Beijing Shouwang Church: The House Church That Refuses to Die

Bitter Winter ^ | 2/14/23 | Wang Zhipeng

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On February 8, the police “discovered” that the megachurch liquidated in 2019 continues to exist clandestinely.

Beijing Shouwang Church (守望教会) refuses to die. One of the most famous house churches in China, the CCP believed it had put an end to its glorious story in 2019, when it had declared the church illegal and “liquidated” it.

However, on February 8, 2023, the Haidian District police raided a rented venue where members of the Beijing Shouwang Church were gathering—illegally, from the point of view of the CCP.

The police took the names of all these presents, and detained the pastor, Zhang Xiaofeng, informing his wife on February 9 that he will remain in administrative detention for ten days—to start with.

Shouwang Church, whose name comes from a Chinese verb meaning “to watch,” had been founded in 1993 and had grown to become the epitome of the new “megachurches” in China, i.e. urban churches with thousands of members. Until 2011, Shouwang met twice a week and operated forty Bible study groups. It was regarded by many as the leading house church in the entire country.

In 2004, Shouwang was raided by the police and its leader, Pastor Jin Tianming, was told he should join the government-controlled Three-Self Church. He refused, and the church was raided again in 2005, but continued to operate.

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