The Report is made up as follows:

Basis of the three conversations that took place was the article by Oswald Eggenberger “The Churches, Special Groups and Religious Organisations”, 6th Edition 1994, page 196.

1. Founding and history of Methernitha.

2. Methernitha as a Christian Alliance and Methernitha as a co-operative.

3. Methernitha’s own theological view of itself.

4. The relationship between Methernitha and the residents of the village of Linden.

5. Theological study of Methernitha

6. Methernitha and Spiritism.

1. Founding and history of Methernitha

The history of Methernitha as described by Eggenberger in the first part of his article is factually correct according to the statements made by participants in the talks. Paul Baumann found his way to the Bible through visions. His wish was to found a co-operative based upon, and living by, Christian principles. Methernitha operates a living and working co-operative with departments specialising in precision mechanics, the making of appliances, gardening and carpentry. The co-operative income finances the livelihood of its individual members. Social Security and pension fees are paid by the co-operative. Members are free to leave the co-operative at any time.

As well as board and accomodation, pocket money is made available to individual members.

2. Methernitha as a Christian Alliance and Methernitha as a co-operative.

When dealing with others, Methernitha makes a clear definition between Methernitha as a Christian Alliance and Methernitha as a co-operative. Some members and friends of the Christian Alliance are not necessarily members of the co-operative. Members of the co-operative are informed when joining that although the co-operative is based on Christian principles, they will not themselves be obliged to live by those priciples. According to the Bosshard brothers, the co-operative also tries to accommodate people with difficulties.

Thus, a clear definition is to be made between economy and theology, between the co-operative as a place of production and business, and the Christian Alliance of Methernitha. The will to live by recognised Biblical and Christian principles in daily life is present in many people at Methernitha, but not in all of them, and not to the same extent in everyone.

3. Methernitha’s own theological view of itself.

The members of the Christian Alliance of Methernitha are trying to live out a practical form of Christianity. They wish to actively apply established Christian and Biblical principles in their personal and communal lives. The old “three-tier” system based on various levels of perfection as mentioned by Eggenberger is no longer applied. It was observed until about 1980, since when it has been discarded as out-of-date.

It has not been possible to gain an overall theological impression of the Alliance. Whilst some of the members who one would regard as intellectual leaders or at least as intellectually-respected personalities demonstrate a practical Christianity with some slight tendency towards Mysticism, others practise a distinctly practical application and respect of the Christian Commandments.

In contrast to organisations with a sect-like structure there is no standardised, uniform doctrine. A regular intellectual exchange of Christian und Biblical topics is encouraged. There are no regular meetings. Each member of the Christian Alliance of Methernitha is free to express himself as he needs or is able on Biblical and Christian topics.

There are no regular church services at the Christian Alliance. The clubhouse, which is occasionally referred to as “The Temple” is on one hand a place of peace but is actually used by the Christian Alliance as a place of mutual reflection. Everyone is free to spend time there, to pray, meditate or read. All of this is on voluntary basis.

Methernitha does not claim to be the answer to the soul’s every need.

The visions of Paul Baumann, which in the early days (1950) held a certain importance, do no longer play a significant role in the present-day  alliance. The visions are accepted but only given any value to them on an individual basis. For Paul Baumann they had a meaning - otherwise he would not have taken the message of the Bible seriously. For some members of the Christian Alliance they represent at most the meaning of some event which took place in the early days of the group. It is stressed that everyone must form his own religious views and experiences.

Methernitha could be construed as an attempt to apply the concept of biblical communal thinking as realistically as possible to present-day life. The principles pleaded for of some leading members, such as the renunciation of alcohol, nicotine and drugs are regarded by outsiders as unacceptable or presumptuous. But it is not the fault of the co-operative, it indicates rather a lack of understanding and communication with one another.

4. The relationship between Methernitha and the inhabitants of Linden.

In the beginning the relationship with the inhabitants of the village of Linden was marked by isolation. Paul Baumann, founder of the foundation, and his wife came originally from the “Bruderverein”, which served only to increase the isolation and distance, in spite of which the co-operative was still able to develop. It would now like to move on from a phase of a peaceful parallel separatist existence between villagers and co-operative members to one of togetherness. A certain tendency towards “opening-up” can be felt. This “opening-up” cannot be regarded as a tactical manoevre with background thoughts of profitmaking. Economically, Methernitha has seen far worse times in the past. The desire to show more openness originated from the wish to improve contacts with the village population.

It is always difficult to incorporate a foreign body such as a co-operative into a relatively small village. Experience shows that rumours immediately spring up. An alliance like Methernitha, which intentionally follows a strict lifestyle, is frequently regarded by villagers as a “bunch of Pharisees”. This, combined with the feeling that Methernitha is a foreign body in the village, leads to the reproach that tey are a sect.

5. Theological study of Methernitha.

Above, we have analysed Methernitha’s own theological view of itself. Evangelist theology however sees things differently.

The influence of the “Bruderverein”, within whose circles Paul Baumann grew up, can still be clearly felt. Whilst it is emphasised that each individual must develop his own spirituality, it is still regarded as desirable that God’s Law be adhered to in its entirety. Mr Baumann and Mr Daniel Bosshard have themselves often emphasised in conversation that they were unable to fulfil every rule in early days, whereas today, following a long period of development, things are better. At Methernitha, little is to be felt of the all-encompassing “God’s Love” or undivided mercy. Paul Baumann often speaks of “God’s Law”, and how important it is to obey this law. This leads with some certainty to religiousness being equated with and lived out as a sort of legality.

The CTV system could also be regarded as rather unique. The programmes are put together and chosen by a manager. It could be argued here that the limits of censure have been overstepped. The “raison d’être” for Methernithas own CTV is simply: this way Methernitha only needs to pay for one antenna.

However, various daily newspapers are available at Methernitha and everyone is free to buy newspapers of their choice in the village.

The Methernitha Christian Alliance should not be seen as a sect or specialist group. The three  vital components of a specialist group are missing (in addition to the Holy Scriptures other sources of revelation, totalitarian structure, claim to exclusivity). The Christian Alliance bases itself on virtually no other source than the Bible. Paul Baumann’s visions no longer play an important role. The totalitarian structure of the early days has gone. Methernitha claims no rights to exclusivity in the style of Jehova’s Wittnesses: other churches and beliefs are accepted.

6. Methernitha and Spiritism.

Methernitha is often accused of Spiritism by pointing out the visions experienced by Paul Baumann and two young women whilst meditating at an isolated location. The meditations of two young women in Adelboden are not quite so clear-cut, and the acting-out of these in the “Temple”, where the women dress in special costumes can certainly be referred to as unusual. The content of the meditation however has more to do with an interpretative look at the Bible than with Spiritism. Spiritisme is a particular technique of making contact with the “other side”. This technique has not been shown to be used at Methernitha. The statements made by Paul Baumann are admittedly odd and cannot be clearly defined. At this stage one could however ask:”What about the visions of a certain Niklaus von Flüe, Fatima and other . . . . .”