Zion Light Church Case Update: Pastor Gao Quanfu’s Case to Open on November 12, 2026; Sister Pang Yu’s Case to Open on November 17; Pastor Tang Bingyi’s Case, Originally Scheduled for November 23, Has Been Postponed

(Rights Defense Network Information Center report) On November 9, 2026, this outlet learned that Pastor Gao Quanfu’s case at Zion Light Church will open on November 12, 2026; Sister Pang Yu’s case will open on November 17; and Pastor Tang Bingyi’s case, originally scheduled for November 23, has been postponed.

Since May 2025, multiple pastors and church coworkers have been taken away. Gao Quanfu, Pang Yu, and Tang Bingyi have been charged with “fraud” and are being tried in separate cases. The lawyer hopes to delay Gao Quanfu’s trial to gather evidence; Pang Yu, who is nearly 70, is applying for release on medical grounds because of health problems.

Gao Quanfu’s biography: Born in 1957, from Xi’an, Shaanxi Province; a Christian; supervisor and pastor of Xi’an’s former “Mount Zion Church” (which was banned) and current “Zion Light Church”; a planner and supporter of documentary filming about evangelism and historical research; a Chinese prisoner of conscience in custody.

He accepted the Christian faith early in life and felt called to leave his former public-sector workplace, the Xi’an Drama Theater, and devote himself actively to Christian evangelism; through his efforts and the participation of many pastors and church coworkers, the church where he served had grown to nearly several hundred members by the mid-2000s; a company was also established, with its operating proceeds providing strong support for church development, evangelistic missions, and activities such as filming documentaries about the spread of the gospel; in particular, he strongly advocated filming two gospel documentaries, From Xi’an to Zion and The History of the Northwest Spiritual Workers’ Group, which provided excellent historical testimony for the spread of the gospel; among them, the documentary From Xi’an to Zion records the hardships and evangelistic work of his team as they traveled all the way from Xi’an, Shaanxi, to Jerusalem, and began to be shown publicly online for free in 2012; the documentary The History of the Northwest Spiritual Workers’ Group mainly recounts the history of the Great Commission to spread the gospel westward by the group, founded in the 1940s (especially in Xinjiang), and how some members and their descendants restored house church activities in Xinjiang and elsewhere while holding firm to their faith after China’s reform and opening up;

In 2019, after the Chinese Communist Party’s State Administration for Religious Affairs issued the Measures for the Administration of Religious Groups (Draft for Comments), which markedly tightened controls on religious belief, he joined pastors Wang Yi of Chengdu’s Early Rain Covenant Church and many other pastors from across the country in signing the Pastors’ Joint Statement: A Declaration for the Christian Faith in 2021, clearly expressing his position and views on upholding orthodox Christian belief; in addition, in managing and developing the church, he consistently held a monthly “pastors’ fellowship” for many years, and later organized a “pastors’ joint prayer meeting” to cultivate and promote pastors’ growth and effectiveness in their faith and pastoral ministry; however, all these activities became targets for the Chinese Communist authorities to suppress and eliminate when an opportunity arose, and they were repeatedly harassed and reprimanded by local Xi’an police, the municipal religious affairs bureau, and other departments;

On November 29, 2023, the Xi’an Civil Affairs Bureau issued a public notice banning the “Mount Zion Church” where he served; afterward, he established a new entity under the name “Zion Light Church” and continued worship and ministry;

On May 16, 2025, police from the Xingqing Road Police Station in Xi’an’s Beilin District suddenly took him from his home; the next day, four other pastors from his church—Pastor Jiao Yong, Pastor Tang Bingyi, Elder Wang Yibo, and evangelist Guo Ru—as well as two female church coworkers, Li Qing and Du Juan, were summoned in succession; it was later learned that all seven had been placed in criminal detention on suspicion of “using superstition to undermine the implementation of the law”; on May 19, another evangelist, Liu Ce, was also summoned and later placed in criminal detention; regarding this, an informed source said that the sudden mass arrest of these pastors and church coworkers and the charge of “using superstition to undermine the implementation of the law” were very likely directly related to the Chinese Communist authorities’ markedly intensified crackdown on religious belief since 2025. On July 24, 2025, eight of them were released on bail pending trial; only Pastor Gao Quanfu and Pastor Tang Bingyi remained in custody on suspicion of “committing crimes through superstition”; in September that year, it was learned that the case had been approved for arrest by the Beilin District Procuratorate in Xi’an and the charge had been changed to “fraud”; that same day, Pang Yu, wife of Pastor Gao Quanfu and then under residential surveillance, was again arrested by Beilin District police on a “fraud” charge, and the three were in the same case; on January 9, 2026, the Beilin District Procuratorate formally transferred the case involving the three to the Xi’an Beilin District Court for review and prosecution; it was later learned that their case had been divided into three separate cases; they are currently held at the Xi’an Beilin District Detention Center.

Pang Yu’s biography: Female, born in 1958, from Xi’an, Shaanxi Province; a Christian; a coworker at Xi’an’s former “Mount Zion Church” (which was banned) and current “Zion Light Church”; one of the victims in the Zion Light May 16 case; a Chinese prisoner of conscience in custody.

Because of her faith in Jesus Christ and her marriage to Gao Quanfu, pastor of the former Xi’an “Mount Zion Church,” she actively participated in church worship and gatherings for many years after their marriage, especially faithfully taking on assistance, reception, visitation, and administrative ministry within the church; because she is quiet, kind, and reliable, she would usually either care for her family at home or take part in the church’s daily service, and often explained things to others in the church in a gentle and attentive manner, so she is highly trusted both by her family and by church members;

On November 29, 2023, the Xi’an Civil Affairs Bureau issued a public notice banning the “Mount Zion Church” where she served; afterward, she, her husband Gao Fuquan, and other pastors and church coworkers established a new entity under the name “Zion Light Church” and continued worship and ministry;

On May 16, 2025, her husband, Pastor Gao Quanfu, was taken from their home by police from the Xingqing Road Police Station in Xi’an’s Beilin District on suspicion of “using superstition to undermine the implementation of the law”; the next day, another 10 pastors and church coworkers, including Pastor Tang Bingyi, were successively taken from the church and placed in criminal detention; she was also taken away later and placed under residential surveillance; on July 24, eight pastors and church coworkers were finally released on bail pending trial, while her husband Gao Quanfu and Pastor Tang Bingyi were transferred to arrest, and she was also not released because local authorities regarded her as an “associated person”; on September 3, 2025, she was formally arrested by Beilin District police on suspicion of “fraud”; that same day, the Beilin District Procuratorate also changed the charge in her husband’s and Tang Bingyi’s case to “fraud,” and the three were listed as one case; this decision was made because officials deemed the church’s regular tithes, donations, and book-purchase expenses over many years to be “proceeds of fraud” and planned to prosecute the three together; in fact, she had never received a church salary, yet she was still included in the “fraud case” and implicated;

On January 9, 2026, the Xi’an Beilin District Procuratorate formally transferred the case involving the three to the Xi’an Beilin District Court for review and prosecution, but it was later learned that their cases had been split into three separate cases; in late August 2026, it was learned that each of the three would have a pretrial conference in September; reportedly, on September 15, the team of lawyers representing them went to the Xi’an Beilin District Court to raise issues concerning each of their cases and file legal complaints, and was obstructed and treated improperly by court bailiffs; it was also learned that she has heart disease, low blood pressure, and severe anxiety; after she was detained, her children repeatedly reported that effective medication for her heart condition was unavailable at the detention center and that she often suffered severe pain during the night shift, to the extent that even basic daily activities were affected, so they publicly expressed their longing for their mother and concern for her health. She is currently held at the Xi’an Beilin District Detention Center.

Tang Bingyi’s biography: Born on September 8, 1986, from Huazhou District, Weinan, Shaanxi Province (formerly Hua County, now renamed Huazhou District); a Christian; pastor of Xi’an’s “Zion Light Church” in Shaanxi; a Chinese prisoner of conscience in custody.

He grew up in an ordinary farming family, but because both his parents were Christians, everyone in his family, from top to bottom, devoutly believed in Jesus Christ; having grown up in a house church environment, he was very simple and steady in temperament; after graduating from high school, he was admitted to a second-tier university, but because of his family’s finances and his own direction, he left school after only one year and went out to work; later, introduced by Pastor Gao Quanfu of Zion Light Church (then called “Mount Zion Church”), he went to Xi’an for three years of systematic theological training and began full-time ministry; starting in 2010, he took on preaching, pastoral care, visitation, and other ministries in the church, and later went to Beijing Zion Church for two years of further study; after graduating, he returned to Xi’an’s “Zion Light Church” to continue serving; in 2018, he married Liu Junli, a Christian woman, and they later had a daughter; while he was serving in the church’s pastoral ministry, his wife, who had worked for a local bus company, was later laid off because of the company’s financial difficulties; although the two had lived in Xi’an for many years, their family of three lived very modestly in a 40-square-meter public rental apartment; he traveled only on a two-wheeled electric scooter, and his personal income was often only 350–800 yuan per month, rising to 3,800 yuan only before his arrest in 2025; although his family’s finances were very strained, their life was simple and steady; however, as controls on house churches in China continued to tighten, he increasingly felt pressure in his church service environment; on November 29, 2023, the Xi’an Civil Affairs Bureau issued a public notice banning the “Mount Zion Church” where he served; afterward, the church adopted the new name “Zion Light Church” and continued worship and ministry;

On May 16, 2025, Pastor Gao Quanfu of his church was arrested; on the 17th, he and nine other pastors and church coworkers were also successively taken away and placed in criminal detention by police from the Xingqing Road Police Station in Xi’an’s Beilin District; on July 24, eight of the pastors and church coworkers were released on bail pending trial, while he and Pastor Gao Quanfu remained in custody on suspicion of “committing crimes through superstition”; in September that year, it was learned that the case had been approved for arrest by the Beilin District Procuratorate in Xi’an and the charge had been changed to “fraud”; that same day, Pang Yu, wife of Pastor Gao Quanfu and then under residential surveillance, was again arrested by Beilin District police on a “fraud” charge, and the three were in the same case; on January 9, 2026, the Beilin District Procuratorate formally transferred the case involving the three to the Xi’an Beilin District Court for review and prosecution; it was later learned that their case had been divided into three separate cases; on September 2, 2026, it was learned that a pretrial conference in his individual case would be held on September 15; regarding this, his family and church members hope the public will continue to follow the case and pray for his early release and for his defense lawyers to provide an effective defense of his innocence.