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The study investigates the dual structure of contemporary Slovenian Protestantism, focusing on the factors enabling its pluralization.

June 1, 2026Open Access

Ten Signatories, a Hundred Communities: Pluralization Without Consolidation in Slovenian Protestantism

Key Points

The study investigates the dual structure of contemporary Slovenian Protestantism, focusing on the factors enabling its pluralization.
Utilized the public Register of Churches and Other Religious Communities to trace organizational changes such as registrations and deletions.
Employed a four-lens framework including historico-legal and sociological perspectives to analyze the findings.
Compared findings with a similar situation in Croatia post-1991.
Identified a low-variance Lutheran core contrasted with a high-variance neo-Protestant field.
Found that post-1991 legal changes allowed rapid formalization of communities without merging into larger organizations.
Recommended practical measures for improving ministerial formation and clear registry distinctions to prevent misunderstandings.

Abstract

This article examines why contemporary Slovenian Protestantism exhibits a dual structure: a low‑variance Lutheran core (the Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession - ECAC) and a high‑variance neo‑Protestant field (mainly Pentecostal, Charismatic, Evangelical, and some Baptist communities). Using the public Register of Churches and Other Religious Communities as an administrative tracer of organizational volatility (first registrations, renamings, deletions), and situating findings in census/survey context, the study shows that post‑1991 legal liberalization enabled rapid formalization without automatic consolidation. A four‑lens framework—historico‑legal, sociological (church–sect–mysticism; religious‑economy), ecclesiological (order vs. movement), and psychological (charisma and its routinization; risks of authoritarian patterns)—explains why tensions in small religious markets more often resolve in organizational differentiation than in absorption by umbrella structures. A brief comparison with Croatia indicates a parallel postsocialist pattern. The article concludes with pragmatic recommendations: standardized ministerial formation, teaching/discipline mechanisms, regular supervision, and mediation protocols, plus clearer registry labeling to distinguish administrative change from schism.

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