Protestantism in Albania

Protestants in Albania, stand at about 8,000, whereas 189 different Protestant associations including the Albanian Evangelical Alliance (VUSH) exist in Albania.

History

The first recorded Albanian Protestant was Said Toptani.^{[citation needed]} In 1853, after having been in Paris, Vienna, and Venice, the patriot, Said Toptani, came back home and preached Protestantism in Tirana, but in 1864 was interned in Akra [now in Turkey].^{[citation needed]} It is not known how many other people were converted through his preaching, or if a church started as a result.^{[citation needed]}

The first Albanian Protestant churches of the modern times was formed in Manastir, modern-day Republic of Macedonia, then Ottoman Empire, by British missionaries, and one one in Korca by American missionaries, and Lord Paget's Anglican Church in Scutari (Shkodra) built in 1865. Two of the first Albanians to become Protestants were Nikolla and Dhimitër of Manastir in year 1876. One year later Gjerasim Qiriazi also converted to Protestantism. By 1882 the Albanian Evangelical Church of Manastir had 36 believers. In 1890 Gjerasim Qiriazi was ordained as an evangelist preacher by the American College in Samokov, Bulgaria. The second church among Albanians was opened in Korça. Qiriazi was also the head of the first national society within Albania named “Evangelical Brotherhood”. As a result Gjerasim Qiriazi is considered as the father of the Albanian Protestant Church.