Buchmanites at Berne

Having set Norway "ablaze for Christ" (TIME, May 20), a team of Oxford Groupers (Buchmanites) lately invaded Denmark. There, with their knack for striking language, they marshaled forces to fight "The Second Battle of Jutland." They made an ally of Bishop Hans Fuglsang-Damgaard of Copenhagen, attracted large crowds and converted ("changed"), among others, a dentist, a chiropractor and a Copenhagen tap dancer. The Groupers were making more news last week in Switzerland where a team of 700 arrived to deal "spiritually" with the Ethiopian crisis.

Led by their redoubtable Frank Nathan Daniel Buchman, the team included a one-time Scottish Communist, a French marquise, the Copenhagen tap dancer, the Bishop of Rangoon, an admiral, a British M. P., a daughter of the Governor of the National Bank of Egypt and a Burmese lady who told correspondents: "My name means cool, calm, pleasant mist." Between good dinners and spiritual lobbying in Geneva, Dr. Buchman took 50 members of his team on a flying trip to Berne. There in the Parliament House awaited President Rudolf Minger flanked by his cabinet.

Said the President of the Swiss Republic to his pious callers: ''You are showing the way out of the materialism and self-seeking which has brought the world to its present state of chaos. It is your conviction that is your strength. I have followed the opening of your work in Geneva and I feel more than ever convinced that it will make a real contribution towards reconciling the nations."

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