Abstract
The first Evangelical Protestant church in the territory of the present-day Republic of Macedonia was established in Bitola (Monastir) in 1873, which became the Methodist Church in 1922. The second one is the Baptist Church established in 1928 in Skopje. After WWII, both Churches (denominations) faced difficulties from the socialist government, and the activities of the Church became restricted to the church building. The general situation changed at the end of the 1980s when, in 1987, a new wave arrived with the beginning of activities with two other churches: Christ’s Pentecostal (later Evangelical) Church and the Congregational Church. In the next 30 years, a total of ten Evangelical Protestant denominations with many home church groups and mission stations were established. This almost doubled their initial membership of a little more than 7,000 members representing 0.35 percent of the total population.
The legal position of the churches and believers are defined by the laws from 1953, 1977, 1997, and 2007, the last giving wide freedom for registering churches, religious communities or religious groups, as well as the freedom for different kinds of activities.
Recommended Citation
Jonovski, Jovan
(2019)
"Evangelical Protestant Churches in the Republic of Macedonia after World War II (1947-2017),"
Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe: Vol. 39
:
Iss.
4
, Article 4.
Available at:
https://digitalcommons.georgefox.edu/ree/vol39/iss4/4