UPDATE: In a shocking turn of events, Pastor Ezra Jin Mingri of the prominent underground Zion Church has been detained at his home in Beihai, located in China’s southeast Guangxi province. This urgent development occurred on Friday evening, as part of a broader crackdown that has seen dozens of church leaders arrested across Beijing and at least five other provinces.
Authorities have reportedly targeted these leaders for “illegal dissemination of religious content via the internet,” according to Sean Long, a fellow pastor currently studying in the United States. “This is a very disturbing and distressing moment,” Long stated in an interview with the Associated Press. “This is a brutal violation of freedom of religion, which is written into the Chinese constitution. We want our pastors to be released immediately.”
The alarming arrests come amid a significant wave of repression against independent Christian congregations in China. Zion Church, which operates without government registration, has seen its membership soar from around 1,500 in 2018 to approximately 5,000 today, with over 100 worship sites scattered across 40 cities in China. This growth is attributed to the church’s online prayer sessions during the pandemic, which drew many believers who were unable to attend government-sanctioned services.
Pastor Jin’s daughter, Grace Jin, who resides in the United States, speculates that the recent crackdown may be linked to her father’s leadership role and the church’s increasing influence. “Zion blew up after COVID, so that irked the government,” she explained. This incident is part of a disturbing trend, as other underground churches in China have also faced intensified pressure in recent months.
In May, the pastor of the Light of Zion Church in Xi’an was detained, and in June, ten members of the Golden Lampstand Church in Shanxi were sentenced to prison following arrests made four years prior. Bob Fu, founder of the religious group China Aid, characterized the situation as “the most extensive and coordinated wave of persecution against urban independent house churches in China in over four decades.”
Grace Jin poignantly shared that her father had previously relocated his family to the United States after authorities targeted Zion Church in 2018, but he chose to return to China to be with his congregation. “He felt that as a pastor he had to be with the flock,” she said, adding that she has not seen her father in six years. “He had always been prepared for something like this.”
As the situation develops, the international community is closely monitoring the actions of the Chinese government, especially under the leadership of Xi Jinping, who has intensified efforts to “Sinicize” religion, demanding loyalty to the officially atheist Communist Party. This latest crackdown raises critical concerns about religious freedoms and human rights in China.
WHAT’S NEXT: Authorities have not yet released official statements regarding the arrests. The global religious community and human rights organizations are calling for immediate action and intervention. As more updates unfold, the plight of Pastor Jin and other detained leaders remains a pressing humanitarian concern.
