Growing up I learned that YMCA stood for Young Men’s Christian Association, and I used to use their facilities and nobody ever asked me my religion, which is fortunate since I wasn’t Christian. 
What would happen if all of a sudden the YMCA limited their facilities to Christians only. Could I sue them for discrimination, or can they set whatever rules they want since they are a non-profit, non-governmental organization?
They could do it even if they were for-profit.
The same debate can be had, and HAS been had, over commercial gymnasiums like Curves that cater to female clientele only.
This isn’t hypothetical. It was a locally notorious case in San Luis Obispo about 15 years ago. Some dude decided he just HAD to join Curves (I think it was Curves, or at any rate, some womens-only gym). He sued, and caused some amount of local stink in the news.
The general impression seemed to be not that he was particularly skeevy, but rather that he was just a guy who decided he really wanted to make a point.
(ETA: Sorry, I don’t recall how it ever came out. In fact, I don’t recall that I ever found out how it came out.)
Are they still the Young Mens Christian Association? I recall that in the USA, they wanted to change their name to YMCA, but decided not to do it at the time because they were still getting so much money from bequests tied to the Young Mens Christian Association name.
Here in AUS they get a lot of goverment contracts. They’d loose all those if they went back to being a religious organisation here.
Don’t leave you money to an organisation when you die. If you want to support an organisation, do it while you’re alive, and can check what they spend the money on.
The YMCA in Australia is still an explicitly Christian organisation - just head on over to ymca.org.au and have a look at their stated mission and values . Being a Christian (or other religious) organisation is not a bar to getting government contracts.
I would be surprised if the YMCA in the US were not also a Christian organisation, and that too is not a bar to getting government contracts.
The OP could give rise to a possible misunderstanding. The “Christian” in YMCA never meant that they provided services only to Christians; it meant (and I dare say still means) that they were motivated in what they did by Christian beliefs and values. But their Christian beliefs and values lead them to provide services to clients without distinction on the basis of the clients’ religious beliefs or practices, or lack of them.
I remember YWCA’s back in the day that catered to Women. I just did a google and they seem to be around.
I know a few older non-Christian women who are members of my YMCA.
I doubt that the YMCA would ever go back to a strict interpretation of its name for membership. They would probably have a huge membership drop and have to close facilities.
There was another example of a man (in the UK, maybe?) who sued because his gym has “women only” hours. He demanded either “man only” hours or a reduction in his membership fee. That one is easier to get behind, becuase it’s understandable. Several years ago, when I belonged to a gym, there was a women’s only workout room. That was annoying, becuase I paid the same rate as a woman for access to less room and equipment.
Not sure what happened to the guy in the UK though.
Just FYI, in places where there is a substantial Jewish population there is an equivalent organization for them: the YMHA, Young Men’s Hebrew Association. It is in Montreal and New York, and maybe some other cities also.
I think this would put them in the same category as colleges, universities, and hospitals that have religious origins, ties, or motivations.
I can only speak for the San Diego county area. That said, the organization has taken a politically correct turn. Their publications, signage, etc. have transitioned to the “Y” replacing the complete name. Further, there is no mention of Christmas, Easter, etc. It’s “holiday” this and that and “spring” this and that. Oddly, In my 20+ years of membership I’ve never heard anyone complain about the use of Christmas or Easter, but like much of society the organization is very PC. The employees are actually forbidden to wish members a “Merry Christmas.”
Personally, I don’t like it. I’ve spurned requests for donations until such time as this policy is reversed. I’m not holding my breath.
Thanks everyone. Ignorance fought!
It sounds like the YMCA could restrict their membership to Christians only, but they would probably be foolish to do so since they would see a large hit in their membership roles.
I never felt my local YMCA was a particularly ‘Christian’ organization, just like the Salvation Army isn’t a particularly ‘Christian’ organization. They aren’t a church and they don’t preach to their members.
I like the fact that the ‘Y’ is still around, even though most of my friends go to their local gym instead.
Many of the Ys I have seen are a bit run down, and they don’t charge enough to generate the revenues they would need to compete with the local gyms… however there is usually a full size pool that most gyms don’t have.
I’d suggest that you haven’t looked too closely at The Salvation Army. While they do a lot of charitable work, they are, in fact, incorporated as a church, and have been the target of protests in recent years due to their anti-homosexuality stance.
I’m a member of my local YMCA; while my primary motivation for it is to give me a place to run during cold / bad weather, I also like the fact that the Y is socially minded – it runs camps and does a lot of work with kids. I pay a bit more for my Y membership than I would if I joined a for-profit gym, and I’m OK with that.
Many of the Ys I have seen are a bit run down, and they don’t charge enough to generate the revenues they would need to compete with the local gyms… however there is usually a full size pool that most gyms don’t have.
[/QUOTE]
When I joined my local YMCA a couple of years ago I remember thinking it odd that I had to check a box that stated “I will lead an upstanding Christian life” or something like that. It was the only time I’ve encountered any mention of religion, als,o many of the members and employees are obviously not Christian (guessing by the garb worn by the Somali-American women that they follow Islam)
I just read through the membership application for my Y (YMCA of Greater Chicago); it does not have anything like that (which they would ask a new member to agree to). However, they do have the following statements on the application:
A local Salvation Army facility here (Virginia) seems to be bucking that trend. They have a big sign out front asking “Did you know we are a church? <service times>” The point seems to be that at least this local congregation wants to be seen as a church and not just a charity.
Wow, I had no idea.
I work for the YMCA in England.
We say in our mission statement that we hold and promote Christian values, but other than that we pretty much try to distance ourselves from “the C word”. More to do with attitudes in the UK towards religion in general, and having to compete for the majority of our income with businesses in the private sector.
On our site we do have a small room we designate as a chapel, but it’s used more for meetings than for anything else. I’ve never seen a Christian use it for quiet contemplation, however it is frequently used for prayer by many of our Muslim gym members.
It seems kind of ironic to me that England has an official State-sponsored religion, the Church of England, and yet the English by-and-large tend to be less religious than Americans – whose constitution forbids State-sponsored religions.
There’s also the JCC (Jewish Community Center), but these places are gyms, usually with swimming pools, racquetball courts, and some with tennis courts. They accept all people. Charleston has a large JCC, but no YMCA anymore, but it does have a YWCA. The near-by town of Summerville has a YMCA, but with no living quarters. Peoria had a large YMCA but no living quarters. I guess the “Y’s” don’t have living quarters anymore.
I suspect it’s becoming less common. When I look at the web site for the Chicago area YMCA organization, it indicates that several Ys in the city itself still offer living quarters (and they also operate several senior living facilities), but none of their suburban facilities offer living quarters any longer.
I know that, in the case of my particular Y (in the western burbs), they used to have a large building, which included a number of rooms for rent, but they moved into a smaller building several years ago, which doesn’t have the room for that.