[2] By 1705, the Macks became moved by the Pietist movement locally led by Ernst Christoph Hochmann von Hochnau and started to host an illegal Bible study and prayer group at their home.

[2] In the early 1700s, Graf (Count) Henrich Albrecht Sayn-Wittgenstein provided refuge to religious dissenters from other German states and elsewhere.

The era of toleration for radical Pietism lasted only until about 1740, but had few precedents at the time and was denounced by the rulers of most other German states.

[5] In 1719, a branch of the Schwarzenau Brethren—led by Peter Becker—emigrated to Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Province (now in the United States) for religious freedom.

[7] Prior to the formation of any strict doctrine, the Schwarzenau Brethren espoused several fundamental tenets that would define the Brethren movement, including a rejection of any coercion in religion (such as infant baptism), viewing Christian rites and ordinances as a means of grace, and the New Testament as the only creed and Rule of Faith.