Chinese Authorities Raid Early Rain Covenant Church Service in Sichuan, Detain 33, Church Says

Chinese authorities raided a Sunday worship gathering of Early Rain Covenant Church in Jiangyou, Sichuan, detaining 33 people and leaving two elders in custody, the Chengdu-based house church said in a June 15 statement.The church said the gathering was surrounded at about 11 a.m. local time on June 14 by 60 to 70 government personnel, including officers from the Domestic Security Protection Unit, police, SWAT teams, the Ethnic and Religious Affairs Bureau, and local township officials.The worship service was held in a hotel conference room in Jiangyou City, about 100 miles northeast of Chengdu, according to the church statement.At around 1 p.m., attendees began being taken away in groups, according to the church. Thirty-two believers were forced onto several police buses and taken to Jiangyou City’s centralized registration center and detention facility. Another man was taken separately to a local police station and later returned to the detention site.The church said dozens of elderly members, women, and parents with children were held inside the hall from noon onward. Authorities demanded that attendees sign a written “guarantee letter” before leaving but refused to disclose its contents until they agreed to sign, according to the statement.Most believers refused, the church said. They remained in the hall until after 6 p.m., when authorities conducted a second round of personal-information registration and gradually allowed them to leave.Two Elders HeldThe church said most of those questioned at the detention center were released between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. Sunday. Elder Yan Hong and Elder Wu Wuqing remained in custody, according to the statement.ChinaAid, a Texas-based Christian rights group that published the church statement, said on Monday that Wu had been given 15 days of administrative detention and Yan 14 days.ChinaAid founder and president Bob Fu called the raid “another stark reminder” that the Chinese Communist Party treats peaceful Christian worship as a threat to state control.“The detention of church leaders, ordinary believers, and even children for participating in a Sunday worship service is a grave violation of religious freedom and fundamental human rights,” Fu said in a statement.Police Sought Further StatementIn a separate account shared online by Canadian Chinese activist Sheng Xue, Early Rain member Liu Xiaoqiong said she received a call from a Chengdu police officer at 12:08 p.m. on June 16 telling her to go to the Xinchuan Police Station in Chengdu’s High-Tech Zone the next day to make another statement.Liu said she refused, telling the officer she had already been held for about 12 hours and questioned on June 14 at the Taiping Police Station in Jiangyou after being taken away with other church members. The officer told her they would then issue a summons.In a May 2 Facebook repost, Liu wrote that police pressure had forced her to leave a rented room in Chengdu after the landlord and property managers were told the group was conducting “illegal activities.” She said church members had repeatedly lost money on rent, agency fees, and moving costs after being forced to change meeting places.Years of PressureEarly Rain Covenant Church is one of China’s best-known independent Protestant house churches. It has refused to join China’s state-controlled Protestant system.Human Rights Watch said in January that Chinese authorities had detained several Early Rain members, including Yan Hong, and had summoned Wu Wuqing before releasing him and warning him against being involved in the case.The rights group said Chinese authorities have targeted Early Rain for years. In December 2018, Chengdu police took more than 100 congregants into custody, and founding pastor Wang Yi was later sentenced to nine years in prison on charges of “inciting subversion of state power” and “illegal business operations.”Amnesty International said the June 14 raid fit a broader pattern of pressure on independent religious activity in China.“The detention of church leaders from the Early Rain Covenant Church is the latest example of the Chinese government’s efforts to crack down on independent religious activity and enforce state control over belief and worship,” Amnesty International’s deputy regional director, Sarah Brooks, said in a June 15 statement.Rules Tighten Control Over ClergyThe raid came months after China’s National Religious Affairs Administration issued rules expanding state restrictions on online conduct by religious personnel.The rules, issued in September 2025, require religious personnel using the internet to support the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party and the socialist system. They also limit online preaching and religious education to licensed religious websites, apps, or forums built by approved religious bodies.The rules bar religious personnel from preaching through livestreams, short videos, online meetings, WeChat groups, or WeChat Moments except through approved channels. They also prohibit using artificial intelligence technology to preach.Brooks called on Chinese authorities to release Yan and Wu immediately, saying no one should be detained solely for peacefully exercising the right to religious freedom.