(Fuyang, Anhui Province, eastern China — August 14, 2026) A Chinese court sentenced three leaders of an unofficial Protestant church to prison terms of up to one year and seven months on Aug. 10, months after prosecutors accused them of organizing gatherings associated with their church.
According to court records, Zhang Sensen, Chang Shun and Ma Shutao, three leaders of Maizhong Reformed Church, were sentenced by the Fuyang court on charges of “organizing illegal gatherings.” The church is an independent congregation in Fuyang, a city in Anhui Province in eastern China.
The case has drawn attention from religious-freedom advocates because prosecutors previously cited activities including home worship gatherings, weddings and religious instruction as evidence supporting the criminal charges.
The judgment by the court in Fuyang states that Zhang, Chang and Ma repeatedly organized gatherings in the name of Maizhong Reformed Church despite knowing that authorities had legally shut down the church. The court said their activities had severely disrupted public order.
Family members and sources familiar with the case condemned the sentences, saying the three men are being punished for conducting weddings, caring for believers and engaging in routine Christian and pastoral work. Zhang was sentenced to one year and seven months, Chang to one year and six months, and Ma to one year and four months.
“This is not about the length of the sentences but that they should never have been convicted in the first place,” Xu Chao, Zhang’s wife, wrote on X following the verdict. “Conducting weddings and serving believers have been classified as crimes. This is a verdict we cannot accept. Sending innocent people to prison is a harm to justice.”
The families also questioned whether authorities had applied a double standard. They reported to police what they alleged was the illegal installation of surveillance equipment at their private residence and provided photographs, audio recordings, videos and witness testimony. Authorities did not open a case or determine that a crime had been committed.
“What is infuriating is that people who clearly committed no crime have been forcibly convicted, while those who illegally installed surveillance equipment in my home remain free from consequences,” Xu said. “Those who cause innocent people to suffer injustice are the ones who are guilty. History will remember everything that is happening today and will judge every decision that has been made.”
In a video posted on X on June 13, Li Yunyan, the wife of Chang, said information presented during the leaders’ June 9–10 court hearings indicated that authorities threatened her and her child while questioning her husband. According to Li, investigators warned Chang that she could be detained and their child placed in state custody if he refused to confess. She also alleged that authorities threatened and verbally abused him during questioning.
ChinaAid President Bob Fu said the sentences reflect what he described as a broader effort by the Chinese government to restrict Christian worship outside the state-approved religious system.
“These sentences expose the cruel reality of Xi Jinping’s so-called Sinicization campaign: peaceful Christian worship is increasingly treated as criminal activity whenever believers refuse to place the Communist Party above their faith,” Fu said.
Authorities shut down Maizhong Reformed Church in 2023, after which members continued meeting in smaller groups, according to earlier reporting on the case. The prosecution followed activities that included conducting weddings and other religious functions.
The case comes amid increasingly stringent measures against unregistered house churches since China implemented revised Regulations on Religious Affairs in 2018. Authorities have forced the closure of prominent independent congregations, including Chengdu Early Rain Covenant Church and Beijing Zion Church, while arresting believers and confiscating church property.
Under China’s current legal framework, religious venues are required to join officially recognized organizations, including the Three-Self Patriotic Movement. House churches that remain outside the official system are often designated as illegal organizations, and their leaders have faced charges including “illegal business operations,” “fraud,” “inciting subversion of state power” and “organizing illegal gatherings.”
In recent years, authorities have increasingly used the “organizing illegal gatherings” charge against leaders of unregistered churches, placing ordinary activities such as worship and pastoral care at legal risk for Christians who refuse to join the state-approved religious system.
ChinaAid has called for the immediate release of Zhang, Chang and Ma and urged international advocates to hold the Chinese government accountable for what the organization describes as systematic persecution of unregistered house churches.
Gao Zhensai is a special correspondent for ChinaAid News. Founded in 2002, ChinaAid is an international Christian human rights organization committed to promoting religious freedom and the rule of law in China through advocacy, legal support, and international awareness campaigns.