Praying for trouble
- Source: Global Times
- [23:09 April 25 2011]
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By Wang Fanfan and Xuyang Jingjing
On Easter Sunday, April 24, around 30 members of the Shouwang Church held a prayer service at a square outside the Carrefour Supermarket in Haidian district. But as expected, the police showed up and quickly removed them, the church founder and pastor, Jin Tianming, told AFP.
It was the third time in a row that Shouwang, the largest unregistered house church in Beijing, staged an outdoor service in the area. On April 10, police detained about 170 church members who reportedly tried to hold an outdoor service at the same location. A week later, about 50 were detained for trying to congregate there again, and most people were released within 24 hours, AFP reported.
Some of the participants knew the decision to pray in public could have consequences.
As a longtime member of Shouwang Church, Zhou Ling* was one of those who knew she had a tough decision to make when the pastor asked the worshippers to take part in the bold and possibly risky plan.
In an open letter issued on April 12, the church stated that they would "continue to worship in public until the Lord finds a way for them."
"I know it would be dangerous because our gathering is against regulations. But I trust our pastor and also was curious about it," said Zhou, 28.
The regulations state that any public assembly with a religious focus must be registered and approved by the related governmental departments. The group had no such permission.
Not long before she arrived for the service on April 10, police were waiting for them for hours and immediately took her and 160 other participants into custody for questioning.
