The ymca and globalisation of pysical education
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- The Portland Basis
- The Red Triangle
YMCA MissionThe Paris BasisWhen the YMCA leaders met first time each other before the Evangelical Alliance Conference held in Paris, August 1855, during the Paris World Exhibition, they accepted a statement that was a manifestation of their faith. This statement, the Paris Basis25, became the expression of the YMCA identity, ideology and mission. The structure of the Paris Basis was constituted of the Preamble, the Fundamental Principle and three Additional Proposals. The Preamble stated that the associations were to maintain their complete independence in the Alliance, although new associations have to accept the Basis in order to be admitted as members26. The Fundamental Principle expressed movement's identity (young men’s movement)27, ideological basis (Evangelical faith)28 and mission (unite young Christians and associate their efforts in extending God’s Kingdom)29. The Proposals excluded controversial political items from agenda, agreed in the means of co-operation (correspondence) and mutual hospitality towards members from other countries. T 1ly To recall to mind the oneness of our Associations in all countries of the globe, a circle divided into 5 segments bearing the names of the five parts of the world bound together by ‘cartouches’ upon which can be read in many languages the initials of our title: ‘Young Men’s Christian Association’. 2ly In the circle the monogram of Christ, as the faith of the ancient Christians painted it everywhere in their catacombs, will remind our Associations that Christ is their centre, their true bond of Union, their supreme end, their strength, and their only ‘raison d’être’. 3
ly To this symbol of Christ we have added the Bible, both because this Divine book is the weapon of warfare which St. John gives to young men, and because it is the distinguishing mark of the great Reformation. - The Bible opens on the Saviour’s High-Priestly prayer, from which we have especially chosen the 21st verse: ‘That they may be one as we are one’ John XVII, 21st.31 Localism and internationalism were important symbolic tools for the YMCA. In Paris 1855, the young movement did not have its own value-system but used the symbolism of the Evangelical Revival and local religious contexts. It gave the YMCA the choice to legitimise its work in words that could be accepted by all Protestant denominations. The YMCA was not seen as a sect but a movement within each church and between them. The Christian unity that was understood as given from God, was a tool to cross denominational boundaries. It enabled the YMCA to collect resources from a larger constituency than would have been possible if the movement had been either a sect or a revival movement inside one denomination. The Portland BasisIn North America, the Boston YMCA, founded in 1851, restricted its membership to men from Evangelical churches32. When the North American Confederation was founded, it adopted the same test. This did not change when both the 1855 Convention in Cincinnati and the 1856 Convention adopted the Paris Basis as “binding upon the Confederation and upon its Central Committee33.” Because of the pressure from Protestant churches, the Evangelical Test of the Boston YMCA was adopted in 1869 as the Portland Basis, which restricted membership to Evangelical churches. The Portland Basis was to be the basis of American associations until 1931 when it was revised. The Portland Basis of 1869 stated as follows: Resolved: That the Associations organized after this date shall be entitled to representation in future conferences of the Associated Young Men’s Christian Associations of North America, upon condition that they be severally composed of young men in communion with Evangelical churches (provided that in places where Associations are formed by a single denomination, members of other denominations are not excluded therefrom), and active membership
and the right to hold office be conferred only upon young men who are members in good standing of Evangelical churches.34 Experiences in the missionary field created pressure to widen the Basis in North America as well. In 1907, a process35 of changing the membership requirements started when Student YMCAs were authorised to use a personal test, which followed the wording of the Paris Basis. In 1922, 10 per cent of board members were allowed to be other than Evangelicals (i.e. Catholics) and in 1931, the International Convention in Cleveland adopted the following Basis, which replaced the Portland Basis: The Young Men’s Christian Association we regard as being, in its essential genius, a world-wide fellowship of men and boys united by a common loyalty to Jesus Christ for the purpose of building Christian personality and a Christian society.36 This statement of purpose stressed religious commitment rather than belief37 and incorporated the Four-fold Programme into its basis. In practice the Cleveland Basis legitimised practice in North America. When the YMCA became more and more a community agency, a pressure emerged to open YMCA boards to influential Catholics and Jews in society. The Cleveland statement did not restrict the membership to Christians any more: it was the individual’s own decision as to what he understood by loyalty to Jesus Christ. The Red TriangleA 
YMCA Red Triangle lthough the International Badge of the World’s Alliance presented the main ideology of the YMCA, it was only used in the context of the World’s Alliance. In 1891, another YMCA symbol emerged and soon became better known than the International Badge, namely the Red Triangle. The Red Triangle crystallised the ideology of the American Four-fold Programme of which Luther H. Gulick, the gymnastic instructor of the YMCA Springfield Training College, proposed in 1891. The triangle with the YMCA initials became the best-known YMCA symbol throughout the world. Sometimes the triangle is surrounded by a circle and then it is equivalent to the Four-fold Programme. The philosophy of the triangle principle (body, mind and spirit) and Four-fold Programme (triangle plus society) had its Biblical roots in Luke 2:52 (KJV): “And Jesus increased in wisdom (mind) and stature (body), and in favour with God (spirit) and man (society).” Other frequently cited verses that legitimate physical education were 1 Cor 6:19 (KJV): “ know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost38” and Mark 12:30 (KJV): “And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind”. It is also good to remember that the whole verse of Juvenal’s famous saying reads as follows: “Orandum est ut sit mens sana in corpore sano (It should be prayed for a sound mind in a sound body)39”. Thus, along with body and mind the saying contains the spiritual aspect as well. In all levels, the Red Triangle widely replaced the official emblem of the World’s Alliance, during World War I. While the emblem of the World’s Alliance was the Paris Basis in figure form and arose from Evangelical missiology, the Red Triangle arose from the anthropology of the movement. In this sense, the Basis and the YMCA Red Triangle can be seen as supplementary statements. On the other hand, the adoption of the Red Triangle reflected a shift from revivalistic Christianity to ‘nurture Christianity’.
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he visual expression of the Paris Basis was the badge of the World’s Alliance of YMCAs was accepted in London in 188130 and it has a symbolism similar to that of the Paris Basis. The report of the International Central Committee explained the badge as follows: