Museum exhibit, concerts, humanitarian efforts build church's 'positive' reputation, says local leader
Hundreds of Seventh-day Adventists in Slovenia gathered in their country’s second largest city, Maribor, last month to mark 100 years of Adventism in the Central European country.
Celebrations began in January with an exhibition at the City Museum in the country’s capital, Ljubljana, presenting the church’s beliefs and history. Slovenian Adventists also offered concerts, panel discussions, health courses, cooking classes, poetry readings and national television programs.
Slovenia’s oldest Adventist pastor, Mihael Virtic, 85, attended the centenary and said he remembered God’s leading as the church first took root in what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Adventism arrived in Slovenia in 1908.
More important than its 100 years of existence in Slovenia is the church’s reputation there, Branko Bistrovic, president of the church’s Adriatic region, said at the celebration. Citing humanitarian projects, educational seminars and community involvement, Bistrovic called the church’s presence in the country “positive” and said its members “significantly contribute” to Slovenian society and culture.
Bertil Wiklander, president of the church’s Trans-European region, also spoke at the event, cautioning those gathered not to let busyness obliterate time for God. A “time-consuming lifestyle” can lead Adventists to “neglect our spiritual growth and our mission,” he said.
Representatives from other Protestant churches and the director of Slovenia’s Office for Religious Communities, Drago Cepar, joined church members and officials for the event.
Cepar applauded the church’s “good cooperation” with the Religious Freedom Act, passed last year, which requires that denominations register to receive full legal status and tax benefits. The Adventist Church was the first of Slovenia’s 43 religious groups to officially register.
Nearly 550 Adventists worship in 13 churches in Slovenia. The church also operates a publishing house and a Bible correspondence school in the country.
