Chinese Authorities Raid Early Rain Covenant Church Gathering, Detain 33 Christians

Two church elders remained in custody after dozens of police and government personnel stormed the Sunday worship gathering

by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Washington D.C. Bureau Chief

CHENGDU, CHINA (Worthy News) – Chinese authorities raided a worship gathering connected to Early Rain Covenant Church in Sichuan province, detaining 33 Christians and holding scores of other believers—including elderly members and families with children—inside the meeting hall for several hours, according to a statement issued by the church.

The June 14 gathering in Jiangyou City was surrounded at approximately 11 a.m. by an estimated 60 to 70 government personnel. The force reportedly included police officers, SWAT teams, agents from the Domestic Security Protection Unit, religious-affairs officials, and local township authorities.

Authorities forcibly took control of the gathering and began removing attendees in groups about two hours later. Church leaders said 33 believers were detained, with 32 transported by police buses to a centralized registration and detention facility in Jiangyou.

Meanwhile, dozens of Christians remained confined inside the worship hall. Officials allegedly demanded that they sign a “guarantee letter” before being permitted to leave but refused to reveal the document’s contents unless they first agreed to sign it.

Most of the congregation refused.

Rather than submit to pressure to sign an undisclosed statement, the believers remained peacefully inside the building until after 6 p.m. They were eventually released after authorities conducted another detailed registration of their personal information.

Children were among those caught in the raid, and the church said some cried amid the confusion and heavy police presence.

Most of the detained Christians were interrogated and released between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. However, Elder Yan Hong and Elder Wu Wuqing remained in custody when the church issued its statement the following morning.

As released believers emerged from the detention center, they gathered together to pray and thank God before returning to Chengdu, the church said.

Church Responds With Prayer, Not Fear

Early Rain Covenant Church described the raid as another opportunity to testify publicly to the Christian faith.

“We thank the Lord for using this trial once again to bear witness to the Christian faith before many who have not yet heard the Gospel,” the church said, adding that believers regarded their suffering as “an honor and a privilege.”

The congregation asked Christians worldwide to pray for the two detained elders, the children frightened by the raid, and believers facing continued government pressure.

Church leaders also prayed that authorities involved in the persecution would experience an awakening of conscience and that the Gospel would bring justice and peace to China.

Despite the crackdown, the congregation said the gathering had included the appointment of two new elders and an assistant deacon—evidence, church leaders said, that God continues raising servants within a suffering church.

“May all of God’s people in this generation, refined through the wilderness of His testing, become living witnesses to the advancement of His Word and the flourishing of the Gospel,” the statement concluded.

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