Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials on Friday evening arrested more than two dozen pastors across at least seven provinces who are part of the underground Zion Church network, extending what China Aid called “the most extensive and coordinated wave of persecution against urban independent house churches in China in over four decades.” Details on both the charges and the total number of arrests remain thin, but one U.S.-based Zion Church pastor, Sean Long, said the pastors may be charged with “illegal dissemination of religious content via the internet.”
“More than thirty pastors, ministers, and Christian leaders have been arbitrarily detained, disappeared, or placed under house arrest,” according to China Aid. “Their homes and worship venues have been ransacked, property confiscated, and their families harassed.”
Christianity has faced official persecution in China ever since the communist takeover of China enshrined atheism as the state religion and Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution exerted totalitarian control over the daily life of his subjects.
Despite this fact, China likely has one of the largest Christian populations of any country in the world. Statistics on the underground church are, by definition, hard to find, but estimates on China’s Christian population range up to 100 million, more than the membership of the CCP, and growing.
The CCP has responded to the perceived threat of Christianity by pressuring its subjects to join state-sanctioned churches, which offer a theology in which biblical truth has become subservient to the state.
About the Zion Church
Zion Church is an unregistered, underground Protestant church network in China, founded in 2007 by Pastor Jin Mingri, also known as Ezra Jin, in Beijing. It has grown to become one of the largest house churches in the country, with an estimated 10,000 congregants across 40 cities, operating through unofficial gatherings in homes, restaurants, and online platforms like Zoom and WeChat. As of October 2025, the church is facing a major crackdown, with Pastor Jin Mingri detained in Guangxi Province and over 30 church leaders arrested nationwide, prompting international condemnation and calls for their release.
- Founded in 2007 by Pastor Jin Mingri, an ethnic Korean from Heilongjiang, the church began with just 20 members and grew rapidly, reaching over 1,000 worshipers before its main Beijing venue was shut down in 2018.
- The church is considered unregistered and operates independently of the state-sanctioned Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM), adhering to Reformed theology and rejecting government oversight, which the Chinese authorities view as a challenge to their control.
- In 2018, the Beijing authorities banned the church after it refused to install surveillance cameras at its property, leading to the closure of its main hall and the brief detention of Pastor Jin.
- Despite the crackdown, the church continued to operate, with its membership reportedly increasing from about 1,500 in 2018 to an estimated 5,000 or more by 2025, and it has maintained a strong online presence.
- The October 2025 raids, which involved police across multiple provinces and reportedly included violent tactics such as forcibly separating a pastor from her newborn baby, are described by religious rights groups like ChinaAid and the Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) as the most extensive and coordinated wave of persecution against house churches in over four decades.
- Church leaders, including Pastor Jin and spokesperson Sean Long, have stated that the church is not anti-government or a political force, but a Chinese Christian community dedicated to their faith and love for their country.
American Buddhist Net 