http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-ymca24nov24,0,7789918.story?coll=la-home-headlinesEvery day, 2,500 people pour into the Green Hills Family YMCA to lift weights, shoot hoops and swim. Scott Reall believes many are searching for salvation.
On a recent evening, as disco music blared out of an aerobics room down the hall, Reall led a small group in prayer. Heads bowed, hands clasped, about a dozen men and women sang "Amazing Grace." They had come to the YMCA — some in pearls, some in tank tops — to share their struggles with depression, and their hope that Christ would pull them through.
"People come to the YMCA hurting," said Reall, who gave up his work as a fitness trainer to run a Christian ministry at the Green Hills Y. "Alcoholism, bulimia, divorce, grief, pornography addiction, loneliness, drug abuse.... They're looking for so much more than exercise."
Reall is at the vanguard of a small but growing movement to bring Christ back into the Young Men's Christian Assn. About 13% of the more than 2,600 YMCA branches across the country have set up special committees to promote Christianity. Hundreds of Y leaders convene each year to swap ideas on how to "lift up the C in the YMCA."
Some Ys in Georgia now display pictures of Jesus and post the Ten Commandments. In North Carolina, YMCAs post Bible verses on their websites; in Tennessee, some play Christian rock in the workout rooms. In Alabama, Florida and Washington, YMCAs have hired full-time chaplains to provide pastoral care for staff and members: weddings, marriage counseling, hospital visits, Bible studies.
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