From Utah to the Vltava: Exploring Mormonism’s fragile growth in Prague
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a small but established presence in Prague, with over 2,700 members across the Czech Republic as of 2024. Mae Bryant looks into the life of Prague’s LDS community.
9:26 in the morning, the Sunday service is about to begin.
Sermons start at 9:30 and are held in Czech, but briefcases of electronic earbud translators spread on tables outside of the sanctuary ensure that no one has a reason not to listen.
The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints (LDS), housed in a white building behind a gate in Prague 6 not far from Hradčanská metro station, is bustling with women in long skirts and men in crisp suits.
Colloquially these people are called Mormons and stereotypically they are represented as two young American men in white shirts evangelizing on the street. Yet, upon entering the church and seeing a noticeably multigenerational and multilingual congregation, it’s clear that somehow this religion is relevant for many young people in the relatively small and largely secular Czech Republic.
According to the Head of the Department of Religious Studies at Charles University, Zdeněk Vojtíšek, the LDS is perceived as an “American” church, along with the Seventh Day Adventists and the Evangelical and Pentecostal Missionary Churches. He says that even with the common pop-culture reputation of things like plural marriage, the average Czech views the LDS church as no different from other organized religions. “It can be captured by a shortcut; ‘Jesus yes, church no’.” People often think of themselves as Christian but are skeptical about churches in general.
One stereotype does hold true during my visit. Everyone inside the church is extremely friendly and any new face does not go unnoticed. It might be impossible to leave church without a few elders getting your phone number or several missionaries asking if you’ve ever considered baptism.
Although many Czechs will group organized religions together, the LDS church does hold fundamentally different beliefs from the Seventh Day Adventists or Evangelical churches in Prague.
Mormonism has its roots in New York, on April 6, 1830 when a man named Joseph Smith published The Book of Mormon which he claimed was revealed to him on golden tablets by an angel named Moroni. The Book of Mormon is presented as another testament of Jesus Christ, an extension of the Bible which details a second ministry of Jesus Christ in the Americas.
It is important to note that while Mormonism considers itself a part of Christianity, many Christians view Mormonism as a separate religion or even something bordering a cult. This reputation is part of what made the 21-year-old Czech, Micheal Johnson, hesitate when he was first approached by an LDS missionary on the metro.
Johnson is a recent convert to Mormonism and not shy to tell people about his personal struggles, particularly that he’s homeless. This summer, as he found himself living on the streets, Johnson met a missionary who invited him to church. Looking back, he thinks of this meeting as a sort of miracle.
“When I ended up in the streets, I lost everything; every friend and even family in some way. I was insecure because of all the rumors about [Mormons]. But I went to church and it was really surprising how nice the people were,” Johnson recalled.
He began to attend church regularly along with every other event hosted by the church. A few months later in October 2025 he decided to be baptized and became an official member of the LDS church.
Confirmation in the church means the member is expected to commit to the teaching and commandments of Mormonism and if the convert is a teenager or young adult, they are expected to serve an international two-year mission.
According to LDS records, the first Mormon missionary popped up in Prague in 1884. The missionary, Tomas Biesinger, was arrested and deported back to the U.S. for preaching that same year. However, in 1928 he petitioned the Czechoslovak government to allow him to return to the country. Biesinger's request was granted and he returned to Prague to restart his mission.
The church once again faced trouble in 1950 when Communist authorities banned them from all public activities and expelled all foreign missionaries. During the communist rule Czechoslovak Mormons continued to meet, with LDS records stating: “Members used yoga classes to teach the gospel.”
After the Velvet Revolution, the LDS church was allowed to meet publicly and foreign missionaries returned as soon as 1990.
“There were probably only dozens at the moment of the fall of communism. Today, they are more than one thousand. The number of baptized is much greater (approx. 2 700), but the LDS church generally faces a relatively high apostasy rate.” says Vojtíšek.
Presently, there are 12 LDS churches across the Czech Republic with a second, larger church in Prague currently being constructed.
18:30 on a Wednesday evening, a group of twenty or so twenty-somethings gather in a spacious top-floor apartment in Prague 5. Snacks are provided and name tags are encouraged.
Wednesday Home Evenings are weekly gatherings attended by young adults, teenagers and the hosts, a couple working at the U.S. embassy. For a few hours they read and discuss the Book of Mormon or share testimonies of their faith.
In Prague, it seems many new converts are young adults or teenagers. Once again, the group is diverse, Czech, American, Slovak, Argentinian, Iranian, just to name a few.
Max Oliver is a 25 year-old American and one of the young adults who attend these casual Wednesday meetings. He moved to Prague in April 2025 and just seven months later, converted to Mormonism.
“One of the first questions I get is, how does an Iowa boy not join the church in Iowa, but finds it in such a secular nation like Prague?”
Oliver describes being approached by Mormon missionaries in front of the Nový Smíchov mall. Despite having an extremely secular upbringing, Oliver said at the time he was on something of a “religion journey” and accepted the invitation to church.
In October, Oliver was baptized and made an official member of the LDS church.
“I'm genuinely a more calm, collected and a more patient person overall. [The Elder’s] mentioned how much calmer it'll make you feel. And that's something I feel like I've experienced, and I feel like that does perhaps come from reading the Book of Mormon every day.”
As Zdeněk Vojtíšek mentioned, the apostasy rate of Mormonism, or the rate at which people abandon the religion, is high. This fact is often highlighted by critics but also at times contradicted by LDS reporting, which points to a steady increase in the number of baptisms since the Covid-19 pandemic.
At 9:30 on Sunday morning the service begins.
I picked a faulty translator device, so throughout the service I felt both more disconnected and more present. The same way that the longer I'm in the orbit of the church, I feel both more comfortable and more confused.
On the wall behind the pulpit three numbers are listed indicating the hymns that will be sung this Sunday. There are a few prayers and speakers layered between songs after which a few boys and men walk up to the front of the church to prepare and deliver the sacrament.
Between the rows filled with children sitting on laps and seniors whispering to friends, Micheal Johsnon sits in the center of the room. He rarely, if ever, misses a Sunday.
“Before meeting the missionaries from the church, I thought the only thing that keeps me alive is that I’m not strong enough to take my life myself. But I am here and they are maybe the only friends that I have.”
After the sacrament, a children's choir gathers and stands at the front of the congregation. They sing a few hymns, adorably not in tune, about loving God and loving each other. At the end of the last song the choir conductor turns around and begins conducting the congregation, inferring that they should join in the song too.
As all the voices, young and old, join in singing the hymn the conductor begins sobbing. Not soft tears of joy but heavy tears at the sight of her work bringing together the people of the church.
At 10:30 the service ended.
