In early July, authorities approached a Wenzhou church network with an ultimatum posed to thousands of other churches in Zhejiang province: Take down the crosses on top of your churches, or else.
It wasn’t the first time authorities had approached the church, explained Timothy, a preacher and network leader who asked to use only his first name for security purposes. In February 2014, authorities asked his network of two dozen churches to take down some of the taller, more noticeable crosses from atop churches along main roads. When church leaders asked officials what law gave them authority to destroy their crosses, the officials couldn’t produce an official document and ended up leaving the churches alone.
But this time, they came back not only demanding the roadside crosses be taken down, but all the crosses on all the churches. In talks with church leaders, officials again had no official...
Larry Pan | 7/4/2009
