(Bitter Winter) More than 70 Protestant venues were shut down last year in Jiangsu Province’s prefecture-level cities of Lianyungang and Suqian. To prevent congregations from resuming their gatherings, the government decided to demolish or repurpose the venues.
In August, at a meeting of Three-Self Church directors in Bailu, a town in Lianyungang’s Guannan county, town officials explained that the empty churches, left after their congregations had been merged with other venues, must be rented or sold.
One of the churches, which had been unused since its closure in June last year, was rented out on August 25.