Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu, Sichuan, first began meeting as several small groups in 2006 and became an independent church in 2008 with 63 members. In July 2011, the church elected and installed Pastor Wang Yi as its pastor. The church now consists of 500 members and regular attendees from a wide range of people: blue and white collar workers, children, college students, young professionals, and young families. Attendees and members range from infants to 80-year-old seniors. Since its founding, Early Rain has planted many other churches in Chengdu and the surrounding region.
Beginning December 9, 2018 and continuing until now, Early Rain has been experiencing significant and persistent government persecution. More than 200 members of Early Rain have been arrested, and in the winter of 2019 elder Qin Defu was sentenced to four years in criminal detention and pastor Wang Yi was sentenced to nine years in criminal detention. In addition, church and personal property has been seized and destroyed, and many families have faced repeated eviction from their homes or deportation from Chengdu to their hometowns in distant provinces.
As members of Early Rain write and share urgent updates and prayer requests, including lists of the detained, China Partnership has been assisting in maintaining a written record of the events. To read these updates visit:
At the beginning of 2018, new religious regulations were implemented across China. Though many were uncertain of how strictly the regulations would be enforced, Wang Yi was active in calling for China’s house churches not to comply with the regulations. You can read an extensive interview with Wang Yi and another influential pastor, Gao Zhen, about how the house churches should respond to the new regulations here:
The Reformed churches that were built in the past twenty years, and the Reformed theology that has been preached, will be tested during this persecution.
On the morning of Saturday, September 1, 2018, one of China's leading house churches, Early Rain Covenant Church in Chengdu, posted a joint statement on Facebook declaring its stance on the new religious regulations. So far, the document has been signed by 116 church leaders across the country and the call for signatures remains open.
Separate me from my wife and children, ruin my reputation, destroy my life and my family – the authorities are capable of doing all of these things. However, no one in this world can force me to renounce my faith; no one can make me change my life; and no one can raise me from the dead.
We invite all sojourners throughout the world who belong to the universal church to pray fervently for Pastor Wang Yi and Elder Qin Defu, who are being imprisoned for the sake of Christ and of the gospel, as well as for their families. Pray for all of us. We will also pray for you. We also invite churches who are currently being persecuted to fix their eyes together with us upon the crucified and risen Jesus Christ.
Pastor Wang Yi is a former attorney who represented persecuted churches in China, advocating for religious freedom and freedom of conscience. He started a Bible study in his home in 2004, which later became the Early Rain Fellowship. He was baptized in 2005 and became the leader of the fellowship. He was part of a delegation that represented the persecuted church to meet with President George W. Bush in the White House in 2006.
Wang Yi received a call into full-time ministry in 2008, was elected and installed as a ruling elder in 2009, and in 2011 Wang Yi was examined by a committee of ordained Presbyterian pastors, and ordained in the Fall of 2011 at which time he was also installed as the lead pastor of Early Rain. He is a prolific writer and poet, with great zeal to increase theological reflection and writing among China’s house church pastors. His writings and sermons have been widely shared online in China.
Wang Yi is married to Jiang Rong. They have a son, age 12.
Wang Yi and Jiang Rong were arrested on December 10, 2018, and remain in criminal detention. No one has been able to communicate with either of them since their arrest. Their son has been kept, along with his grandmother, in isolated house arrest. He has only been allowed outside of his grandmother’s small apartment two times since December.
You can read Wang Yi and Jiang Rong’s last family newsletter, written and sent shortly before their arrests:
Wang Yi’s theology does not focus on the church-state question alone. He has spent significant time reflecting on the nature of the church and eschatology of the city. A good example of his theology on the topic can be found in his series “The City of God on Earth”:
It is important to hear directly from Early Rain’s leaders and members.
Early Rain Covenant Church follows the Presbyterian Church tradition and is governed by a group of elders. The church elects and ordains both teaching and ruling elders to provide spiritual guidance and make major decisions for the church. Deacons in the Presbyterian tradition are elected and ordained by the church to minister to those who are in need, to the sick, to the friendless, and to any who may be in distress. They also care for the physical needs of the church.
You can read an extensive interview with Early Rain leaders and members before the beginning of their persecution here:
All of Early Rain’s elders were detained and arrested by the police. Some have been released and placed under house-arrest. Early Rain’s deacons and assistant deacons were also detained and arrested. Many were detained in the process of checking on other church members.
Many of those who have been detained, particularly church leaders, have young children from whom they have been separated. In situations where both parents have been detained, families from the church have helped to provide care for the children left behind.
Elder Li Yingqiang was detained after evading the police. Before he was detained, he published a handwritten letter to encourage Early Rain to hold firm to their faith and continue public worship. You can read his letter, as well as testimonies from the experiences of Early Rain members in detention, here:
Not all house churches agree with Wang Yi and Early Rain’s theology and decisions, but many do. You can read letters and prayers of support here:
