(Hubei province – Nov 4, 2024,) One of the major house church denominations in China, the “All Ranges Church,” has faced significant persecution. Last year, more than twenty pastors and members from two of its affiliated churches, Tongsui church and Suinan church in Suizhou City, were detained in a coordinated action by the Public Security Bureau of Suizhou City, Hubei Province. This year, eight members of this church network were formally charged, with four released on bail pending trial. A regional church leader who arranged legal representation for these church members has also been detained and is now facing prosecution.
The reason given for the arrests of the nine Christians in the “Suizhou Church Case” was their alleged involvement in the widely disputed and notorious charge of “organizing and using a cult organization to undermine the enforcement of law.” The believers were detained from late August to early September last year, and on September 16 this year, the People’s Procuratorate of Zengdu District, Suizhou, Hubei Province, formally filed charges against them.
Nine Christians Arrested in Suizhou Church Case, Charged with “Undermining the Law”
Among those involved were:
- 75-year-old Yang Yejin from Nanyang, Henan Province
- 72-year-old Song Yude from Nanyang, Henan Province, a key regional leader,
- 66-year-old Ma Fuxiu (known as Aunt Ma),
- 34-year-old Fan Hongyan (Christian name: Suxin) and
- 53-year-old Yang Jirong (Christian name: Yang Qing).
Four others who were granted bail are:
- 54-year-old Zeng Xinhui (Christian name Qinghui),
- 53-year-old Chen Xiuqin,
- 64-year-old Wang Yiqin, and
- 67-year-old Zhang Daojiang.
The latter seven people are all from Hubei.
Church Activities and Religious Materials Cited as Evidence in Accusations Against Christian Leaders
The Procuratorate’s indictment cites various routine church activities as evidence against them, such as believers volunteering venues as Sunday worship spaces for other church members, members introducing suitable young Christians within the church to potential partners, implementing tithing according to Biblical teachings, teaching others how to host young people’s gatherings, and hosting visiting speakers.
The People’s Procuratorate of Zengdu District, Suzhou City, categorized all teaching, preaching, and discipleship training activities within the church as promoting “fallacies.” Church activities like parent-child events, fellowships, Easter gatherings, Blessings groups, Holy Communion, prayer meetings, and revival sessions were also cited by the Procuratorate as evidence of “propagating heretical fallacies.”
Religious materials used by the church, such as well-known discipleship courses commonly recognized and used by Chinese and overseas Chinese churches like “Experience God: Knowing and Doing the Will of God,” “New Life,” “The Way of Discipleship,” as well as homiletics, ministry studies, and songs of the happiness group (a model of Bible study group of the church) and others were likewise labeled by prosecutors as “using the name of Christianity, distorting the doctrines of the Bible and spreading heretical fallacies of the All Ranges Church.”
The prosecution has accused the “threefold visions” advocated by the late Dr. Jonathan Chao (Zhao Tianen), an American expert on Chinese house church issues, of providing a “theoretical framework” for the All Ranges Church.
Another implicated church leader from Suizhou, 75-year-old Yang Zhijin from Nanyang, Henan, was appointed by the church founder Xu Yongze, also known as Peter Xu, as the leader of Tongsui church’s broad region. Yang participated in “disciple training” and “marriage renewal” (reinforcing church members’ marital commitments) in Suizhou and was accused of “propagating heretical fallacies” during the activities.
It is reported that the primary reason for Yang Zhijin’s arrest was his role in hiring lawyers for the detained church members. On March 19 of this year, Yang Zhijin was arrested at his home in Henan by the Zengdu District Branch of the Suizhou Public Security Bureau across provincial lines. On the same day, police searched Yang’s residence, seizing hymn books, a “New Testament,” a tablet, and other items. On April 25, he was formally arrested on similar charges, and on October 5, the Zengdu District People’s Court in Suizhou formally filed charges against him.
Yang Zhijin is currently held at the Suizhou City Detention Center.
The Worsening Persecution faced by House Churches in China
In recent years, the Chinese government has increasingly targeted house churches that refuse to join state-sanctioned religious organizations, labeling them as “cults” and enforcing the vaguely defined anti-cult article 300 in China’s Criminal Law to persecute these religious groups, resulting in numerous pastors and Christians being arrested and imprisoned.
In the late 1990s, the Chinese Communist Party formulated this vague and loosely defined law, where the key terms are ambiguously outlined, providing no clear criteria for distinguishing between “sects or cults” in legislation. It should not, in fact, be regarded as a formal legal concept, as this lack of clarity violates the freedom of belief and associated principles of equality guaranteed by the Chinese Constitution.
The faith and practices of All Ranges Church members do not infringe upon constitutionally protected religious freedoms. Accusations against them are baseless and rooted in arbitrary judgments by authorities that label them as a “cult,” thereby presuming their teachings to be “heresy.”
ChinaAid Association’s commitment to Religious Freedom
ChinaAid Association asserts that religious freedom is a foundational liberty upon which other essential human rights rest, encompassing the right to freely choose one’s religion and participate in religious ceremonies and traditions without fear of persecution or discrimination. This freedom includes both private and communal worship, as well as the right to teach and preach without facing government or societal persecution. The Chinese Communist Party authorities have carried out personal attacks and discrimination and have made arbitrary arrests against Christian groups under the pretext of “cults.” In reality, it is just an excuse for them to carry out religious persecution and destruction of religious organizations.
ChinaAid Association will continue to monitor imprisoned Christians and urges the international community to pay close attention to cases of Chinese house churches, Christian faith organizations, and individual Christians who face persecution due to their religious freedom. ChinaAid will be providing ongoing coverage of the “Suizhou Church Case.”
Background on the All Ranges Church
The “All Ranges Church,” also known as the “Born Again Movement” or “Way of Life Church,” was founded as a house church in 1984 in Henan Province by Xu Yongze, one of China’s prominent house church leaders. Xu is now residing in the United States and is known in the West as Peter Xu.
During China’s brutal Cultural Revolution in 1968, Xu Yongze, who had just been called to Christian ministry, was distraught while confronted with the bleak future for Christianity in China.
Xu reportedly climbed a mountain near his village in rugged Henan Province, pausing to pray, “Dear Lord, please revive Your church!”
Over the following 30 years, Xu Yongze spread the gospel, established new house churches, and trained local leaders, eventually founding the Born Again Movement (BAM), which reportedly included millions of members independent of China’s state-sanctioned churches.
The term “All Ranges” signifies the universal scope of the church, encompassing all “born-again” Christians globally. The church upholds the “Threefold Vision”— the evangelization of China, the kingdomization of the church and the Christianization of culture — a vision initially championed by the late U.S.-based Chinese pastor and China house church expert Dr. Jonathan Chao.
In November 1995, the Chinese government erroneously labeled the All Ranges Church as a cult in its first official anti-cult list. The All Ranges Church was previously labeled a “cult” and banned as early as 1988, and has been persecuted ever since.
In 1997, Xu Yongze was sentenced to ten years of labor reform in Henan on charges of “cult leadership,” “disturbing public order,” and “spreading doomsday theory.” Overseas Christian leaders defended Xu, contending that his harsh sentencing underscored the religious persecution faced in China.
The All Ranges Church is organized into a complex structure with national, regional, and local leadership. The Suizhou district mentioned in the case was established around 1995, including various church districts in Tongsui, Guozao, Jingshan, Xiaogan, Wuhan, and Honghu. The Tongsui large area has Suinan, Suibei, Tongbai, Yuehe, Xiaolin, and other medium-sized areas. The Suinan medium area has the Suizhou urban area, Tangzhen, Anju, Lishan, Wandian, and other small areas.
The church has grown to become one of the fastest-expanding Christian groups in China. Drawing on the evangelistic models of 18th-century preacher John Wesley and renowned Chinese revivalist Song Shangjie, the movement emphasizes repentance and being “born again,” a concept from the Gospel of John. It often evokes emotional responses like weeping, leading some to label it the “weeping born-again movement.”
Well-known overseas Christian leaders and China house church experts have investigated the church and affirm it as a legitimate Christian house church group with distinctive Chinese cultural characteristics, not a fabricated “cult” as alleged by the authorities.