China Arrests Almost 30 Pastors, Members Of One Of Its Biggest Underground Churches

Nearly 30 pastors and members of China’s unsanctioned Zion Church were detained Friday in the biggest Christian crackdown since 2018.

Founder and Pastor Jin Mingri was also detained at his home, his daughter, Grace Jin, and church spokesperson, Sean Long, told Reuters.

“What just happened is part of a new wave of religious persecution this year,” Long said, adding that authorities have questioned more than 150 church members and have increased harassment during Sunday church services over the last few months. (RELATED: Senate Approves ‘FIGHT China Act’ To Halt US Funds Fueling China’s Arsenal)

Long said five pastors and church members have been released, but he showed Reuters an official detention notice saying Mingri is being held on suspicion of “illegal use of information networks.” The charge could potentially land Mingri in jail for up to seven years, the outlet reported.

Jin said she is concerned for the health of her 56-year-old father, who was previously hospitalized for diabetes.

“We’re worried since he requires medication,” Jin said. “I’ve also been notified that lawyers are not allowed to meet the pastors, so that is very concerning to us.”

This photo taken on September 12, 2018 shows Jin Mingri, head pastor of the Zion church, posing in Beijing days after authorities shut down one of China’s largest “underground” Protestant churches. – A Chinese Protestant pastor is vowing to keep preaching to his flock despite the closure of his prominent underground church in Beijing, defying the government’s intensifying pressure on religious groups. (Photo credit should read FRED DUFOUR/AFP via Getty Images)

Chinese President Xi Jinping announced in September he would “implement strict law enforcement” to crack down on non-state-sanctioned churches, including a new ban on unauthorized online preaching and “foreign collusion,” according to Reuters.

Zion Church has grown its membership to approximately 5,000 regular worshippers in nearly 50 cities, with much of its growth built from pandemic-era Zoom sermons, Reuters reported.

Although China may be increasing its pressure on Christians, religious persecution from the state is nothing new.

The country’s constitution grants citizens the “freedom of religious belief.” However, many unsanctioned sects have faced persecution —such as the Shenzhen Holy Reformed Church, whose members faced deportation to China after failing to receive asylum from South Korea in 2022.

Statement on the “10.9 Zion Church Case”

I am Pastor Cao Yuan of Lamb Coming Home Church in Guangzhou.

Recently, police from Beihai, Guangxi have unlawfully carried out large-scale arrests across seven provinces, detaining Pastors Jin Mingri, Yin Huibin, Wang Lin, Gao Yingjia… pic.twitter.com/PVXknhIbWA

— Bob Fu 傅希秋 (@BobFu4China) October 12, 2025

“For many years, my fellow pastors and I have lived under the shadow of fear—but now the boot has finally dropped! Yet, in our hearts, we feel an unexpected peace,” Pastor Cao Yuan of Lamb Coming Home Church in Guangzhou said in a Sunday statement.

“If the pastors of Zion Church are bound for the sake of God, they are worthy of such chains. If they are ‘convicted,’ I am willing to share their guilt; if they sing praises to God in their bondage, I will join their song outside the prison walls,” the statement continued.

A statement from Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) “recent detention of dozens of leaders of the unregistered house Zion Church in China, including prominent Pastor Mingri ‘Ezra’ Jin.” (RELATED: GOP Leader Roasted For Refusing To Celebrate Columbus Day)

“This crackdown further demonstrates how the CCP exercises hostility toward Christians who reject Party interference in their faith and choose to worship at unregistered house churches,” the statement continued. “We call on the CCP to immediately release the detained church leaders and to allow all people of faith, including members of house churches, to engage in religious activities without fear of retribution.”