German scholar and Lutheran minister Marcus Meier offered new theories about “Anabaptist and Pietist Influences on the Early Brethren” in his presentation to the conference. Meier is a teaching assistant in the theology department at Philipps-University Marburg. In 2003 he finished his doctoral dissertation about the beginnings of the Schwarzenau Brethren in Europe. Currently, he is the recepient of a research award from the University at Halle/Saale. He also has studied at Bethany Theological Seminary in Richmond, Ind.

Photo by Keith Hollenberg.