Closing its worship facility did not stop Beijing Jiaquan Church from gathering. Now the congregation’s founding pastor is under arrest, facing fraud charges his wife says involve church offerings.
Xianfeng Edward Cui was arrested Oct. 23 after authorities first detained him during a Sept. 4 church raid involving about 100 police officers, his wife, Jin Young Gu, told The Associated Press.
Gu said the allegations concern offerings from church members. The AP reported that the charges likely relate to the church’s unregistered status.
Cui founded the congregation in 2006. As it grew, authorities moved to restrict where and how its members could worship.
Officials sealed the church’s Beijing worship facility in 2019, Gu said. Members responded by meeting in smaller groups at different locations.
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Then came an explicit demand to limit the congregation.
In 2023, authorities interrupted a Sunday church class and warned Cui and Gu that the church had become too large.
“They told him that he should lead only one church with fewer than 100 people,” Gu told the AP. “This was a direct warning from the authorities concerning the size and organization of our church.”
Gu now faces her husband’s imprisonment from outside China. A Korean national, she said she has been denied a visa to return as a family member since 2023.
The case unfolds amid Chinese President Xi Jinping’s campaign to bring religious groups under tighter Communist Party control, according to the AP. Unregistered churches continue to face pressure as authorities demand submission to party rule.
Police in Beijing’s Shijingshan district did not respond to the AP’s request for comment. China’s Foreign Ministry did not answer the news agency’s questions about Cui.
Pray for Cui’s release and for his wife as they endure this separation. Remember the Christians in China who continue gathering to worship Jesus despite the threat of arrest.
James Lasher, a seasoned writer and editor at Charisma Media, combines faith and storytelling with a journalism background from Otterbein University and ministry experience in Guatemala and at the LA Dream Center. A Marine Corps and Air Force veteran, he is the author of The Revelation of Jesus: A Common Man’s Commentary and a contributor to Charisma magazine. For interviews and media inquiries, please contact [email protected].
