The V.M.C.A.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXV, Issue 39, 26 September 1907, Page 22

The V.M.C.A.

The V.M.C.A. forward movement now being pushed in various parts of New Zealand— and especially- in Dunedin and Christchurch— deserves every commendation as an earnest and laudable effort on the part of various Protestant denominations to' preserve their young men froir, vicious influences. The statement has been tentatively made— or rather hinted— in some parts in con- • nection with their spirited and well-managed campaigns for funds in the two cities named, that the Association is unsectarian . This does not, however, quite square with the facts. Two of those actively interested in the movement assured us that it is interdenominational as regards the Reformed Churches, and denominational as regards ' Roman Catholicism ', arid that it is not contemplated that Catholics shall have a share in the management of the fine new halls which the enterprise of the V.M.C.A. is to raise. In this connection we may quote (from a Philadelphia contemporary) the words used by the Rev. Howard A. Johnston, D.D., in •the 'Presbyterian Banner- (Pittsburg, June 13), whenurging the establishment of the V.M.C.A. in the Philippine Islands. He says in part :— ' If the Young Men's Christian Association is needed anywhere on earth, ft is needed especially in the city of Manila and the principal cities in the provinces, such as Iloilo and Cebu. The g3'mnasium, the bowling, the games, the library, available every night in the week, afford attractions such as the usual church plant does not furnish. The association is the arm of the United Protestant Church, doing this greatly needed work wherever it has been able to go. The work of the international committee has been undertaken in cities in Asia, only in answer to the urgent pleas of the missionaries on the ground who are not able to carry on that special form of Christian service.' It thus appears that the V.M.C.A. is to be an active agency for the propaganda of Reformed interests, and not (as has been said or hinted in New Zealand) a strictly unsectarian organisation. The Association - is engaged in a good work, and, we should say, has no need (nor, we believe, desire) to claim a . broader basis in the canvassing than it is prepared to occupy in the working..