Protestants are the 4th largest religious group in Serbia, after Eastern Orthodox Christians, Roman Catholics and Muslims. In the 2011 census, there were 71,284 Protestants in Serbia (excluding the territory of Kosovo) and they comprised 1% of the population of the country. Ethnic Slovaks constitute majority of Serbia's Protestant community. Some members of other ethnic groups (especially Serbs in absolute terms and Hungarians and Germans in proportional terms) are also adherents of various forms of Protestant Christianity.
Most of the Protestants (64,029) are located in the province of Vojvodina. The largest percentage on municipal level is in the municipalities of Bački Petrovac and Kovačica, where the absolute or relative majority of the population are ethnic Slovaks (most of whom are adherents of Protestant Christianity). Other relatively large Protestant community is found in the second largest Serbian city Novi Sad with 8,499 Protestants. Outside Vojvodina, sizable concentration of Protestants in the rest of the country are recorded in Leskovac (2,493) and Belgrade (1,606).[1]
There are various Protestant groups in the country, including Methodists, Seventh-day Adventists and Evangelical Baptists (Nazarene). Many of these groups are situated in the culturally diverse province of Vojvodina. Prior to the end of World War II, the number of Protestants in the region was larger.
Protestantism (mostly in its Nazarene form) started to spread among Serbs in Vojvodina in the last decades of the 19th century. Although the percentage of Protestants among Serbs is not large, it is the only religious form besides Orthodoxy which is currently widespread among Serbs.
Denominations
Christian Nazarene Community
Prayer House of Nazarene Christian Community in Novi Sad. Services are performed in Serbian language.
The Nazarene form of Protestant Christianity, known as Apostolic Christian Church (Nazarene) in North America, appeared among Serbs during the 1860s in the region of Vojvodina, which in that time was administered by the Austrian Empire (renamed to Austria-Hungary in 1867). The religious group also spread to what was then the Principality of Serbia as early as in 1872.
Due to their commitment to non-violence and refusal to carry weapons and serve in the army, the Nazarenes were persecuted and imprisoned by all three state authorities under which they lived: the pre-World War I Austro-Hungarian and Serbian and post-World War I Serb-Croat-Slovene (i.e. Yugoslav). In 1892, most of 210 prisoners in Pest who were imprisoned because they refused to carry weapons were Serbs from Bačka.[2]
During the last two decades of the 19th century, a sizable Nazarene communities were formed in several (mostly ethnic Serb) settlements in Vojvodina: Melenci, Dolovo, Mokrin, Lokve, Mramorak, Padina, Debeljača, Bavanište, Banatski Karlovac, Perlez, and Banatsko Novo Selo. Larger Nazarene communities were also present in some sizable cities of the region, such are Sombor, Novi Sad, Pančevo, and Veliki Bečkerek. The settlement with largest percentage of Nazarenes among population was the Serb village of Nadalj (in the end of the 19th century, 250 of total number of 2,000 villagers were Nazarenes).[3]
According to 1891 census, there was 6,829 Nazarenes in the Kingdom of Hungary (one of two parts of Austria-Hungary), of which 4,400 were Serbs (the presented numbers did not include territory of autonomous Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia).[4] According to an unofficial estimation from 1897, there were 9,000–10,000 Nazarene Serbs in the Kingdom of Hungary and 1,000 more in the Kingdom of Serbia and Bosnia.[5]
According to 1925 police report, there were 16,652 adult Nazarenes in 352 settlements in Bačka, Banat, Syrmia and Baranja. The largest number of them were Serbs (7,971), while others were Slovaks (3,336), Hungarians (2,144), Romanians (1,537), Germans (986), Croats (669), Bulgarians (44), and Czechs (4).[6] According to 1953 census, there were 15,650 Nazarenes in Yugoslavia.[7]
In 1924, Serb-Croat-Slovene authorities arrested more than 2,000 Nazarenes who refused to carry weapons.[8] Between 1927 and 1933, there was 80% Serbs among Nazarenes who were imprisoned in Yugoslav prisons, while during the 1960s about 65% of imprisoned Nazarenes were Serbs.[9]
According to unofficial research that was conducted during the 1980s, there were 15,000 Nazarenes in Vojvodina who lived in 170 communities and 96% of them were Serbs.[10]
Although the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century were periods in which Nazarene religious group was widely spread among Serbs, later parts of the 20th century recorded certain decline of the Nazarene community. The decline of the community had various reason: many members of the community emigrated across the ocean and settled in the United States and Canada, some of the Nazarenes who originally were of Eastern Orthodox background converted back to Eastern Orthodox Christianity, while others converted to other Protestant denominations. Since World War I, the largest Protestant community among Serbs became the Adventists.[11]
In 2002, 1,426 citizens of Serbia declared themselves in census as a members of Nazarene community.[12] Seat of the Nazarene community in Serbia is in Novi Sad.
Christian Adventist Church
Christian Adventist Church in Novi Sad; services are held in Serbian.
Christian Adventist Church in Serbia is part of the Union of the Christian Adventist Church of Southeastern Europe. The Union is divided into 3 provinces and one mission; the seats of the provinces are in Novi Sad, Niš and Sarajevo. There are about 7,000 active Adventist adherents and 175 Adventist churches in Serbia.[13]
First Adventist missionaries in the territory of present-day Serbia started their work in Vojvodina in 1890. In 1893, a society for translation, printing and popularization of Adventist literature was formed. The literature was printed in Hungarian and Serbian language. First Adventist who preached in Serbian language (in 1901) was Petar Todor. He gathered the group of adherents in the village of Kumane in Banat in 1905. Subsequently, the Adventist communities were formed in Titel, Novo Miloševo and Mokrin (in 1906), Kikinda (in 1907), Belgrade and Novi Kneževac (in 1909), Zemun (in 1910), etc. Northern Adventist province centered in Novi Sad was established in 1911, while southern province centered in Niš was established in 1931.[14]
Christian Baptist Church in Novi Sad; services are held in Serbian.
There are two groups of Christian Baptist communities in Serbia: the Alliance of Christian Baptist Churches in Serbia which has its seat in Belgrade, 69 churches and 1,983 adherents; and the Union of Evangelical Christians-Baptists of Serbia and Montenegro which has its seat in Vrnjačka Banja, 17 churches and 700 adherents. According to other source, there were in Serbia (as of 2002) 1,572 members of Christian Baptist Church and 109 members of Independent Baptist Church.[17]
Evangelical Methodist Church in Novi Sad; services are performed in Serbian.
The Evangelical Methodist Church in Serbia has its seat in Novi Sad. It is present in Serbia since 1898. In 1953, there was 3,000 adult members of this community in Yugoslavia and about 6,000 children.[19] The Methodist community appeared in Vojvodina in the last decade of the 19th century. Formerly, the largest number of the adherents was of German ethnicity, while today members of the church are Slovaks, Serbs, Hungarians, Romani, etc.[20]
Spiritual Church of Christ in Novi Sad; services are held in Serbian.
The Spiritual Church of Christ has its seat in Padina. Besides the church in Padina, there are 30 more churches of this community, including one in Novi Sad. The community is active in Serbia since 1950. It is a community of Pentecostal character. Former seats of the church were in Bački Petrovac, Vrdnik and Gložan. In 2002, there were 542 members of this church in Serbia, of which 230 in Padina.[31]
Church of the Testament Sion
The Church of the Testament Sion has its main seat in Padina. It was founded in Padina in 2010. The community acting as an autonomous fraction of the Spiritual Church of Christ.[32]
Evangelical Christian Church of the Augsburg Confession
Reformed (Calvinist) church in Novi Sad; services are held in Hungarian.
The Evangelical Christian Church of the Augsburg Confession has its seat in Subotica. The church have about 10,000 adherents, mostly ethnic Hungarians from north Bačka. According to the Church constitution from 1955, this church is legal successor of the German Evangelical Christian Church of the Augsburg Confession from pre-war (i.e., pre-World War II) Yugoslavia in the territory of Serbia. In 1958, this church was included into the Slovak Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession and was organized as the Hungarian seniorate within that church. In 1998, the church again became independent. Until the end of the World War II, one number of the ethnic Germans of Vojvodina were adherents of this church.[33]
Reformed Christian Church
The Reformed Christian Church in Serbia has its seat in Feketić. During one period, the seat of the church was in Pačir. Reformed Christian Church is official name for the Calvinism. Most of the adherents are ethnic Hungarians from Vojvodina. The church has about 20,000 members. The church was founded by the Reformates who came to Vojvodina from Kunhegyes and Tiszabura in 1785. Until the end of the World War II, one number of the ethnic Germans of Vojvodina were adherents of this church.[34]
Church of Jesus' Love has its seat in Budapest, Hungary. Seat of this religious community in Serbia is in Senta. It was founded in Hungary and registered in 1998 in Budapest and it is active in Serbia since 2006.[35]
Novi Sad is the second largest city in Serbia after the capital Belgrade and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pannonian Plain on the border of the Bačka and Syrmia geographical regions. Lying on the banks of the Danube river, the city faces the northern slopes of Fruška Gora.
Bačka or Bácska is a geographical and historical area within the Pannonian Plain bordered by the river Danube to the west and south, and by the river Tisza to the east. It is divided between Serbia and Hungary. Most of the area is located within the Vojvodina region in Serbia and Novi Sad, the capital of Vojvodina, lies on the border between Bačka and Syrmia. The smaller northern part of the geographical area is located within Bács-Kiskun County in Hungary.
Vojvodina's demographic history reflects its rich history and its former location at the border of the Ottoman and Habsburg empires and at the confluence of various peoples, making it a hotbed of invasion, colonization, and assimilation processes. Currently there are more than 25 ethnic groups living in Vojvodina and six official languages.
Josif Rajačić, also known as Josif Rajačić-Brinski, was a metropolitan of Sremski Karlovci, Serbian Patriarch, administrator of Vojvodina, and baron.
The Voivodeship of Serbia and Banat of Temeschwar or Serbian Voivodeship and the Banate of Temes, known simply as the Serbian Voivodeship, was a crownland of the Austrian Empire that existed between 1849 and 1860.
Adamovićevo Naselje is an urban neighborhood of the city of Novi Sad, Serbia.
Stari Grad is an urban neighborhood and the city center of Novi Sad, Serbia. In the Serbian language, the name "Stari Grad" means "Old Town".
The Serbs of Vojvodina are the largest ethnic group in this northern province of Serbia. For centuries, Vojvodina was ruled by several European powers, but Vojvodina Serbs never assimilated into cultures of those countries. Thus, they have consistently been a recognized indigenous ethnic minority with its own culture, language and religion. According to the 2022 census, there were 1,190,785 Serbs in Vojvodina or 68.43% of the population of the province.
Jakov Tomić was a Serbian journalist, politician and author from the Serbian region of Vojvodina, which was part of the Austrian Empire when he was born.
The dominant religion in Vojvodina is Orthodox Christianity, mainly represented by the Serbian Orthodox Church, while other important religions of the region are Catholic Christianity, Protestant Christianity, Islam, and Judaism.
Hungarians in Serbia are a recognized national minority in Serbia. According to the 2022 census, the population of ethnic Hungarians in Serbia is 184,442, constituting 2.8% of the total population, which makes them the second-largest ethnic group in the country behind Serbs and the largest minority group. The vast majority of them live in the northern autonomous province of Vojvodina, where they number 182,321 and make up 10.5% of the province's population. Almost 99% of all Hungarians in Serbia live in the province of Vojvodina. Most Hungarians in Serbia are Roman Catholics, while smaller numbers of them are Protestant. Their cultural center is located in Subotica.
Čukarička padina is an urban neighborhood of Belgrade, the capital of Serbia. It is located in Belgrade's municipality of Čukarica.
Serbia has been traditionally a Christian country since the Christianization of Serbs by Clement of Ohrid and Saint Naum in the 9th century. The dominant confession is Eastern Orthodoxy in the fold of Serbian Orthodox Church.
The Patriarchate of Karlovci or Serbian Patriarchate of Sremski Karlovci, was a patriarchate of the Eastern Orthodox Church that existed between 1848 and 1920. It was formed when the Metropolitanate of Karlovci was elevated to the rank of patriarchate. The Patriarchate of Karlovci nominally existed until 1920, when along with several other Eastern Orthodox jurisdictions in the defunct Austro-Hungarian Empire, as well as the Metropolitanate of Cetinje, it was merged with the Metropolitanate of Belgrade to form the united Serbian Orthodox Church. The seat of the Patriarchate was in Karlovci.
Serbia is a Christian majority country, with Islam being a minority faith representing around 4.2% of the total population as per 2022 census. Islam spread to Serbia during the three centuries of Ottoman rule. The Muslims in Serbia are mostly ethnic Bosniaks, Albanians and significant part of Muslim Roma as well as members of the smaller groups, like ethnic Muslims, Gorani and Serbs (Čitaci).
Religious architecture in Novi Sad is very diverse. Majority of the believers in Novi Sad are from Serbian Orthodox Church, while others are from Roman Catholic Church, many Protestant churches, and Jewish community. Stari Grad is the place with the majority of churches and temples, and they were all built in the 18th and 19th century.
Muftiship of Novi Sad is one of the four muftiships of the Islamic Community in Serbia. Muftiship is including territory of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina and its seat is in Novi Sad. Administrator of the muftiship is mufti Fadil Murati.
The Slovak Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Serbia is a Lutheran church in Serbia.
Christianity is the predominant religion in Serbia. The Constitution of Serbia defines it as a secular state with guaranteed religious freedom. Eastern Orthodox Christians with 6,079,396 members, comprise 84.5% of country's population. The Serbian Orthodox Church is the largest and traditional church of the country; adherents of it are overwhelmingly Serbs. Public schools in Serbia allow religious teaching, most commonly with the Serbian Orthodox Church. Serbian public holidays include the religious celebrations of Eastern Orthodox Christians. Other Orthodox Christian communities in Serbia include Montenegrins, Romanians, Macedonians, and Bulgarians. The Catholic Church is prominent in north Vojvodina amongst the Hungarian minority. Protestantism is most largely found in Slovak populations within Bački Petrovac and Kovačica. Christianity first arrived in Serbia in the 9th century. It became state-religion in the 9th century when Serbia began to identify as a Christian country. In a 2011 census, 91.22% of Serbians identified as Christian.
Bojan Aleksov is an anti-war and human rights activist, historian and openly gay person, born in Belgrade, Serbia. He is best known as a voice against the Yugoslav Wars through his engagement with the Center for Anti-War Action, Women in Black and Conscientious Objectors in Serbia. Since 2007 he has been an assistant professor and then associate professor of history of Southeast Europe at the University College London’s School of Slavonic and East European Studies.
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