China blocks unregistered church service again

[Divine Discontent]

BEIJING — Followers of an unapproved church in Beijing were again forced by the government to find a new place to worship Sunday, a move one analyst suggested would be a test for President Barack Obama on religious freedom during his first visit to the country.

Worship in China, governed by the officially atheist Communist Party, is allowed only in state-approved churches, but millions of people belong to unregistered churches that often face official harassment.

Sunday's banishment was the latest for the Shouwang church, one of the largest underground churches in China with about 800 members. It was forced to hold services in a park earlier this month after being kicked out of a rented indoor area. Photos and a video posted on the church's Web site, which was later blocked, showed hundreds of members gathered, holding snow-flecked umbrellas and Bibles.

On Sunday, police blocked church members again from meeting at the park, and hundreds ended up at a performance hall elsewhere in the city.
<snip>

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iqdM49MhnOZptPJE9zssLoYLVUOAD9BVSHRG1




Good ol China! NOT

[Kajsa]

1. It makes me appreciate what

I do have, DD.

I can't imagine how hard this
is for "unregistered churches" and their
congregations.

:(