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October 9, 2012
China's Shouwang Church Continues Sunday Protests in Beijing
Government rejects pastor's 'administrative review' to contest 500-day house arrest.
Shouwang Church, one of China's largest "house churches," continues to refuse official registration in spite of increasing pressure from the Chinese government.
Located in Beijing, members of Shouwang have been meeting outdoors on Sunday mornings for 17 months—and say they will continue to do so until they receive official permission to return to an indoor location. Yet, the government has been ramping up efforts to dissuade church leaders, including a 500-day house arrest for senior pastor Jin Tianming.
Tianming recently took legal action and submitted an administrative review protesting the government's interference with legal church functions.
The review, dated Sept. 14, concludes that the government's actions "all clearly demonstrate that the respondent (government) is suppressing the religious freedom granted by the Constitution to every citizen and the right of Christian churches to practice their religious faith, all of which constitutes religious persecution."
The South China Morning Post reports that the legal affairs office of the Beijing government has rejected the petition.
CT previously covered Shouwang when it originally began to meet outside and revisited the issue 15 weeks into the protest. CT also noted a related debate over whether the U.S. ambassador to China should worship at a house church.
Comments
I suppose the Shouwang incident is newsworthy. What isn't newsworthy is that hundreds of house churches, many much bigger than Shouwang, meet regularly without trouble in Beijing and throughout China. Shouwang has chosen to push buttons and while other Christians here in China appreciate their approach, most feel that they can comply with government regulations. They meet without being disturbed, do evangelism freely and are beginning to learn how to care for their neighbor. I hope that readers in the West do not see the Shouwang experience as typical of China's house churches.
Posted By: Charley Peters | October 10, 2012 10:10 PM
Yes, what a horrible tragedy that would be if readers mistakenly thought that all Chinese house churches are regularly harassed. At best they would probably start praying for Chinese Christians facing persecution, at worst they might even try to assist the churches that are in fact facing arrests, detentions, and intimidation.
Even though nothing like true religious freedom exists in China, it never ceases to amaze me how eager people are to insist that everything is great. I see these responses to everything from smuggling Bibles into China to helping Christians serving times in labor camps.
Mr. Peters, I have spent time detained by Chinese police simply for talking to others about my Christian beliefs. I challenge you to openly evangelize on the streets of Beijing for a week before you lambast the Shouwang church for "pushing buttons." The last thing the church in China needs is for Christians in the West to assume the Communist Party has warmly embraced followers of Christ and subsequently to stop speaking up on their behalf. Accepting the current status quo in China as an improvement over the days when churches where shut down en mass under Mao is not going to in any way encourage reform in the current Chinese government.
Posted By: John Underhill | October 12, 2012 2:14 PM
The government should not impose any restrictions upon the religious structures unless they go against the norms of peace. Citizens should be allowed religious freedom and it should be safeguarded by the constitution.
Posted By: frank powell | October 17, 2012 5:54 AM
The government should not impose any restrictions upon the religious structures unless they go against the norms of peace. Citizens should be allowed religious freedom and it should be safeguarded by the constitution.
Posted By: Crosspointe Church | October 18, 2012 1:24 AM
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