Detained since 2021, the Shanxi female Christian leader will be tried at the end of this month, unless the trial is postponed.
by Dong Quiyue
On October 3, 2024, well-known Sola Fide leader, female preacher Yang Rongli, celebrated her 66th birthday in jail at Yaodu District Detention Center, Linfen City, Shanxi Province. Other Christian dissidents and Falun Gong practitioners are also detained in the same jail.
In 2018, “Bitter Winter” reported on the persecution of the Golden Lampstand Church, a house church in Linfen City, Shanxi, and the destruction of its worship site. The congregation is part of a network with over 50,000 members and the church had cost nearly 2.6 million USD to construct.
Sola Fide churches do not constitute a denomination, but a loosely connected network without uniform management, which refuses to join the CCP-controlled Three-Self Church claiming the latter has rejected and betrayed Martin Luther’s key doctrine of justification “by faith only” (sola fide in Latin).
In 2021, we reported that Golden Lampstand, after the destruction of its church, continued to hold outdoor services and faced police harassment. On August 7, 2021, Yang and numerous church leaders and co-workers were detained by the police in Yaodu District, Linfen City, on charges of “fraud.” By September 27, except for five released on bail, she, her husband Pastor Wang Xiaoguang, and six others were formally arrested by the Yaodu District Procuratorate. On December 27, the case was transferred to the Linfen City Procuratorate for review and prosecution.
In 2022, “Bitter Winter” covered again the case of Yang reporting that she was denied treatment for diabetes in jail, and her health was deteriorating.
Yang Rongli, born on October 3, 1958, in Huozhou City, Shanxi Province, is a former civil servant at the Veteran Affairs Office of Shanxi Normal University.
Since becoming part of the full-time leadership of her church in 1998, she contributed to expand it from a small group of a few dozen individuals into a large congregation with thousands of members. In 2004, she faced significant oppression from authorities while constructing the Golden Lampstand Cathedral in Linfen City, including tactics like cutting off water and electricity. In 2009, when officials recognized the commercial value of the church’s location and sought to demolish the Golden Lampstand Church, they met with strong resistance. Consequently, the Fushan County Government in Linfen City responded with severe retaliation.
On September 13, 2009, over 500 police officers surrounded the church and its Gospel Shoe Factory, injuring more than 100 Christians. On September 23, armed police again surrounded the church. On September 25, six church leaders were detained en route to Taiyuan City for presenting a complaint. On October 11, Yang was arrested by Linfen City Police for “illegal occupation of agricultural land” and “gathering a crowd to disrupt traffic.” On October 21, 2009, she was formally charged with these offenses, and on November 25, she was sentenced to seven years in prison and fined 30,000 yuan. She served her sentence in Xinkang Prison and was released on October 10, 2016.
After the new arrest in 2021, scheduling a date for the trial was repeatedly postponed. The trial for the Golden Lampstand Church case is now set for October 22, 2024, in the Yaodu District Court. Unless it is postponed again.
Uses a pseudonym for security reasons.
