Bruno Meyer (born 1938 in

Schaffhausen Schaffhausen (; ; ; ; ), historically known in English as Shaffhouse, is a list of towns in Switzerland, town with historic roots, a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in northern Switzerland, and the capital of the canton of Schaffh ...

) is a

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

religious leader, founder of the Menorah church (''Evangeliumsgemeinde Menorah'' "evangelical congregation Menorah"), a small

fundamentalist Christian Christian fundamentalism, also known as fundamental Christianity or fundamentalist Christianity, is a religious movement emphasizing biblical literalism. In its modern form, it began in the late 19th and early 20th centuries among British an ...

evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

congregation based in

Wetzikon Wetzikon is a small town in the Zürcher Oberland, Zurich Highlands (Zürcher Oberland) area of Switzerland, in the district of Hinwil (district), Hinwil in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Zurich (canton), Zürich. Geography The Municipal ...

canton of Zürich The canton of Zurich is an administrative unit (Swiss canton, canton) of Switzerland, situated in the northeastern part of the country. With a population of (as of ), it is the most populous canton of Switzerland. Zurich is the ''de facto'' Capi ...

. He was convicted for

rape Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person ...

and

child sexual abuse Child sexual abuse (CSA), also called child molestation, is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include engaging in Human sexual activity, sexual activit ...

in two cases in 2010.

Menorah

Meyer founded the congregation in 1986, seceding from the " Schweizer Pfingstmission" SPM, where he had been active as a pastor. Gatherings of the congregation took place in Wetzikon, in

Rottweil Rottweil (; Alemannic: ''Rautweil'') is a town in southwest Germany in the state of Baden-Württemberg. Rottweil was a free imperial city for nearly 600 years. Located between the Black Forest and the Swabian Alps, Rottweil has over 25,000 ...

, Germany, and in

Märstetten Märstetten is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Weinfelden (district), Weinfelden in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Thurgau in Switzerland. History Scattered finds from the Neolithic era, Switzerland in the R ...

canton of Thurgau Thurgau (; ; ; ), anglicized as Thurgovia, and formally as the Canton of Thurgau, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of five districts. Its capital is Frauenfeld. Thurgau is part of Eastern Switzerland. I ...

. The Wetzikon group as of 1999 had 190 regular participants (including children), the Rottweil chapter about 25. Meyer advocated a very strict, conservative lifestyle, denouncing television, radio, magazines, comics, most books, recorded music as well as sports or any other distraction from focussing on Jesus Christ. He also denounces humour, jokes, puns and anything that may distract from a state of sobriety. He further denounces the celebration of Christmas, identified as a pagan practice, and generally discourages followers from attending ceremonies such as weddings or baptisms in other Christian communities. He advocates a strictly subordinate role of women, and a strictly authoritative approach to parenting, explained by the essentially sinful nature of children. However, even though not everyone followed these rules they were still permitted to remain in the congregation, showing that Meyer had no absolute control over its members, which calls into question the congregation's definition of a

cult Cults are social groups which have unusual, and often extreme, religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals. Extreme devotion to a particular person, object, or goal is another characteristic often ascribed to cults. The term ...

. What also makes it difficult to define the congregation as a cult is that while Meyer was the main pastor, male members, most of them fathers, also regularly preached and held services. After Meyer's arrest in 2009, the congregation lost about half of its 50 members. The remaining group has distanced itself from Meyer and renamed their congregation to ''Bachtel-Gemeinde''.

Arrest and conviction

In 2009, Meyer was arrested on suspicion of

, and in August 2010, the Zürich state attorney filed charges against Meyer on the count of sexual abuse of a girl from within his congregation over a period of several years, beginning in 2006 when the victim was seven years old until Meyer's arrest in 2009. He was convicted of multiple cases of rape of two girls, at the time aged seven and ten, in December 2010.Haft für Prediger der Menorah-Kirche

Tages-Anzeiger ''Tages-Anzeiger'' (), also abbreviated ''Tagi'' or ''TA'', is a Swiss German-language national daily newspaper published in Zurich, Switzerland. History and profile The paper was first published under the name ''Tages-Anzeiger für Stadt und K ...

, 15 December 2010.

References

*Georg Schmid,
Menorah
relinfo (1999). {{DEFAULTSORT:Meyer, Bruno 1938 births Swiss Christian religious leaders Swiss rapists Child sexual abuse scandals in Christianity Religious figures convicted of child sexual abuse Living people People from Schaffhausen

Menorah

Arrest and conviction

See also

References