A Beijing church leader, Pastor Allen Yuan Xiangchen , has 'voluntarily' closed his house church in the city, informed sources said yesterday.
The decision came after two visits by police and officials from the Beijing Municipal Religious Affairs Bureau informing the 82-year-old pastor he had to register his church as required under government regulations.
The officials suggested Pastor Yuan could merge his church with the Gangwashi Church or the Chongwenmen Church, but both offers were turned down.
Instead, he informed the authorities last Wednesday he was closing his church and was therefore not obliged to register.
The State Council passed a regulation in 1994 requiring all churches and temples to register, and the Religious Affairs Bureau Director, Ye Xiaowen , said all registrations should be completed by the end of the year.
Although the regulation did not say unregistered house churches were illegal, many have been closed by public security officers.
Their leaders were either fined or jailed for refusing to co-operate.