China Raids Christian 'House' Churches in Beijing

[Pyreaux]

China’s government has been intensifying efforts to suppress religious gatherings in Beijing, particularly targeting unregistered (“house”) churches. Recently there've been raids in late May and early June of multiple branches of the Zion Church, one of Beijing’s largest house churches, detained pastors, and questioned congregants across different locations. This demonstrates a broad crackdown on underground Christian gatherings 

Authorities Raid Multiple Zion Church Locations in China

International Christian Concern reports that the Chinese government is now cracking down on both officially sanctioned churches and underground ones, leaving almost nowhere "safe" for Christians to worship freely

'There is no longer a safe place to be a Christian in China'

This is not a local action but a broader, ongoing effort by the Chinese Communist Party to bring religious practice, especially outside of state-approved institutions, under tighter control. While the much-publicized closures of Beijing’s 155 religious venues back in January 2021 were pandemic-related, the more recent actions are explicitly aimed at cracking down on religious activity, regardless of COVID concerns.

Why now? Under Xi Jinping, China has consistently moved toward centralizing control over all civil society facets, including religion. The government enforces that religious worship must occur in Beijing-approved “Three‑Self Patriotic” churches; house churches that operate outside this system face raids, detentions, and forced closures 

LDS congregations shut down in Beijing and other cities

Chinese municipal governments, including Beijing’s Chaoyang District, have ordered LDS branches closed for “carrying out activities in the name of social organizations without registration,” violating China’s rules on social organization registration 

Specifically, on June 22, 2025, authorities shut both the expatriate branch and the Chinese-national branch in Beijing. Even though they met at different times, they shared the same facility and lease, so the edict affected both.

It wasn’t limited to Beijing: cities like Nanjing (Jiangsu) and Jilin Province also saw LDS worship gatherings forcibly shut down in recent months 

According to church members, including the English-speaking branch in Beijing, the congregation transitioned to online services via Zoom starting June 29, 2025. They’re also working through lease issues with building management. Church signage has already been removed from the venue 

China’s broader policy: all unregistered religious groups, regardless of denomination, are subject to shutdowns—even those limited to foreigners or that avoid proselytizing.

LDS Church suffers setback in China as government shuts down congregations in Beijing and other cities

(Angel Moroni, seen on top of the Hong Kong Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Kowloon, Hong Kong)

Edited July 6, 2025 by Pyreaux

[halconero]

The situation for Chinese members living in the PRC is tough. I happen to know far more about this than I should due to my parents living in China for several years. Taiwanese members can choose to attend expat branches or national ones, with the caveat that once they choose, they can't switch. My parents happened to know a couple in their local expat branch that had other family members attending the national branch, and were able to periodically get vague details and news there.

Without elaborating too much, I think people would be surprised at the size and organization of the Church in China. I'm not talking about major numbers, but it is surprisingly more "typical" than you might expect when it comes to opportunities for Chinese members to engage in the Gospel with regards to patriarchal blessings, meetings, going abroad to serve missions, etc. That is while staying within the confines of Chinese law.

What is different is the extent to which members are under surveillance. My parents told me of one particular incident where Chinese members were planning an activity via WeChat and were subsequently told in no uncertain terms that the branch would be banned if they followed through. The activity itself was rather banal, but there was one obvious tension point (which I won't elaborate on) that likely flagged it.