Three leaders of an unregistered house church in Xi’an city have been arrested on charges of “fraud.” According to The Christian Post, church’s elders Lian Xuliang, Lian Changnian (age 71), and Fu Juan, were detained by officers from the Public Security Bureau’s First Branch, Xi’an City, and are being held in the Weiyang District Detention Center.
This comes in a continuing campaign by the Xi’an government to further crack down on China’s house-church movement. The three arrested church elders had been arrested on similar charges in August 2022 and remained in detention for nearly THREE years before being released on bail in April 2025.
The group’s local congregation, the Church of Abundance (a.k.a. Fengsheng Church), were meeting in the city for nearly three decades before being ordered closed by the Xi’an Civil Affairs Bureau in August 2022. The official accusation is that the group has been practicing “fraud” due to the church’s tithes and voluntary offerings. While this has been the stated justification, in practice, this is merely a pretext for local authorities to crack down on and prosecute unregistered Christian activity in China.
As one report notes, in addition to “fraud,” the elders were also accused of “endangering national security” in what was clearly an attempt to escalate the situation and invite more severe punishment. Photos show that at least one of the pastors was bloodied and bruised following his arrest.
The recent arrests come after Xi Jinping issued a directive in 2021 for the government to tighten its control over religious groups and pressure unregistered churches to join the state-sanctioned Three-Self Patriotic Movement. If you have been following the story of the church in China, this is a familiar story: independent Protestant churches in China are first visited and warned by government officials to join the TSPM. If that happens, the church is then banned and its leaders arrested on some trumped up charge.
Stories like this is giving us a glimpse of what is happening on the ground for the growing Christian community in China. These facts should matter to us because what happens in China rarely stays in China as it is promised to happen throughout the world during these end-times. Also, charges like “fraud” are merely a veneer for what is actually taking place: a spiritual crackdown on China’s Christian community. Tithes that are collected in these churches are routine in any church in the world and should not be a matter for arrest.
As we watch as all of this is unfolding in China and around the world, let’s continue to encourage, pray for, and stand with our brothers and sisters who may be suffering intimidation and isolation from these attacks. As history has proven time and time again, persecution never prevails against the faith. In fact, every attempt to stamp out the underground church only causes the Gospel to take root and spread further.
Please pray:
- For the three detained leaders — Pastor Lian Xuliang, Pastor Lian Changnian, and Sister Fu Juan — that the L-rd would protect them, give them supernatural peace, and use this situation to strengthen them.
- For the Church of Abundance (Fengsheng Church) — that they would remain steadfast, not allow fear to overwhelm, and that they would stay courageous and united despite this uncertainty.
- For the legal process — that the truth will prevail and the “fraud” charges be exposed.
- For the larger house-church movement in China — that believers would not allow fear to take root, but would continue to meet, worship, and share the Gospel boldly.
- For global believers around the world — that we would remain watchful and prayerful on behalf of our brothers and sisters who suffer for the name of Jesus
Photo credit to Christian Post.com
Thanks Chip!