by Emmitt Barry, Worthy News Correspondent
(Worthy News)—A house church pastor was sentenced to five years in prison, according to a magazine covering religious liberty and human rights in China.
Pastor Wan Changchun, a well-known dissident and leader of Living Stone Reformed Church in Bengbu, Anhui, was arrested in 2023 along with several co-workers, as reported by Bitter Winter.
In 2023, the charge against Pastor Wan was changed from “illegal business operations” to the more severe “fraud.” Although all finances at Living Stone Reformed Church are transparently managed and approved by members, authorities increasingly use the “fraud” charge to target churches outside the state-sanctioned Three-Self Church, claiming they are unauthorized to collect funds.
On March 27, 2025, he was sentenced to five years in prison. Three co-workers received suspended sentences of two to two and a half years, while Pastor Wan remains behind bars.
In 2017, China’s State Council revised the Regulations on Religious Affairs to tighten control over religious practices. The amendments required religious organizations to register with government authorities, restricted unauthorized religious activities, and promoted the alignment of religious beliefs with “core socialist values,” a process known as “Sinicization.” Additionally, the regulations prohibited the construction of large religious statues outside temples and church grounds and imposed stricter oversight on religious education and international religious exchanges.
In 2018, Pastor Wan signed a statement opposing China’s restrictive 2017 Religious Affairs regulations, drafted by Pastor Wang Yi of Early Rain Covenant Church. That same year, authorities raided Wang’s church, detaining over 100 members. He was later charged with “inciting subversion” and “illegal business operations” and sentenced in 2019 to nine years in prison—one of the harshest punishments for a house church leader in recent years.
The Chinese Communist Party views independent religion as a threat and harshly persecutes churches that operate outside state control, using state-approved churches to promote government propaganda.
In the 2025 World Watch List by Open Doors, China is ranked 15th out of 50 for severe Christian persecution, up four spots from the previous year. This rise is due to stricter regulatory enforcement, resulting in the shutdown of unregistered churches and heightened scrutiny of official ones. Open Doors estimates there are about 96.7 million Christians in China.
Since the People’s Republic of China was established in 1949, Christianity has seen explosive growth from 4 million Christians to an estimated 58 million Protestants and 9 million Catholics by 2010.
Despite ongoing intense persecution and strict government controls, current estimates suggest that there are between 80 to 100 million Christians in China, including both officially registered members and those in unregistered house church communities.
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
More Worthy News
An international group of influential climate activists demand a new global treaty to phase out fossil fuels to prevent the “assassination of humanity,” despite growing concerns that there aren’t yet enough alternatives available to sustain global economic growth.
A coalition of American Christian leaders gathered on the steps of the U.S. Capitol on Friday to pray and “thank President Donald J. Trump” for reportedly designating Nigeria as a “Country of Particular Concern” (CPC) over the killing of thousands of Christians by Islamic groups.
The student revival movement that has been shaking campuses across America surged again Tuesday night as more than 6,000 students packed J.S. Dorton Arena at North Carolina State University to worship Jesus Christ, hear the Gospel, and respond to the call of salvation.
The U.S. Justice Department came under mounting pressure to release all files related to deceased convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, despite strong opposition from the White House and signs that U.S. President Donald J. Trump is reluctant to make the documents fully public.
France paid an emotional tribute Thursday to the 130 people killed ten years ago during a night of coordinated attacks by Islamic State extremists who targeted cafés, restaurants, and the Bataclan concert hall in Paris.
The Trump administration on Nov. 13 finalized a sweeping rollback of Biden-era restrictions on oil and gas development in Alaska, restoring access to more than 13 million acres of the National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska (NPR-A) in a move officials say will bolster U.S. energy security and revive North Slope communities.
The United States on Thursday urged the UN Security Council to support Washington’s draft resolution establishing an International Stabilization Force (ISF) to secure postwar Gaza and guide the territory into a future “free from Hamas.” The measure — a central pillar of President Donald Trump’s broader Middle East peace framework — has been crafted with input from Qatar, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates.