Slight increase in Seventh-day Adventist membership in Germany continues in 2025

The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Germany reported a slight increase in membership in 2025, with the number of members reaching 34,577. This marks an increase of 83 individuals, or 0.24 percent, compared to 2024. The growth follows a previous year increase of 1.07 percent, though the church experienced a decline in membership between 2016 and 2022, with a total decrease of 876 members.

Wolfgang Schick, Chief of Finance for the two German associations of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, noted that the membership status of 2019/2020 was reached again at the end of 2025. He highlighted that 2025 saw the highest number of baptisms in the last ten years, with 592 new members, and the lowest number of resignations, at 141. Schick also mentioned that the church experienced another wave of immigration from war zones during the year, emphasizing the church’s role as a place of refuge.

The number of local Adventist congregations in Germany has increased in line with the growth in membership. Since 2024, the number of local Adventist parishes and registered groups has risen. However, there was a decline in congregations between 2021 and 2023, which Schick attributed to the lingering effects of the Corona pandemic. As of 2025, there were 544 Adventist parishes and 32 groups in Germany, nearly reaching the level of ten years ago, which had 558 parishes and 30 groups.

Schick emphasized the importance of providing people with a sense of home and hope, especially during times of uncertainty and political and economic challenges. He stated that these values are found in the Christian, Adventist faith. “Our congregations should be places where faith, acceptance, security and hope are lived,” he said.

The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Germany is a guest member of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Christlicher Kirchen (ACK) and the Vereinigung Evangelischer Freikirchen (VEF), as well as a member of the General Assembly of the German Bible Society. The church is celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2026. Globally, the Seventh-day Adventist Church was represented in 212 countries and territories as of December 31, 2024, with 23.7 million members and 103,869 church communities.

Source: Read the original report (translated from German)