A Chinese house church pastor who was detained back in November has been arrested once again, along with five members of his congregation. Roughly forty Chinese government agents descended on the home of Pastor An Yankui, the leader of Xuncheng Church, on 31st December, confiscating choir robes and books, and leading Yankui away, along with five other female members of the group. 

According to US-based watchdog China Aid, the five female detainees were gradually released around midnight of New Year’s Eve, while preacher An was forced to see in the New Year in detention as he serves out a 15-day administrative sentence.

Xuncheng Church was planted by the Early Rain Covenant Church (ERCC) in Chengdu, which has itself been subject to brutal persecution. In 2018, Early Rain was raided by authorities and its pastor, Wang Yi, was arrested.

On December 30 2019, Pastor Wang was handed a nine-year prison sentence for "inciting subversion of state power and illegal business operations". A day later, the US State Department called for the minister's immediate release, calling his sentence "yet another example of Beijing's intensification of repression of Chinese Christians and members of other religious groups".

On November 15, Xuncheng Church was raided and received a disbandment notice from the police. Persecution watchdog International Christian Concern (ICC), who confirmed details of the recent raid with Pastor Yankui's wife, Yao Conya, believes that the church is at risk of being clamped down on by authorities, as has been the case with Early Rain Covenant.