An official church in China’s eastern Jiangsu Province is attempting to obtain the license for Internet religious information service as the new Internet regulations went into effect on March 1.
Issued by the State Administration for Religious Affairs last December, the Administrative Measures for Internet Religious Information Services states that religious groups should apply to provincial departments of religious affairs before sharing information on the Internet.
The Ethnic and Religious Affairs Commission of Jiangsu Province claimed that the first exam for Internet religious information examiners in the province is initially scheduled to be held in Nanjing in mid-March.
The authorities said on February 28, "The subject applying for the Internet Religious Information Service License must have at least one full-time religious information examiner.”
The unnamed pastor revealed in early March that the TSPM church had submitted four kinds of material through the city’s CC&TSPM which owns the church’s legal person certificate to the local authorities as the new regulations require that applicants should submit the identity card of its legal representative or the chief person in charge.
However, the church was later required to provide eight. The material was resubmitted but the result remains unknown.
Each registered church in his district is only allowed to have one Internet religious information examiner as one of the application requirements. He added that the content of the exams including laws and regulations related to religious affairs and other content and religious knowledge was so wide that there should be training sessions since a qualified score should be 80 or above for the full score of 100.
The pastor also said that sermons were prohibited to be circulated on WeChat group chats after March 1, thus the online religion restrictions were profound.
The new internet regulations was a new thing and everyone was exploring a way out, he concluded.
他们目前正在提交审核，之前只是提交了四个材料，后来说需要提交八个材料，所以他们又重新做了提交，目前结果还没下来。
我询问他们是如何提交的，是按照两会走还是每个堂需要自己提交审核，他说各个区不太一样，秦淮区（莫愁路堂，圣保罗堂都属于这个区）、鼓楼区是按照区走的，虽然下面的堂会有法人，但是没发下来，还在两会那里，所以就是通过区两会走的，像江宁区每个堂就有自己的法人，但具体他们怎么弄他也不清楚。
秦淮区每个堂只允许有一个信息审核员，也已经提交了上去，要求是牧师，他们原来想是不可以多申请几个，但是要求只能有一个，具体是谁他不太方便说。他们也觉得考试范围有点太广，应该有一个培训。
3月1号之后，他们在群里的一些证道资料已经发不出去了，他说这个影响还是挺大的，像金陵神学院的一些外教课春季的就停了，没有办法上了，之前还是可以上的。我们也说了一些我们这边了解到的情况。
他是觉得互联网宗教条例 这个是个新东西，大家都是在探路。
An official church in China’s eastern Jiangsu Province is attempting to obtain the license for Internet religious information service as the new Internet regulations went into effect on March 1.
Issued by the State Administration for Religious Affairs last December, the Administrative Measures for Internet Religious Information Services states that religious groups should apply to provincial departments of religious affairs before sharing information on the Internet.
The Ethnic and Religious Affairs Commission of Jiangsu Province claimed that the first exam for Internet religious information examiners in the province is initially scheduled to be held in Nanjing in mid-March.
The authorities said on February 28, "The subject applying for the Internet Religious Information Service License must have at least one full-time religious information examiner.”
The unnamed pastor revealed in early March that the TSPM church had submitted four kinds of material through the city’s CC&TSPM which owns the church’s legal person certificate to the local authorities as the new regulations require that applicants should submit the identity card of its legal representative or the chief person in charge.
However, the church was later required to provide eight. The material was resubmitted but the result remains unknown.
Each registered church in his district is only allowed to have one Internet religious information examiner as one of the application requirements. He added that the content of the exams including laws and regulations related to religious affairs and other content and religious knowledge was so wide that there should be training sessions since a qualified score should be 80 or above for the full score of 100.
The pastor also said that sermons were prohibited to be circulated on WeChat group chats after March 1, thus the online religion restrictions were profound.
The new internet regulations was a new thing and everyone was exploring a way out, he concluded.
