Pastor Ezra Jin Mingri of the Zion Church in China’s Guangxi province was detained at his home on Friday along with dozens of other church leaders across the country. The detention is part of a crackdown that targets underground churches, which defy government restrictions requiring believers to worship only in registered congregations.
The Chinese government has been cracking down on independent Christian congregations under President Xi Jinping’s leadership. In 2018, many underground churches were targeted during a nationwide crackdown, and Zion Church’s main sanctuary was shut down. However, the church’s membership grew during the COVID-19 pandemic due to online prayer sessions.
Zion Church now has over 5,000 members across around 40 cities in China, with worship sites in apartments, restaurants, and karaoke bars. Other underground churches have also faced persecution in recent months.
The detention of Pastor Jin is a “brutal violation” of freedom of religion, according to Sean Long, a Chinese Zion Church pastor currently studying in the US. The authorities may face charges of “illegal dissemination of religious content via the internet”.
Source: https://apnews.com/article/china-church-crackdown-christianity-pastor-c9c1538bea51ad72759ba5ab8b46af01