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 southern 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, according to Zmago Godina, president of the Slovenian Conference of the Christian Adventist Church. 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. Its beginnings in Slovenia go back to 1908 and are connected to Pastor Albin Mocnik, who had studied at the Adventist faculty Friedensau in Germany.

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 Drago Cepar, the head of the government Office for Religious Communities, joined church members and officials for the central ceremony in Maribor.

Cepar praised 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.

The government Office monitors and maintains evidence of religious communities having reported their activities within the Republic of Slovenia and offers them expert help regarding its relationship with the state.

Nearly 550 Adventists worship in 13 churches in Slovenia. The church also operates a publishing house (Znamenja časa) and a Bible correspondence school (Dopisna Svetopisemska Šola) in the country.