After Chinese authorities rounded up and detained Pastor Mingri “Ezra” Jin and almost 30 other church leaders last week, family members and religious-freedom groups have been demanding government action and asking for prayer. “We are witnessing the most extensive and coordinated wave of persecution against urban independent house churches in China in over four decades,” warned China Aid founder Bob Fu.
Pastor Jin, 56, is the founder of Zion Church, one of China’s largest underground, or unregistered, Christian churches. The nondenominational evangelical church has expanded rapidly since the pandemic. Using a hybrid model, it has about 10,000 weekly worshipers online and more than 100 worship sites in 40 cities throughout China.
On Oct. 12, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a statement about the detention of Lin and other faith leaders.
“This crackdown further demonstrates how the [Chinese Communist Party] exercises hostility towards Christians who reject Party interference in their faith and choose to worship at unregistered house churches,” Rubio wrote. “We call on the CCP to immediately release the detained church leaders and to allow all people of faith, including members of house churches, to engage in religious activities without fear of retribution.”
Dr. Ed Stetzer, dean of the Talbot School of Theology and editor-in-chief of Outreach Magazine, was among those who thanked Rubio for speaking out. “This is a BIG deal,” Stetzer posted on Oct. 13, adding links to information about the arrests and a “call to pray for Pastor Ezra and others.”
Thank you, @SecRubio. This is a BIG deal.
More info and a call to pray for Pastor Ezra and others:https://t.co/0YOdZFHZD7 https://t.co/zX9F5zYaEO
— Ed Stetzer (@edstetzer) October 13, 2025
As of Oct. 14, President Trump has not spoken publicly about the detained pastors.
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Zion Church Pastor Ezra Jin Was Prepared for Persecution
Grace Jin Drexel, daughter of detained Pastor Ezra Jin, said she has had no contact with her father since Chinese officials broke into his home last Friday night, searched his belongings, and led him away in handcuffs. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is likely “irked” that Zion Church “blew up after COVID,” she told reporters.
Detention slips for the church leaders referenced “something like online dissemination of religious materials,” according to Drexel. She and her two siblings—all American citizens—live in the United States, as does their mother, Chinese national Liu Chunli.
