China raids unregistered Early Rain church, arrests elders

Police officers and government officials in China’s southwestern city of Jiangyou on Sunday raided Early Rain Covenant Church, detaining several people. Elders Yan Hong and Wu Wuqing were taken into custody along with four other members of the unregistered Protestant church, according to U.S.-based nonprofit ChinaAid. Children were also among those detained, and the total number of detainees was unknown, according to ChinaAid. The church members were transported to local police stations for questioning, but their locations and legal statuses were unclear on Sunday, the organization said. Police also identified everyone at the church service and recorded their information.

The arrests occurred during Sunday morning services, according to ChinaAid. About 50-60 officers and officials participated in the raid. Some reports indicated that police injured church members during the raid, according to Bitter Winter, a website focused on religious liberty news.

Has Early Rain Covenant Church faced trouble from Chinese authorities before? Police have repeatedly raided the church and detained or imprisoned its members and leaders since 2018. One such raid occurred recently, in January. In 2019, the church’s lead pastor, Wang Yi, was sentenced to nine years in prison after he refused to register the church under government control. Authorities accused him of trying to subvert the state’s power and participating in illegal business operations, according to ChinaAid.

Dig deeper: From the WORLD archives, read June Cheng’s report on a 2018 raid in which Chinese authorities arrested more than 100 church members.