Three Pastors of Anhui Fuyang House Church Stand Trial: Can Weddings, Education and Small-Group Meetings Constitute Crimes? — Lawyers Say Multiple “Crimes” Were Merely Normal Religious Activities and Question the Evidence and Procedural Legitimacy

Author：Cheng Lixue  Originally published by China Christian Daily on June 17, 2026

Pastor Zhang Sen, Pastor Chang Shun and Elder Ma Tao of Fuyang’s “Wheat Seed Reformed Church” in Anhui were arrested on June 29, 2025, and charged with the “crime of organizing illegal gatherings.” Nearly a year later, the case had its first hearings on June 9 and 10 at the Yingzhou District People’s Court in Fuyang.

The indictment shows that prosecutors accused the three of organizing gatherings, wedding worship services and educational activities in multiple locations between 2021 and 2025 in the name of the banned “Wheat Seed Reformed Church,” involving minors：

Holding wedding gatherings at farms and hotels, with more than 10 participants, including minors；

Greeting at the entrance to the Fuyang City Detention Center believers who had been administratively detained for activities of an unregistered association；

Renting premises to establish a seminary and recruit students, involving the education of minors；

Holding small-group meetings in multiple residential and commercial buildings.

Therefore, prosecutors held that the three defendants “organized others to gather illegally on multiple occasions, disrupting social order, with serious circumstances. The actions of the three constituted the ‘crime of organizing illegal gatherings.’”

House Church: An Illegal Organization That Was Banned?

During the trial, four defense lawyers rebutted the above allegations.

The indictment stated that the “Wheat Seed Reformed Church” was deemed an “illegal civil organization” because it had not registered and had operated in the name of a social organization without authorization, and that it was “publicly banned in accordance with the law” in August 2021. In their defense arguments, however, the lawyers cited the white paper China’s Policies and Practices on Protecting Freedom of Religious Belief and the white paper China’s Policies and Practices on Protecting Freedom of Religious Belief, arguing that the “Wheat Seed Reformed Church” was a typical house church.

The lawyers argued that the premise of the prosecution was that “the ‘Fuyang Wheat Seed Reformed Church’ had been legally determined by the civil affairs authorities to be an illegal organization,” but that the church had filed an administrative lawsuit with the court seeking to revoke the banning decision—“Your court neither accepted the case nor rejected it, but left it pending for a long time, allowing the matter to remain unresolved and leaving the legal effect of the so-called banning action in an ambiguous and undetermined state.”

The defense lawyers said that the court refused to accept a case in which “the people sue the government,” yet accepted a case in which “the government arrests the people,” describing this as “taking sides” and saying that it violated the judicial principles of fairness and impartiality.

Can Attending to Offer a Blessing Become Evidence of a Crime?

The “criminal facts” listed by the prosecution included three Christian weddings: “The defendants, in the name of the Fuyang Wheat Seed Reformed Church, organized believers to carry out illegal organizational gathering activities at certain weddings, involving minors.” The defense lawyers argued that “regarding three weddings as criminal facts constituting the crime of organizing illegal gatherings will undoubtedly set a precedent and become a laughingstock throughout the world,” because the brides and grooms at the weddings were themselves Christians, making it reasonable, lawful and appropriate for them to hold weddings according to Christian rites. Even at weddings held by non-Christians, there are likewise procedures with religious overtones, such as blessings, prayers and vows.

Can Children’s Education Become Evidence of a Crime?

The prosecution stated: “The defendants organized the children of church members to illegally receive religiously oriented instruction, involving 30 minors; and established a seminary, openly recruited students and collected tuition fees, involving multiple minors.” The defense lawyers argued that the Constitution protects the religious freedom of all Chinese citizens and does not stipulate that minors are excluded. In addition, the parents involved in the “educational activities in question” had voluntarily arranged for their children to receive “religiously oriented instruction.” The lawyers argued that even if the relevant practices were controversial at the level of administrative management, they should be handled through administrative or civil channels rather than by directly invoking criminal measures.

Can Small-Group Meetings Become Evidence of a Crime?

In addition, the indictment listed eight instances of “illegal gatherings.” The lawyers pointed out that all these gatherings took place in private residences or rented premises, were generally small in scale, and involved no more than 30 participants. They were a form of small-group meeting commonly used by house churches—activities that fall within the category of house gatherings described in the national white papers and should not be regarded as illegal gatherings.

The defense emphasized that the alleged “crime of organizing illegal gatherings” must have three characteristics： first, it must take place in a specific location such as a station, wharf or state organ; second, it must involve illegal activities; and third, it must disrupt social order with serious circumstances. However, the lawyers pointed out that many of the activities listed by the prosecutors “were essentially nothing more than ordinary believers’ weddings, worship services and educational activities for their children.” They further argued: “They involved neither violent incidents nor any disruption of public order, much less reaching the degree of serious social harm required by the Criminal Law.”

Defense: “Insufficient Evidence, Unjust Procedures”

A pastor’s wife who attended the hearing as an observer said that the lawyers raised multiple questions about the case’s procedures in court—

The case originally fell under the jurisdiction of the Fuyang Municipal Public Security Bureau, but was later transferred downward to the Yingzhou District Public Security Bureau, a procedure that was disputed；

It was also unlawful to use evidence obtained through an administrative investigation in a criminal case；

The source of the report filed in the case was unclear, and information was inconsistent at different points.

The lawyers also pointed out that the parties had been followed repeatedly and that the defendants had been threatened and intimidated during interrogation. The pastor’s wife disclosed that Pastor Chang Shun stated in court: “A police officer once threatened me into signing the interrogation record. He forged my wife’s criminal detention notice and threatened that if I did not sign, he would arrest my wife and send the child to a juvenile detention center, so I signed it.”

A person familiar with the matter who attended the hearing said that, faced with the lawyers’ numerous questions, the three prosecutors did not respond directly. As of press time, the court had not issued a verdict.