Shanxi Church Facilities Forcibly Demolished on Easter

An excavator was at work to remove the passage beside Chengqu Church in Jincheng, Shanxi on April 10, 2020.

ByKaren Luo April 13, 2020

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The exterior stairs and the fireman's elevator of a church in Northern Shanxi Province were forcibly demolished by local authorities for "urban renewal" on Easter.

The demolition work was started two days earlier on the Good Friday as Chengqu Church in Jincheng had suspended on-site gatherings since the coronavirus outbreak late January, according to a local source.

The "extra" space would be used for transformation of the waterway, while the church building would still be retained.

Earlier, the local authorities had informed the church about the plan, but never clearly communicated with the church nor reached an agreement, according to a source. They relaunched their long delayed church facilities demolition work on Friday, but only a brother who was on duty in the church shouted loudly to try to stop the removal and failed.

Two days later, a scraper completed the demolition while the pastoral staff just watched and could do nothing. Over the weekend, calls were made to the mayor but went unanswered.

In 2010, the church was dedicated with a seating capacity of more than 1,000. It was originally founded in 1887 by Stanley Smith, one of the Cambridge Seven.