Chinese authorities have detained Pastor Ezra Jin Mingri, leader of Beijing’s influential Zion Church, in what human rights observers describe as one of the most extensive crackdowns on underground Christian congregations in decades.
Jin was arrested Friday evening at his home in Beihai, Guangxi province, alongside dozens of other Zion Church leaders across Beijing and at least five other provinces, according to church members and rights groups. The leaders are reportedly being investigated for the “illegal dissemination of religious content via the internet.”
“This is a brutal violation of freedom of religion, which is written into the Chinese constitution. We want our pastors to be released immediately,” said Sean Long, a Zion Church pastor currently studying in the U.S.
Zion Church, one of China’s largest unregistered “house churches,” operates independently of state control and refuses to join government-sanctioned religious bodies. Chinese law requires all religious groups to register with authorities and align with the Communist Party’s ideology — part of President Xi Jinping’s campaign to “Sinicize” religion and ensure loyalty to the state.
Over the past decade, authorities have demolished churches, destroyed crosses, confiscated Bibles, and pressured believers to renounce their faith. Rights advocates say the latest wave of arrests marks a coordinated nationwide effort to suppress independent Christian worship.
Grace Jin, the pastor’s daughter based in the U.S., believes the government targeted Zion Church due to its growing influence.
“Zion blew up after COVID, so that irked the government,” she said.
Despite being shut down in 2018, the church expanded rapidly during the pandemic through online prayer sessions. Its membership has grown from about 1,500 to over 5,000 believers across 40 cities, meeting in private apartments, restaurants, and other informal venues.
Recent months have seen similar crackdowns: 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.
According to China Aid, a U.S.-based religious freedom group, this represents the most sweeping persecution of urban house churches in over four decades.
Grace Jin says her father knew the risks but chose to return to China to continue his ministry.
“He felt that as a pastor he had to be with the flock,” she said, holding back tears. “He had always been prepared for something like this.”
