Christians plea publicly for
religious freedom in China


The Reformed Ecumenical Council News Exchange
Thursday, October 15, 1998
A dozen house church leaders have made a public petition for the release of Christians in prison for their faith. These leaders, representing millions in the house church movement in China, wrote the seven-point appeal during a special two-day meeting in August. This was the first time any house church leaders have made a public appeal, identifying themselves and their movements by name. Ten unregistered movements were mentioned. They included charismatic and Pentecostal, Lutheran and Baptist churches, and indigenous movements such as Little Flock and the Born Again movement. The twelve persons meeting had all served some jail time for their activities, one of them released only a few days before the meeting.

The appeal asked the government to "release unconditionally all house church Christians presently serving in labor reform camps." The leaders called for talks between house churches and the government. They also wanted a clear definition of cult, to prevent authorities from misusing that charge against Christians.

For many years, the groups signing this appeal have been hampered by division and strife. The joint appeal puts those differences aside in a bid to gain public recognition and put an end to persecution.

The appeal also takes a pragmatic attitude toward the government-recognized churches in the China Christian Council. They suggest these churches are just one denomination and cannot claim to be the sole representative of the churches of China. The appeal claims their groups represent up to 80 million Christians, many times the 10 million Christians identified by the Council.

The appeal closed with this declaration: "The Chinese house church is the channel through which God's blessing comes to China. The persecution of God's children is a blockage to this channel of blessing. We hope the government will respond to this significant declaration of the house church."

Zhang Rongliang, the spokesperson for the group, said they wanted direct pressure on the Chinese government, even if the government increased persecution in the short term. "We have been persecuted so long, we just have to fight the last fight. We can't keep silent anymore," Zhang said. Zhang, a peasant farmer with a cell phone attached to his shorts, has been imprisoned three times, most recently in 1994 for holding "unauthorized religious meetings with foreigners."
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