HISTORY
1822-1857 : THE HUMBLE BEGINNING
On 27th February 1857, the Calcutta Christian juvenile society changed its name to the Calcutta Young Men`s Christian Association.It is to this date that the foundation of the YMCA in Calcutta-and also in India & in Asia –is to be traced. The Rev. John Lawson founded the juvenile society in 1822 in the Bowbazar, a Baptist missionary connected with William Carrey. The work of the CJS was to serve country born young men and was set out to serve their moral and religious needs. The juvenile society was a common name for a young peoples organization of this kind. It was Distinguished by its survival , where many similar institutions died from lack of organizer and fund. The CJS survived mainly because of its building.
It was able in 1836 to purchase a property on the northern side of Bowbazar, which consisted a plot of land with two houses on it. One was rented out to secure asteady flow of income for the society and other was used for official work and programmes. The society was kept in existence because of its buildings and a new building was constructed beside it in 1852. It therefore establishes a link between the early missionary movement and the reorganized YMCA of the 1890`s with Its several branches through out the city.
Even before the Paris Conference of 1855, within ten years of the birth of YMCA in London, a YMCA was founded on 1st August 1854 at a public meeting held in the Town Hall. All these accounts are still to be found in the National Library of Calcutta and various reports published by London Y.M.C.A. but the YMCA founded in 1854 in Calcutta did not last for long. And on 27th Feb. 1857 the juvenile society with its property in Bowbazar at its annual meeting changed its name to that of the Calcutta YMCA. The rules of the association of 1857 show that the work was almost identical with that of the juvenile society and that its committees would operate on much the same line. The Calcutta YMCA of 1857 affirmed afresh its non-denominational character by organizing itself on “those catholic principle in which all Protestant denominations are agreed.”It invited the ministers of every Protestant denomination to address its meetings and discussion groups. Thus it remained closed to the tradition of senior movement in Europe which was a lay body drawing on the resources of all sides of Church. The emphasis of its work over the next decade was mainly religious, the programmes and activity included spiritual and mental improvement of the youth of the city of Calcutta, divine service on certain evening in YMCA hall, Bible class, Literary Class, Sabbath schools, prayer meeting in private houses, distribution of the sacred scriptures and religious tracts, circulation of religious and instructive books. Etc.
1857-1894: THE YEAR OF TRIAL
Before it obtained a permanent secretary in 1893, the Calcutta association was very much subject to the vagaries of irregular membership and finance. It has often been difficult for YMCA, like other movement to attract a large and enduring membership because of the changing cosmopolitan population of Calcutta. During the 1860`s its activities were slight and it has been said that it has ceased to exist as an Association. The work of the Churches in Calcutta was expanding considerably and sometimes they were too busy with their own projects to take too much concern over an organization like the YMCA which was thoroughly inter denominational. But the fact remains that during this periods there were two revivals of the YMCA as an active body and on both occasions assisted by the Churches and in their turn assisted the Churches greatly. The first of these revivals took place in 1875 during 1874-1875, Dr. Somerville; a well- known Glasgow minister belonging to the Free Church of Scotland visited India and conducted a number of meetings in Bombay and Calcutta. He attracted many young men who on his recommendation formed a young men`s Christian union and rented the top floor of the Bible House situated adjacent to the present Chowringhee Branch of Calcutta YMCA. Two of the more active committee members of the then very weak YMCA namely Andrews and Gomez made an approach to the leading members of the new union; and it was agreed after discussion that the two movements should merge under the name of YMCA in order to carry on the work more vigorously both in Bowbazar and Chowringhee. The rooms at the Bible House had been the office and library and the old activities continues ai Bowbazar. The office bearers of the amalgamated had Mr.A. Somerville, son of Dr Somerville as President, with Andrews as Vice-President and Gomez as the member of the committee.The meetings of the committee frequently used to take place in Mr. Somerville`s house situated in the Wellesley Square Free Church Compound. Mr Somerville belonged to the Mercantile House of McKinnon Mackenzie in Calcutta which two decades later was to have a great responsibility for the building of the first quarter for the new movement and which has since had a very active connection with the Association with Calcutta. While forces were intermittently at work in North Calcutta, there were others striving for a YMCA in south Calcutta . While that of North Calcutta was Anglo-Indian in origin, that of south Calcutta was connected with the Bhowanipur Congregational Church and thus with the London Missionary Society work there .It is not possible to trace how early this Bhowanipur YMCA began but there is a stray reference in 1889 to the revival of a YMCA and YWCA linked with the Church. Mr. Farquhar, writing in 1896 has said that “for many years there existed an Association of Young Christians in connection with the Bhowanipur Church. From time to time it did excellent work but always tended to fall to pieces; it was most difficult to keep up the religious work.” While the Calcutta Association had been on trial Association elsewhere in the world had been prospering . In India the visit of Dr. Somerville to Bombay had resulted in the formation in 1875 of the Bombay Movement. Numerous associations had sprung up in South India since 1880. In the world at large the YMCA was gaining strength and this was especially evident in USA where it had not only finance and influence over Government but also the desire to take its own particular experiments in youth movements in other countries. And India was one of the lands where this experiment between City and University youth seemed most called for. The influence if Jacob Chamberlain governed the choice of Madras as the first focus of the revived movement but Calcutta soon became the target of renewed effort. He visited Calcutta in December 1892 and addressed the Missionary Conference at the old Church, Mission Row, on 5th December 1892. The conference approved a resolution proposed by Rev. W. B. Philips of the London Mission and seconded by Rev. A. Ferrier, Chaplain of the Church of Scotland that ` it is the sense of this conference that the present time is opportune for establishing a YMCA in Calcutta on the lines indicated by Mr. McConaughy` in describing the Madras experiment . A committee was formed consisting of civil servents, businessmen and ministers all communities and denominations. Among its members were Stephen Jacob, the comptroller—general and first President of Calcutta YMCA, J.N. Stuart of Balmer Lawries, first Vice-President and Pritchard, who was interviewed by clark in 1889 and confessed to being the secretary from America, who arrived in December 1893; and by his efforts in the following months , he succeeded in achieving a complete re-organisation .
1893-1902: THE ERA OF CAMPBELL WHITE
Campbell White reached Calcutta in December 1893. The problems with which he was faced on arrival will be clear when his General Secretary`s report for April 1895 is quoted:---“On my arrival at the end of 1983, everything was ripe for the reorganization of the old Association though no final steps had been taken. It will be noticed that there were thus two possible courses open—either to begin the Student work, the call which brought me to India, or the European work which was also very important and promising.”
The choice eventually fell on “European work” in the Chowringhee area but the work with students was not foregotten. Campbell White did not find it easy to start even the “European work” for which a building in a central locality was generally believed to be necessary.While a few activities were carried on elsewhere, it was not until-7th may 1894, that the public opening of i s room at 2 Chowringhee Road took place with the Vice –President , Hon, J.N. Stuart of Balmer Lawries, in the chair in the absence of Stephen Jacob I.C.S., the first President. White continued to expand his sphere of activities but was hankering after starting his student work as quickly as possible. The Calcutta Board Of Directors and well wishers of the movement were impressed with need for a building of their own and with the immense task of finding the funds for to secure a site for the construction. Lord Overtoun contributed the first 1000 while Robert Crawford of America made an offer of 4000 towards a building for the Madras association to David McConaughy, the general secretary of the Indian National Union, who was in America seeking assistance for Madras like Campbell White in England and with true fraternal sacrifice offered it to Calcutta. With this finance the Calcutta YMCA was able to purchase the Lady Dufferin Victoria Hospital building offered on sale at the junction of College Street and Harrison Road on 14th April 1896 and was called from then on as the “college Branch”. An additional outlay of Rs. 50000 for alteration and furniture was met by a grant from Bengal Government for social works and Lord Overtoun. This was commemorated in the naming of the new auditorium seating 550 people and one of the largest in North Calcutta , as Overtoun Hall.
Rev. John O`Neil, a visiting evangelist who was impressed by the progress the YMCA achieved in quarter of Sudder Street so poorly adapted to work in and made the first contribution of Rs. 1350, in March 1895 towards a construction of a new building. Funds were slow in coming and it was only when help from U.K. and America came in that YMCA was able to purchase a site in July 1899. This was site of 25 Chowringhee Road , quite close to the former headquarters at 16 Sudder Street. A target was set in 1899 through a public meeting held in Dalhousie Institution , to raise the amount required. As soon as the target was achieved, Messers. Mackintosh Burn & Co., began construction in 1901. The building was opened at an impressive ceremony in November 1902, presided over by the Lt. Governer and other distinguished guests.
None shaped College Branch and Calcutta YMCA more than Kali Charan Banurji. When the College Branch opened in 1896, Kali Charan Banurji, the accepted leader of the Indian Christian Community, was 49 years of age but nonetheless he threw himself into all aspects of its work with great vigour . As University lecturer and professor in Calcutta University and lawer practicing at the High Court , he was one of the most eloquent men of his generation and he laid his great powers at the service of College branch. He possessed the qualities , which Bengali respected most ; the intellectual , the philosophy and the able speaker. He was quick to identify himself with things Indian and became an active member of the Indian National Congress from its foundation in 1885. In 1897 he was chosen to represent the University of Calcutta on the Legislative Council of Bengal. In 1904 as recognition of his prominent services ,he was elected to the influential office of Registrar of Calcutta University at an important time in its history. It was of course a great blessing for the College branch that one so prominent in the public eye should be associated with it in these formative years as Chairman of the branch and as its most active worker. It was through his influence that the Overtoun Hall came to be recognized as the center of religious thinking and debate. Even as the genius of Kali Charan Banurji set the foundation of truly Indian movement, the genius of Campbell White handed in his resignation as General Secretary of Calcutta association in December 1902, in order to take up an appointment as Financial Secretary of the American United Presbyterian Church. As a monument of his indigenous effort for the Calcutta YMCA, he left behind three commanding buildings with active movements in them ; and greater is the achievement that these building still stand today and continue the work which he affectionately nurtured so.
1903 – 1909 : YEARS OF EXPERIMENTATION
During this period, the national movement was going on its full spree and the fortunes of the YMCA were not uninfluenced by the atmosphere of unrest and disturbance, which prevailed in Bengal. Positioned near the hub of the political renaissance in College Street, YMCA came under considerable criticism being a foreign organization, dependent on foreign finance. Also the tidy picture of the Calcutta movement with its head quarters at 86 College Street and with its branches at College Street and on Chowringhee is illusory. There were also Branches, which did not achieve the same degree progress and prosperity.
The state of the branches may be seen from an extract from the Calcutta Association report for 1906:---
“There are now six branches with a membership of 1078: six residential houses affording accommodation for 200 men with 174 actually in residence; 13 paid secretaries, 6 of whom are Indian and 7 Europeans ……..Four building have been rented and four valued at Rs. 580000 are owned by the Association.”
The Central branch and the College branch remained the back bone but the smaller and the less permanent Branches are part and parcel of the movement and deserve to be described. Chronologically the first of these offshoots was the Bhowanipur branch. An early issue of “Young Men of India “ stated:-------
“There are two natural centers for work among Bengali students in Calcutta , one north of the European section of the city and the other south……….. There is also a large (student) community in the vicinity of the L.M.S. institution and it is for them that the Bhowanipur branch is intended.”
The next was the Wellington branch. It will be recalled that from 1894 the reorganized movement had hoped to gain possession of the old Bowbazar building , which had been in earlier times a social center for work among the Anglo-Indians.They did not secure possession until 1906 and then the condition of the building was such that it did not remain in use for many years before it was sold. In 1905 they opened Wellington House at 51 Dhurumtollah as a hostel.The success achieved included the Board to expand their activities tolarger premises at 144 Dhurumtollah. It went through many vicissitude of time and survived as an entity until in 1915 it attained a building of its own, which while not in Wellington Square retained the traditional name. After mixed success and failure if the Bhowanipur , Wellington and Entally branches it is consoling to read the story of the Boys department. Boy`s work was coming to be associated with the YMCA throughout the world and it spread under American influence to Calcutta. Work began in 1903 under A. Lefeuvre and Jotindra K. Biswas; but with no building for the purpose, the organizers were forced to discourage the youngsters from joining. In February 1904, the new building was erected with a gift of Rs. 50000 from John Wanamaker of Philadelphia, a movement , a prominent sponser of the movement. The work however awaited the arrival of C.S.Paterson of Canada in December 1904 to reach its full development . This new and specialized department made slow but steady progress and still survives today in a thriving condition.
1910-1919 :PERIOD OF CONSOLIDATION
The Calcutta YMCA buildings were already in existence and its activities were solidly established. Within the existing framework, there was of course a certain amount of shuffling. Early in the period the Calcutta headquarters moved in 1910 from College Street where its headquarters had been since the early days of Campbell White, to the Central Branch, which changed its name in 1913 to the more familiar `Chowringhee Branch`. Another significant move was the transfer in 1915 of the Wellington branch, which had been wandering about in search of members and premises, to a building of its own in Corporation Street. These were of course aspects of consolidation but not the most significant ones.By consolidation we are thinking rather of the crystallization of thought on YMCA work. Buildings are of course, an incentive to work ; but for the working of the YMCA, a sense of purpose and direction are essential. To start with ,instead of the previous dominance of religious work, physical work was developed and the branch secretaries tried to impress their members with the new doctrine that a healthy body led to a healthy mind. Then again ,it tried to modify its ideas so that it was less consciously a foreign body. Its religious work continued but its character changed. By 1920 it was much less the evangelism of the “Hot Gospeller” and much more the sombre, humble presentation of the another way of life. And the way of life, which was upheld by the YMCA, built up in India that strong tradition of Christian social work, which was one of the most significant in other lands. Thus each of the salient features of the YMCA-whose international , symbols an equilateral triangle representing a balance between Body, Mind and Spirit-found its way into the work in India and into the Calcutta work. One item that cannot be counted in the scorecard was the building of the Student Hostel in 1915.Under the influence of the American movement , the Student Hostel was officially connected with the Indian National Council and not with the Calcutta YMCA. But its work was so similar that it was only a matter of time before it became a part of the local Association. In order accommodate University students a site was brought for Rs. 90000 at Machua Bazar Street and a hostel built there at a total cost of Rs. 195286. In this sum the American Committee, the Government of Bengal and the National Council, paid the major part. Thus was started by Melville T. Kennedy one of the most productive aspect of the Association work to date. The legal process of the transfer was completed in 1922. So by 1920, the Calcutta Association had an organization of six Branches and a Hostel, which (excepting only one) possessed their own substantial building which had only been financed by the Board of Directors with a great deal of effort. Grand though these building were, they were small compared with the immense social problems, which bristled in Calcutta. These buildings were managed by a cautious Board and manned by an able and devoted staff of professional secretaries , both Indian and foreign. With the completion of the building programme, much of the initiative of the Association`s work passed out of the hands of the Board into those of the Branches who were encouraged to develop in accordance with their own characteristics.
1920 -1929 : THE ERA OF F.E. JAME
This decade had been years of hard time and unemployment and Calcutta experienced perhaps the severest commercial depression it ever had. The story of the work of the YMCA during these years therefore, were not one of the great expansion but of steady, un-sensational service. The Association has been chiefly in holding its own and in consolidating in position. The YMCA had several important leaders of all- India standing at this period, among whom K.T. Paul, Dr. S.K.Dutta and F.E. James may be mentioned. But for the Calcutta movement, this was the “era of F.E.James” and these years were suffused with his personality, F.E. James became General Secretary in 1920 after distinguished war-work with the English National Council which brought him the OBE James, no less than K.T. Paul who was National General Secretary, and S.K. Dutta, who acted for him while Paul was on his frequent overseas visits , seems to have been conscious that an association, if it was to be a dynamic and respected force in India , must have a concrete social programme and the liberal interest in the wider public questions. This was a course, which the Calcutta association –and the Indian movement as a whole- followed with conviction but without ostentation. The Association certainly hit the headlines during this decade. It is doubtful whether the YMCA, in any country at any time ever had greater editorial coverage and greater column –space in the national press than in India about 1927 when the YMCA was attacked for its political attitude. The European Association in India resolved to view with the gravest disapproval the increasingly active part taken in politics in India by the Secretaries employed by the YMCA. After so much publicity had been given to criticism of the YMCA, the National Council agreed to refer the issues involved to an impartial commission of Enquiry consisting of Mr. Justice Pearson of Calcutta High Court and Mr. B. L. Mitter, Advocate General. The spirit of their findings may be seen from the leading article of a prominent all India newspaper of the time, which says :-----
“While the YMCA has thus been very largely exonerated, it may be said that the action of the European Association , however hastily conceived, has not been wholly fruitless. It has served the purpose of clearing the air of a good a deal of rumour and suspicion. It enabled the attitude of the YMCA towards politics to be shown if its true proportions and should also serve to render that body must vigilant in future in avoiding mistakes liable to tarnish its reputation.”
A REPORT OF THE ASSOCIATION SAYS :------
“1927 has been a difficult year for the Association in Calcutta, owing to the public criticisms which have been made on the work of YMCA generally . There has been animosity on the part of only a very few ; there has been misunderstanding on the part of many. The activities of the Association however have proceeded steadily throughout the year. The YMCA is a Christian Association , which work for the benefit of the youth of every class and race, holding up the character of the Jesus Christ as the ideal for all. Those who subscribe to the Christian faith control its policy and organization, but it admits to its institutions and activities young men of all nationalities and religions. It is attempting a most difficult task in its inter racial service and through its non –sectarian, but we believe it is greatly needed, and has a claim on the sympathy and support of all broad-minded people. “
SIR F.E.JAMES SAID:-------
“The YMCA is a social service organization and exits for the purpose of training young men in service for other. The whole community is its parish, and its building and institutions should centers of activity not and end to themselves, but in community –wide service. More and more must be the emphasis be laid on this feature and the YMCA must take and increasing share in all-important work of nation building , through character and service.”
1930-1942 : ERA OF C.S. PATTERSON
Two Secretaries cover this decade : Oliver Mc Cowen (1930-31) and Charles Paterson (1929; 1931-1942). It had become almost a convention that the English National Council should, in consultation with Calcutta, arrange for and finance the Calcutta General Secretary. So after the retirement of F.E. James from YMCA work, the English Council nominated Mc Cowen, an experienced Secretary who had given distinguished service in many lands. From 1921-1929 he had served as one of the English secretaries to the World`s Committee of YMCA at Geneva. He was sent to Calcutta for three years but on account of the acute depression throughout the world, had to be withdrawn by English Council after only two years. Despite the shortness of his stay , his tenure of the General Secretaryship was very rewarding as may be seen from the following tribute : “It is difficult to record how much this (Secretaryship of Mc Cowen) has meant to the work in Calcutta. Mr. Mc Cowen`s ripe experience and sane judgment together with his leadership of the staff and the place which he took in the community were assets to the Association that cannot be adequately computed.” O.H.Mc Cowen returned to England and continued to play an important part in international YMCA activities and paid a visit to Calcutta again in 1937 on the occasion of the XXIst World`s Conference at Mysore hosted by the Maharaja of Mysore in his palace- the first to be held in Asian soil.
Charles Patterson who had been General Secretary on many occasions previously, returned to the office in 1931 for a spell of ten years. None could have been better qualified for the appointment. A native and Montreal, Canada, he was active first in the junior department of the local association and later in the Mc Gill University association, of which he was President for a year. He secured the degree of M Sc. And shortly after , received a magnificent send off along with four of his contemporaries who were setting off for foreign fields from the Christian men and women of Montreal. He reached Calcutta 23rd November 1904 and was placed in charge of the then recently opened Boy`s Branch. Since then he has centred his attention on Boys work of which he was pioneer in Calcutta and has acted for many years as warden of the Boys hostel in Harrison Road. Even after he gave up the General Secretary ship in 1942 he continued to serve the Association by his work for the National Council. In recognition of his long and meritorious service, he was elected in February 1951 honorary Vice President of Calcutta YMCA an honour which is the highest the Board can give and which had never been given previously to any secretary.
While the `Young Men` must bear the anonymity of the Unknown Warrior, some of their seniors may be singled out for their long services. For the Central Calcutta branches names which are famous for their service are:-CW Archer, F.H. Atkinson, F.H. Bradshaw, K.J. Cleetus, G.W. Hunter, A.D.Khan, G.Mansfield, B.H. Peakes, M. Remfry, D. Sen, T. Varghese, A.T. Western, S.J.E. Virgo etc. The Bengali also attracted much devotion from local leaders. Many of the college Professors were among its regular supporters :--Principal J.R. Banerjea , Professors K.C.Auddy, M.M. Bose, S.C. Dutt, H.C. Mukherjee, J.K. Pyne, M.L. Sarkar etc. Principal J.R. Banerjea had been a member of Board for 31 years and its Vice President for 27 years and a member of the College Branch Committee for much longer. This singular record of service was only matched by the remarkable experience of Young Men, which his educational career had given him. In his longevity and in his good works he is perhaps only equaled by Sam Bose. The report for 1935 tells that Sam Bose has for more than 25 years conducted religious study groups in College branch. He became acting General Secretary in 1945 for a brief period.
1942-1957 : TOWARDS THE CENTURY
So far as India is concerned , the YMCA and its leaders embraced the second world war with all its civil and political traces, the period before and after independence day in 1947 which say both joy and suffering and the years of national development since the start of the first five years plan in 1950- 51. In each of these phases the YMCA had a special contribution to make and special challenges to face . The dawn of 15th August rose on India the nation. After a year of unhappy tidings Calcutta rejoiced in the day of independence. At each of the branches, symbolic flag raising ceremonies were held at which J.K. Biswas Vice President of the Association presided. These ceremonies of national rejoicing still continue to be rejoiced . There were the problems of partition, social atrocities, refugees, food shortage etc. which had their effect on YMCA programmes and long term objectives in Calcutta. On the other hand, physical education and sporting activities continued in its full fledge. The Calcutta YMCA has always aimed to improve physical education rather than achieve near success in competitive athletics. In this object the Calcutta YMCA has been faithful to its traditions as a pioneer of physical training in the syllabus of schools in India.
To the Calcutta Association, the Christian heritage of hundred years is valuable. It is hoped this Christian heritage and tradition will be preserved and continued. In a message to the Calcutta YMCA dated 10th March 1948, Mr. Chakravarthy Raja Gopalachari, then Governor of West Bengal, wrote as follows :---
“The YMCA has done more for Christianity in recent times than probably the Church itself. As the world progresses from dogma to service, this is but natural.”
Thus was the Christian heritage recognized and adapted to the service of Asia through the YMCA- a process which , it is firmly believed, will continue and be fruitful.
1957 : CENTENARY CELEBRATION
Orchestrated on a scale, seldom seen before, the Centenary observance was a time for celebrating, commemorating and consecrating. Celebrating , the successful completion of a century of Christian endevour; commemorating an event that has few historic parallels and, consecrating the YMCA to Christ who is at the center of its very being.
The centenary celebrations comprised among other significant events, thanksgiving and rededication services at the Carey Baptist Church and St. Andrew`s Presbyterian Church, two institutions that played significant roles in the life of Calcutta YMCA in its formative years. On Monday, February 25, 1957, there was a public meeting at the famed Overtoun Hall in 86 College Street. The meeting was largely attended and widely reported in the press of thet day. Among the speakers were Dr. D. Ashirvadam, Head, Political Science, Bihar University and Prof. Humayun Kabir, Member of Parliament and ex-hosteller of YMCA Students Branch, Keshab Sen Street. A.H. Foster presided over the meeting . Another public meeting was held at the Chowringhee Branch on February 26 where Prof. Samuel Mathai, Secretary, University Grants Commission and President, Delhi YMCA was the Guest Speaker.Dr. E.Ashirvadam presided over the meeting . The piece de resistance was the glittering centenary dinner on the commodious court yard of the Wellington Branch on 42, S.N. Banerjee Road. The dinner, a momentous event in the life of the celebrated Association, was attended by over 500 invitees. I.H. Nish, a secretary to the Bengal Chamber of Commerce, was on the Board of Calcutta YMCA at the time of writing the first ever history of the institution for which he was conferred a Honorary Vice- President ship for life after his resignation prior to leaving India for Australia , thus joining the exclusive band of YMCA men to have been so honoured viz. Rai Bahadur G.C. Ghosh, K. Bose and C.S.Patterson and later, heading a select few in the post centenary period to be bestowed YMCA`s highest honour. Annual Triangular Sports Meet at the Maidan Ground was held on 23rd February . Besides the three customary contestants, St. Paul`s College, Calcutta Serampur College and the host Calcutta YMCA, Allahabad YMCA was the only outstation team. An offshoot of the centenary celebration was the instituting of the All-India Basket Ball Tournament in 1957 through the initiative of J.N. Mukherjea and Ramnath Mudgal. In 1958 the Calcutta YMCA organized a tour of the Far East by the All India YMCA Basketball Team chosen at the time of the inaugural tournament during the centenary.
A hundred years of Christian endeavour saw its fitting climax in this eventful decade with the Association, gloriously bringing down the curtain of mankind`s greatest drama, a Christian celebration of life, resolving to work courageously as a witness to the teaching of Christ in the coming decades, taking the movement to newer horizons of opportunity for youth and selfless service to mankind.
