Chinese Pastor Sentenced to 18 Months for Organizing Illegal Gatherings

On August 10, a family priest in Anhui Province, China, was sentenced to a prison term of one year and six months for organizing illegal gatherings. The priest had been detained since June 29 and is scheduled for release on November 18. The sentence follows a period of more than 400 days and nights of detention, during which his wife, Mrs. Li Yunqing, managed their children and family separation while reevaluating her faith and marriage.

From 2023 to 2025, the church was interrupted several times, and several members were placed in administrative detention. The church reported that 23 cases of administrative detention were involved during this period, while the pastor himself had been detained three times previously. Last July, three members of the same church, including Pastor Zhang Sen and Senior Ma, were charged with unlawful assembly after being held in criminal custody.

The complaint listed activities such as organizing weddings in farms and hotels, renting houses to set up seminaries and enrolling students, and organizing small groups in homes and commercial buildings. Lawyers stated that the complaint involved wedding services, congregations, and religious education, and that all three defendants denied that the association constituted a crime.

The three cases were opened on June 9 and 12 and sentenced on August 10 to terms of one year and seven months, expiring on January 24, 2027, and four months, expiring on October 28, 2026, respectively, excluding Pastor Chang-soon and his brother-in-law. The sentencing occurred during a Lord’s Day service attended by the priest’s family and two other families.

Approximately thirty minutes after the service began, plain-clothes men identifying themselves as community workers knocked on the door and requested registration. The pastor agreed to meet them outside, but when the door opened, uniformed police entered the house and instructed the group to come with them. The police stated that the pastor should show willingness to cooperate but not frighten his wives and children.

Before being taken away, the pastor removed his wedding ring and handed his metal glasses to his wife, replacing them with plastic glasses. Having been in administrative detention three times before, he knew the rules of the detention center and the procedures involved. He instructed his wife to take care of the children, comfort the brothers and sisters, and pray for the community.

The situation reflects the tension between institutional control and the exercise of religious liberty, where legal proceedings intersect with the personal sacrifices of clergy and their families. In such contexts, the call to seek justice and care for the vulnerable remains central, echoing the principle that righteousness is to be pursued with humility and truth, as referenced in Micah 6:8.

Source: Read the original report (translated from Mandarin Chinese)