Chinese authorities have detained Jin Mingri, the founder of the well-known unregistered Zion Church, along with more than 20 of its members, in what human rights observers are calling one of the most sweeping crackdowns on underground Christian groups in recent years.
Jin, also known as Ezra, was arrested at his home in Guangxi on Friday, while several other pastors were taken into custody overnight in cities including Beijing. According to a detention notice verified by AFP, Jin is being held on suspicion of the “illegal use of information networks.”
Church statements indicated that at least seven pastors, including Jin, could face criminal charges for “illegally disseminating religious information via the internet.” Police reportedly searched their homes and seized electronic devices such as computers and mobile phones.
“This is a blatant attack on religious freedom,” said Jin’s daughter, Grace, who confirmed that lawyers were prevented from meeting detained church members in Beihai on Monday. She and her mother, both based in the United States, have been unable to contact Jin since his arrest.
Sean Long, a Zion pastor currently in the U.S., told reporters that the arrests were “devastating but not surprising.” He added, “We pray for the best, but we have to prepare for the worst.”
Founded in 2007 in Beijing, Zion Church quickly grew to a congregation of around 1,500 members before it was forcibly closed by authorities in 2018. Despite government pressure, the church continued to thrive online, holding services via Zoom and organizing small gatherings across more than 40 cities — a move that reportedly angered Chinese officials.
“The government knows Zion’s influence, and I believe this crackdown was planned at the highest level,” Long said. “It’s an embarrassment for them after shutting down the church in 2018, and now they’re moving to silence it completely.”
The Zion Church arrests follow a series of actions against underground Christian groups across China. In May, Pastor Gao Quanfu of the Light of Zion Church was detained on charges of “using superstitious activities to undermine justice,” while in June, several members of the Golden Lampstand Church were convicted of fraud, with its pastor receiving a 15-year sentence.
Although China’s constitution nominally protects religious freedom, the government tightly controls faith-related activity. Only state-sanctioned churches are legally permitted to operate, while unregistered “house churches” are often subject to surveillance, raids, and arrests.
In 2022, Beijing banned all online religious services without government approval, and just last month introduced new regulations prohibiting preaching through livestreams, videos, or social media platforms such as WeChat.
The United States has condemned the arrests. “This crackdown further demonstrates how the CCP exercises hostility towards Christians who reject Party interference in their faith,” said U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, calling for the immediate release of those detained.
When asked about the arrests, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian declined to comment directly, saying only that China “firmly opposes U.S. interference in its internal affairs under the pretext of religious issues.”
Grace Jin said her family remains deeply concerned for her father’s safety. “In my mind, we’ve played out this scenario since I was a kid,” she said. “Being a Christian in China, you just know something like this could happen.”