Registered Church Has License Revoked
ICC Note:
On August 25, a registered church in Shandong was raided by police officials and told that registration has been abolished because they had organized discipleship training. They confiscated Bibles, computers, and other church properties as illegal materials and “part of the consequences of the terminating church registration.” All actions were to be executed before September 26, 2009.
9/23/09 China (ChinaAid) On August 25, Rizhao City authorities abolished a registered church in Shandong for organizing discipleship trainings. While the church training school prepared for the commencement ceremony of their second graduating class, a band of “legal officials” from the City Bureau of Religious Affairs and the Dongang police department barged in and disrupted the festivities. They confiscated Bibles, computers, and other church properties, denouncing them as illegal materials used for the purpose of illegal religious training at an unregistered church location. They then announced to the church that the registered certificates of the school’s two gathering places at Shijiu Haibing Er Rd and 36, Huanghai Yi Rd were therefore abolished, with all privileges revoked. They further commanded the church property to be confiscated as part of the consequences of the terminating church registration. All actions were to be executed before September 26, 2009.
…
The church had officially registered with the Rizhao City government, and had no previous complaint with the authorities.
