Chinese house church in Henan defies government ban on religious activities

The Proclaiming Christ Church in central Henan continued its gatherings even after the government ordered the church to stop its operations by July 20. A notice ordering the church to cease activities was issued by the Zhecheng County Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau on July 15.

"We are still gathering," said Fang Guojian, a church attendee. "We wrote a petition. After [the officials] saw it, they were afraid. In the letter, we wrote that we would go to Beijing; go to Beijing and appeal. Now, they are afraid, and they do not dare to provoke us," Fang told China Aid.

According to Fang, the government was also unsuccessful in convincing church members to remove church signs. There were also attempts to compel Church leaders to register as part of China's state-run church, Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM).

Members of TSPM must accept government supervision and obtain government approval before holding any activity, according to China Aid.

An article from the Chinese Embassy denied that the TSPM was established by the government to control Christianity.

"The movement, which advocates self-administration, self-support and self-propagation among the Protestant churches in China, is a patriotic movement formed spontaneously by Chinese Christians who sought to defend themselves against the invasion and bullying of colonialists and imperialists in the early days," the statement read.

Christians in China have witnessed a history of pressure from the government. According to Christianity Today, many underground churches still remember that the TSPM colluded with the government that resulted in the arrest of thousands of Christians in the 1950s. More recently, China Aid reported that last July, the government terminated the welfare for elderly Christians who go to church. Zhang Shucai, a member of an affected church in Guizhou, said that Christians are not taking legal action because they do not know how to defend their rights.