was remodeled into a fitness center and a painting of Jesus Christ was removed from the lobby.
"Our Y would never think of having biblical verses on the wall. The fear is that people will be put off if we identify as Christian."
The YMCA of the USA is a national umbrella organization for 2,617 nonprofit facilities that operate autonomously. Its mission is "to put Christian principles into practice through programs that build healthy spirit, mind and body for all." Collectively, the Y's constitute the nation's largest nonprofit community organization.
They are open to anyone, regardless of religion.
In the past several decades, many Y's have fashioned their own mission statements that don't mention "Christian" at all. They've stopped offering Bible study or other overtly Christian programs, instead providing more recreational programs, such as aquatic exercise classes for arthritic seniors, investing in elliptical machines and treadmills, installing cafes and child-care rooms to allow busy parents to work out.
It's a shift that has mirrored the national fitness movement that began in the late 1970s, as people took up jogging and sought out health club memberships, according to Phil Newman, vice president of communications for the YMCA of Middle Tennessee.
It's also been hugely successful, driving up membership levels to about 20.2 million and total revenue to $5.06 billion for the association.
But when some YMCA officials in the mid-1990s sought to remove "Christian" from the national YMCA's mission statement entirely, YMCA directors in regions such as the Southeast vocally opposed the move and it failed, he said.
Since then, YMCAs seeking a return to the original Christian mission of the association have been at work.
The "John 17:21 Project" has drawn hundreds of Christian YMCA leaders to its annual conference for the past four years to talk about incorporating more Christian work at Y's. It's also provided individuals working at more secular Y's a chance to find support, Newman said. The biblical verse was part of the original logo of the Y.
Leaders of the YMCA of Yonkers, N.Y., began a program four years ago, now worldwide, which seeks to "lift up the C" through "a global movement of YMCA young leaders equipped to help fulfill the Christian mission of the YMCA."
And "Christian emphasis committees" have been formed at many Y's to offer suggestions about promoting a more overtly Christian focus. Those have included displaying banners with biblical Scriptures, forming partnerships with local churches, launching Bible giveaway programs, Christian art contests for children, annual prayer breakfasts and setting up live Christmas nativity scenes.
Proponents say a "big C" approach doesn't mean they want to exclude or convert non-Christians, just be true to the organization's original mission.
But the efforts have created tensions within YMCAs.
At a YMCA in Raleigh, N.C., Everett Christmas Sr. — a lifelong YMCA staff member inducted into the "YMCA Hall of Fame" — resigned from its Christian emphasis committee after he unsuccessfully tried to persuade members to change its name to a "spiritual emphasis committee." Committee members also turned down his request to add Muslim and Jewish clergy to a prayer breakfast at the Y.
And those tensions were apparent at the national convention at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center on Saturday, when about 100 gathered for a workshop titled "Is Your Y a Big, Small or No C at All Association" led by Christmas.
The five-day conference was nearing a close, and Mike Roorback, executive director of YMCA of Grant County in Marion, Ind., stood, dissatisfied.
"In all of our meetings, there's been no prayer or mention of Jesus Christ. Why have we consciously and purposely and so obviously excluded the name of Jesus Christ? How could the national organization have allowed that to happen?"
But Dick Blattner, chairman of the Hollywood YMCA in Broward County, Fla., had another view. He had just toured a Nashville YMCA.
Nashville YMCAs are one of few nationwide that have inserted the words "Jesus Christ" in their mission statement, which reads, in part, "united by a common loyalty to Jesus Christ for the purpose of helping persons grow in spirit, mind and body."
The YMCA of Middle Tennessee also was promoting its biblical-based program "Journey to Freedom" at the national gathering, a program that offers support to people going through divorce, grief or other life-changing issues.
At the facility Blattner toured, there's a big banner displaying biblical verses in the lobby, a prayer request box and a family Bible prominently displayed.
That was too much of a "big C" for Blattner.
"I'm not Christian," Blattner said. "I respect your religion. But when I see posters and placards on the wall that reflect Christian principles, I feel left out," he said. After the workshop was over, he was more blunt: "It offended me, and I don't think it's right for the Y."
YMCAs weigh faith vs. fitness
Some conferees in Nashville urge focus on the 'C'
It's known simply as the "Y" to most people, but among some of the 5,000 YMCA leaders gathered here last week for their national convention there's a growing movement to "lift up the C."
The Young Men's Christian Association was founded 150 years ago to provide Bible study and a helping hand to down-and-out men.
In recent decades, however, YMCAs have become better known for their family fitness centers than their Christian outreach programs.
And that's not an entirely positive shift as far as YMCA executive directors such as John Alexander are concerned.
"Unfortunately, people look at us and just see a swim and gym," said Alexander, whose Danville Family YMCA in Danville, Ill., has taken recent steps to redress that: displaying the Ten Commandments, banners with biblical verses and a Bible in its lobby.
"Many people are uncomfortable with religion, and I understand. But it's a Christian organization. It's nothing to be ashamed of."
But not everyone agrees.
"I think there's a strong desire at our Y to not be Christian focused," said Amy Amich, membership and marketing director of the McGaw YMCA in Evanston, Ill., where, 30 years ago, the chapel was remodeled into a fitness center and a painting of Jesus Christ was removed from the lobby.
"Our Y would never think of having biblical verses on the wall. The fear is that people will be put off if we identify as Christian."
The YMCA of the USA is a national umbrella organization for 2,617 nonprofit facilities that operate autonomously. Its mission is "to put Christian principles into practice through programs that build healthy spirit, mind and body for all." Collectively, the Y's constitute the nation's largest nonprofit community organization.
They are open to anyone, regardless of religion.
In the past several decades, many Y's have fashioned their own mission statements that don't mention "Christian" at all. They've stopped offering Bible study or other overtly Christian programs, instead providing more recreational programs, such as aquatic exercise classes for arthritic seniors, investing in elliptical machines and treadmills, installing cafes and child-care rooms to allow busy parents to work out.
It's a shift that has mirrored the national fitness movement that began in the late 1970s, as people took up jogging and sought out health club memberships, according to Phil Newman, vice president of communications for the YMCA of Middle Tennessee.
It's also been hugely successful, driving up membership levels to about 20.2 million and total revenue to $5.06 billion for the association.
But when some YMCA officials in the mid-1990s sought to remove "Christian" from the national YMCA's mission statement entirely, YMCA directors in regions such as the Southeast vocally opposed the move and it failed, he said.
Since then, YMCAs seeking a return to the original Christian mission of the association have been at work.
The "John 17:21 Project" has drawn hundreds of Christian YMCA leaders to its annual conference for the past four years to talk about incorporating more Christian work at Y's. It's also provided individuals working at more secular Y's a chance to find support, Newman said. The biblical verse was part of the original logo of the Y.
Leaders of the YMCA of Yonkers, N.Y., began a program four years ago, now worldwide, which seeks to "lift up the C" through "a global movement of YMCA young leaders equipped to help fulfill the Christian mission of the YMCA."
And "Christian emphasis committees" have been formed at many Y's to offer suggestions about promoting a more overtly Christian focus. Those have included displaying banners with biblical Scriptures, forming partnerships with local churches, launching Bible giveaway programs, Christian art contests for children, annual prayer breakfasts and setting up live Christmas nativity scenes.
Proponents say a "big C" approach doesn't mean they want to exclude or convert non-Christians, just be true to the organization's original mission.
But the efforts have created tensions within YMCAs.
At a YMCA in Raleigh, N.C., Everett Christmas Sr. — a lifelong YMCA staff member inducted into the "YMCA Hall of Fame" — resigned from its Christian emphasis committee after he unsuccessfully tried to persuade members to change its name to a "spiritual emphasis committee." Committee members also turned down his request to add Muslim and Jewish clergy to a prayer breakfast at the Y.
And those tensions were apparent at the national convention at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center on Saturday, when about 100 gathered for a workshop titled "Is Your Y a Big, Small or No C at All Association" led by Christmas.
The five-day conference was nearing a close, and Mike Roorback, executive director of YMCA of Grant County in Marion, Ind., stood, dissatisfied.
"In all of our meetings, there's been no prayer or mention of Jesus Christ. Why have we consciously and purposely and so obviously excluded the name of Jesus Christ? How could the national organization have allowed that to happen?"
But Dick Blattner, chairman of the Hollywood YMCA in Broward County, Fla., had another view. He had just toured a Nashville YMCA.
Nashville YMCAs are one of few nationwide that have inserted the words "Jesus Christ" in their mission statement, which reads, in part, "united by a common loyalty to Jesus Christ for the purpose of helping persons grow in spirit, mind and body."
The YMCA of Middle Tennessee also was promoting its biblical-based program "Journey to Freedom" at the national gathering, a program that offers support to people going through divorce, grief or other life-changing issues.
At the facility Blattner toured, there's a big banner displaying biblical verses in the lobby, a prayer request box and a family Bible prominently displayed.
That was too much of a "big C" for Blattner.
"I'm not Christian," Blattner said. "I respect your religion. But when I see posters and placards on the wall that reflect Christian principles, I feel left out," he said. After the workshop was over, he was more blunt: "It offended me, and I don't think it's right for the Y."