![]() The continued operation of the member district stands a significant accomplishment considering low member activity rates and few members. This suggests that there have been a sufficient number of priesthood holders to fill both branch and district callings. The Church has continued to maintain the operation of the Zagreb Croatia District for several decades despite less than 600 members on church records and few active members. The Church has established a small core of active, devoted members in Croatia that has been able to fill essential leadership positions in four of the six branches. The Church has translated its old edition of into Croatian. The Church has translated all LDS scriptures and many gospel study and missionary materials into Croatian. There was one nominal Latter-day Saint per 7,265 people in 2014. There appeared to be approximately 100 active members nationwide, or 15-20% of nominal church membership. Missionaries reported in early 2015 that were approximately 50 active members in Zagreb. Annual membership growth rates ranged from -1% to 13% during the 2000s and 0% to 6% in the early 2010s. The Church in Croatia reported less than 100 members in 1995. The Church appeared to have native branch presidents in four of the six branches (Karlovac, Rijeka, Varaždin, and Zagreb) as of mid-2015. A member group also briefly operated in Pula from the late 2000s until the early 2010s. The Church previously operated a branch in Split from approximately the 1980s until 2005. All of these branches continued to operate as of mid-2015. The Church in Croatia organized additional branches in Karlovac (1992), Varaždin (1997), Osijek (2002), Rijeka (2002), and Zadar (2004). A second branch was organized in Novi Sad in August 1992 and a district for Yugoslavia was organized in 1980 (today known as the Zagreb Croatia District). Proselytizing missionaries did not enter the country until 1992. ![]() The current Zagreb Branch was organized in January 1988. The mission has been headquartered in Zagreb since the late 2000s. The Adriatic North Mission (formerly known as the Austria Vienna South, Slovenia Ljubljana, and Croatia Zagreb Missions) has administered Croatia since 1996. The Austria Vienna East Mission began administering Croatia in 1987 followed by the Austria Vienna South Mission in 1996. Missionaries began to be more consistently assigned to Croatia in appreciable numbers during the late 1980s and early 1990s. The Church assigned a limited number of missionaries to present-day Croatia in the late 1970s from the Austria Vienna Mission. The first sacrament meeting in Croatia was held in Zadar in September 1972. Krešimir Ćosić, a popular Croatian basketball player who joined the Church in the 1970s, helped raise awareness of the Church and its teachings in Yugoslavia. Limitations to this case study are identified and prospects for future growth are predicted.Ī handful of Croats joined the Church in Central European nations during the 1970s and 1980s. The size and growth of other missionary-focused Christian groups in Croatia is summarized. The size and growth of the LDS Church in other nearby European nations is review. Past church growth successes are identified and opportunities and challenges for future growth are examined. ![]() This case study reviews the history of the Church in Croatia. The LDS Church in Croatia has experienced stagnant growth within the past decade as evidenced by no new congregations organized since 2004 and extremely slow membership growth rates. Sizable religious minorities include Orthodox Christians (4.4%) and Muslims (1.5%). Most of the population (86%) adheres to the Roman Catholic Church. Croatian is the official language and is spoken by 95.6% of the population. Bosniak, Hungarian, Slovene, Czech, and Albanian) constitute the remaining 5.2% of the population. Serbs comprise the largest ethnolinguistic minority (4.4%) whereas other ethnolinguistic groups (e.g. ![]() Croats constitute 90.4% of the national population. Croatia is located in southeastern Europe and has a population of 4.5 million people.
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