China Arrests Zion Church Pastor Jin in Broad Religious Crackdown

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The pastor of one of China’s largest underground evangelical churches was arrested Friday in what appears to be a roundup of Christian leaders, and his family and followers fear for his safety.
Pastor Ezra Jin of Zion Church has been arrested by Chinese authorities, his daughter, Grace Jin, told Fox News Digital. Zion Church was at one time the largest church in Beijing. In a document provided to Fox News Digital by Grace, it said Jin’s arrest came as nearly 30 Zion Church pastors and staff were detained or missing in Beijing, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Chengdu, Beihai, Jiaxing and Huangdao. The associated press reported that dozens of other church leaders in Beijing and at least five other provinces in China were also arrested on Friday.
“One by one, they were also taken away, detained. They were saying there were people outside their doors, and then one by one they were taken into custody,” Grace told Fox News Digital.
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In this photo taken on August 4, 2018, Pastor Jin Minri leads a class on the basics of Christian beliefs at Zion Church in Beijing, China. (Ng Han Guan/AP Photo)
Zion Church is one of several underground churches operating in China, meaning it is not registered with authorities, making it illegal, according to the AP.
“The charges are akin to spreading religious materials online, but they didn’t hand any documents to anyone physically, but they showed the detention slip, and that’s what it says on most people’s detention (slips),” she said.
Grace told Fox News Digital that China has implemented a sweeping crackdown on religious leaders in recent months. In May, the pastor of the Light of Zion Church, Gao Quanfu, of Xi’an, was arrested by authorities, accused of “using superstitious activities to undermine the administration of justice.” Additionally, in June, several church members from the Golden Lampstand Church in Linfen were sentenced to prison terms for “fraud.” Grace fears authorities could also pin a fraud charge on her father, as she said financial records were taken from Zion Church.
Since 2018, Jin has been under surveillance and facing an exit ban, meaning he has been unable to reunite with his children, who are U.S. citizens. He hasn’t seen them in over six years.

This photograph provided by Pastor Sean Long of Zion Church shows police raiding the home of Pastor Sun Cong of Zion Church in Beijing, China, Friday, October 10, 2025. (Sean Long via AP)
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Grace told Fox News Digital that the Chinese government closed Zion Church in 2018 because of its influence because it hosted up to 1,500 people each week.
“When the business closed in 2018, there were no comparable physical locations that could rent such a large space for Zion,” Grace said. “In fact, if you were to rent even a small space, they would know immediately and come and destroy Zion.”
This put Zion Church in a difficult position, but it instead turned to the now-familiar hybrid model, holding live praise and worship sessions online while also distributing information, so people could pray together in small groups.
“When COVID hit in 2020, Zion Church was one of the only churches that had this online model,” Grace said. “Zion kind of exploded at that time…Christians all over China were attending Zion services because it was the only church service for a while that had online events every Sunday with music and sermons.”
She recalled that as other churches attempted to adapt to the virtual world, her father offered his resources and methods to others. She said it helped her father connect not only with other churches, but also with congregants.

This photograph provided by Pastor Sean Long of Zion Church shows Pastor Sun Cong of Zion Church standing in handcuffs after being arrested by police at his home in Beijing, China, Friday, October 10, 2025. (Sean Long via AP)
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Jin’s family is calling on the U.S. State Department to demand that the Chinese Communist Party release him “immediately and unconditionally, allowing him to return to his family in the United States before further persecution by the Chinese government.”
The fate of Jin and that of the other Church leaders arrested alongside him remains uncertain, but Chinese aida U.S.-based religious group, said so-called “house churches,” like Zion, are “facing unprecedented pressure.”
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“Xi Jinping has waged a war against the Church of God, such as Zion Church, that he will never win. The level of persecution against religious freedom has reached the worst (level) in 40 years,” China Aid founder and chairman Dr. Bob Fu told Fox News Digital. “Faith is not a crime. Worship is not a crime. Prayer is not a crime.”
“The courage of China’s urban pastors and believers will go down in history as a living testimony that the light of Christ cannot be extinguished by tyranny,” Fu added. He also called on President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio to speak out and condemn the CCP’s crackdown.