Increasingly, to crush house churches, Protestant communities independent of government-controlled bodies, the authorities are turning to charges of financial wrongdoings over tithes. Christian pastors, lawyers and faithful issued an appeal on behalf of the Linfen community hit by arrests. In their view, giving one’s “money to serve God, supporting church needs and caring for the poor” does not violate any law.

Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Treating as "fraud" voluntary donations by the faithful to their religious community simply because it does not belong to official bodies recognised by the state, is a violation of religious freedom and Chinese laws.

A group of Christian pastors, lawyers and ordinary faithful have issued a public appeal in support of Linfen Covenant House Church (Shanxi province), a house church that has seen two of its leaders and another member of the community arrested by the authorities simply for collecting tithes, i.e. offerings given in support of the Church’s activities.

In China house churches are Protestant communities that do not belong to the Three-Self Patriotic Movement (TSPM), the organisation controlled by the Communist Party of China that plays the same role the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association does for Catholic communities.

Charges of "fraud" is the main tool Chinese authorities are using to crush small independent Churches. ChinaAid reports that this accusation has been made in at least 13 cases since 2018.

The Linfen Covenant House Church case is particularly important because the community is Presbyterian in origin and identifies with the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms, the Heidelberg Catechism, the Canons of Dort and the Belgic Confession, that is, with some of the most important expressions of the Christian faith in the history of Protestantism.

On 19 August 2022, plainclothes officers raided a group of more than 30 adults and 40 children engaged in outdoor activities at a location in Lingshi County. The two pastors, Li Jie and Han Xiaodong, were handcuffed and placed under "residential surveillance at a designated location".

A few months later, one of the faithful, Wang Qiang, was also arrested for refusing to give false testimony against them. On 26 May 2023, the Yaodu District Prosecutor's Office in Linfen began court proceedings on charges of "fraud," but no trial has been held yet.

“Throughout 2000 years of church history, whenever Christianity spread to any culture or ethnic group, it taught believers to worship God, with offerings being part of worship. Christians are to offer their bodies, their lives, and naturally their money to serve God, supporting church needs and caring for the poor. 

“Christian churches in both East and West have established many monasteries, universities, and magnificent churches, all built through Christians’ donations of money, resources, knowledge, and time.”

The appeal highlights the importance this form of sharing has in the history of evangelisation. “More importantly, the church’s expansion from Jerusalem along the Mediterranean to the whole world was supported by Christian offerings. 

“In modern times, thousands of missionaries in China preached the gospel, built schools, hospitals, and conducted various evangelical and charitable works benefiting millions of Chinese people, costing a huge amount of money.”

“Chinese house churches continue this tradition. They maintain Christ as the only head of the church, following the principle of separation of church and state – rendering to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.

“Through worship and offerings, they glorify God. Whether ministers or ordinary believers, whether offering their lives or possessions to God, all join in glorifying God and receiving grace from Him.”

The appeal above all challenges the government’s claim that tithes constitute "fraud”. “The legitimacy and legality of house church offerings are confirmed by domestic law and international conventions,” reads the statement.

“From a civil law perspective, Christian ‘offerings,’ like monetary donations in other religions, constitute gifts under civil law. Believers’ offerings to churches become church property according to personal will.

“Churches support their co-workers as a basis for conducting worship, teaching, pastoral care, evangelism, and charitable work. Whether offerings go to churches or specific pastoral co-workers, the civil law gift relationship remains unchanged.

“Such religious donations, whether called Christian ‘offerings,’ Islamic ‘sadaqah,’ or Buddhist ‘merit offerings,’ are self-evidently legal and recognized in modern national legislation. This represents secular governments’ implementation of citizens’ religious freedom rights.”

The “Linfen Covenant House Church is a house church established according to biblical principles and church tradition. Authorities arrested co-workers, including Li Jie, Han Xiaodong, and Wang Qiang (currently released on bail), on charges of ‘fraud,’ subjecting them to residential surveillance at a designated location, detention, and arrest as part of criminal enforcement measures.

“This has caused innocent individuals to suffer enforced disappearance, arbitrary detention, and arrest. Fundamentally, it constitutes a severe violation of the right to freedom of religion or belief as guaranteed by China’s Constitution and international conventions.”

The appeal urges respect for “constitutional and international convention-guaranteed religious freedom rights, implementing the ‘separation of church and state’ principle of ‘rendering to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s’.”

It therefore calls on the authorities to “immediately release the preachers" and scrap all cases of "fraud" advanced against people who work with house churches.

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• linfen
• covenant house church
• repression
• racism
• tithes
• chinaaid