LINFEN, China (AP) _ Members of a Chinese megachurch say it’s been closed by police and hired thugs who smashed doors, seized Bibles and sent dozens of worshippers to hospitals with serious injuries.
The eight-story Golden Lamp Church was built to serve nearly
50,000 worshippers in northern China.
Today, its co-pastors are in jail, the gates are locked and a police vehicle sits outside. Its closure is the most visible sign that the communist government is determined to rein in the rapid spread of Christianity, with a crackdown in recent months that church leaders call the harshest in years.
Golden Lamp and other congregations under attack are part of China’s growing “house church” movement, which rejects the state-controlled church in favor of liturgical freedom and a more evangelical outlook.