On Sunday 18th. November 2012 a church service in St. Peters Church, followed by a reception, on the occasion of the 125th. anniversary of YMCA/YWCA (CEVI) Zürich was the starting point of a week full of activities. Showing that this oldest YMCA in the German speaking part of Switzerland is still very active.
At the reception many speakers from the local and regional church organizations and from the City Council stressed the importance of the work YMCA/YWCA Zürich is doing. It showed a high level of visibility and recognition in the city.
Ken Colloton, President of the World Alliance of YMCA’s, conveyed greetings from the World Alliance and stressed the relevance of the work of the YMCA in Zürich and worldwide. Marion Schmid (co-president YMCA/YWCA Switzerland) spoke on behalf of the Swiss National Movement.
Ed Eggink, our YMCA Europe President, spoke about the relevance of the themes of the strategy of YMCA Europe for local YMCA’s. Themes as “Peace; Justice; Democracy”; “Healthy Living” and “Inclusive Christianity” are very important for the development of young people and very good applicable in programmes of local YMCA’s as well. He illustrated the Pan-European approach within YMCA Europe’s strategy by the already many years existing partnership of YMCA/YWCA Zürich with YMCA-Spitak in Armenia. A strong delegation of YMCA Spitak and YMCA Armenia, led by the General-Secretary Hayk Khachatryan, was present to join in the celebrations.
Ed also spoke about the Festival Love2Live in Prague (4-10 August 2013) and handed over some promotional material to rev. Ralph Müller and David Zürrer (co-presidents of YMCA/YWCA Zürich) with the invitation to join the Festival with a big group of young people from Zürich.
From left to right: Ralph Müller; Ed Eggink; Ken Colloton; Marion Schmid; Hayk Khachatryan; David Zürrer
