YMCA

The Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA)



The Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA)

YMCA as a Social Organisation

The Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA) is the world's largest Christian youth organization (YMCA). The youth organization offers a varied program for children and adolescents, which combines social issues, sports, games and pious offerings together.

In addition to existing community-based youth and journeymen associations spread in Bavaria since 1886 the "Young Men's Christian Association" (YMCA), which was organized and strongly aligned missionary. The YMCA associations developed into the most important branch of the evangelical youth work in Bavaria. In addition, however, there were numerous other clubs and organizations. After the banning of the evangelical youth during the Nazi period was again in 1945, the YMCA's largest evangelical youth organization in Bavaria. In 1976, he named himself in "Young People's Christian Association" and thus contributed to the changed status of women bill (www.ymca-fg.org). YMCA is currently present in 119 countries all over the world including countries of Africa, Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean as well as the Middle East, Canada and USA (www.ymca.int).

YMCA was established in 1844 in London by George Williams (1821-1905) founded the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA). 1860 joined the London club as "German Branch" of the first German-language YMCA, the first president of the Kaufmann E. Klemm was. In Germany, this form of evangelizing youth work place since 1883, when Friedrich von Schlümbach (1842-1901), since 1879 in the North American Secretary of the National Committee of the YMCA, the first YMCA founded in Berlin. In line with this emerged in the succeeding years in Germany similar clubs (www.ymcarockies.org).

Evolution of the Organisation

Around 1890, there were already in Bavaria-journeymen and some evangelical youth clubs which were devoted primarily to the socializing. In contrast the model of the YMCA emphasizes particularly the missionary activity among adolescents and young adults. This is already fixed the so-called "Paris Basis" of 1855, which is still regarded as a joint program of the YMCA of all work affiliated associations. Especially laymen should be recovered for missionary activity. This led to repeated clashes between community organizations and the YMCA.

Spread in Bavaria. The physician, Dr. William Frobenius (1855-1927) founded by the Berlin model 1886 in Munich the second YMCA in the German Reich. Under the direction of the school professor Holzhaußer Gustav (1858-1900), the association first developed into a kind of community organization that emphasized his affiliation with the church life of the community, before he later represented the YMCA the remarkable trajectory. In 1889 the city missionary, Karl Goetz in Augsburg, founded "Protestant youth association" also took over the Berlin Association and was named in 1893 as well as YMCA (Boyer, S. 2005).

Aims of the Organisation

The organisation can be simply defined as a set of people that are living together in the same place or have the same religion (Oxford dictionaries, 2012). Its aim is to lead young people through Bible evenings, prayer circles, groups and discussion evenings for Jesus ...