Pastor
Mingri, founder of Beijing’s influential Zion Church, has received a Bible while in detention after a legal effort challenged restrictions on religious materials in a Chinese detention center.
According to ChinaAid, Jin became the first among 18 detained Zion Church pastors and ministry workers to obtain a Bible while being held in Beihai, Guangxi Province.
The breakthrough was followed by a similar outcome for Pastor Sun Cong, who also received a Bible after his attorney pursued legal action against detention-center policies limiting access to Christian scriptures.
Christian attorney Yang Hui filed an application for administrative reconsideration, a formal legal appeal within China's system, arguing that the restrictions were improper. The challenge ultimately resulted in authorities permitting the delivery of a Bible to Sun.
The case generated an official written response from local government authorities, a development advocates say could have broader implications for religious prisoners throughout China.
ChinaAid founder Bob Fu described the outcome as significant, saying it established “a legal precedent in a formal written form.”
Fu suggested that lawyers and family members representing other detained Christians may now be able to rely on the same legal mechanism when seeking access to Bibles for prisoners.
Zion Church has faced years of government scrutiny and pressure. Founded by Jin in 2007, the congregation grew into one of the largest unregistered Protestant churches in China.
Before entering ministry, Jin participated in the 1989 Tiananmen Square demonstrations and later converted to Christianity. After studying at Fuller Theological Seminary in California, he returned to China and developed a ministry that eventually attracted thousands of worshipers across multiple cities.
Chinese authorities closed Zion Church’s Beijing facilities in 2018 after church leaders refused demands to install government surveillance equipment. Following the closure, the congregation shifted much of its ministry online.
The church's digital gatherings have reportedly attracted as many as 10,000 participants through platforms such as Zoom, YouTube and WeChat.
Jin, now 56, was detained at his home in Beihai in October 2025 during a broader crackdown that saw nearly 30 Zion Church leaders and members arrested, detained or reported missing across several Chinese cities.
Reporting by The Wall Street Journal earlier this year indicated that 18 individuals connected to Zion Church were being held in the Beihai detention facility. At the time, the newspaper reported that it could not verify whether formal charges had been filed against Jin.
The pastor’s detention has drawn growing international attention. Last month, Grace Jin Drexel, one of his daughters, joined Sebastien Lai, son of imprisoned Hong Kong publisher Jimmy Lai, in urging President Donald Trump to raise both cases during future discussions with Chinese leaders.
According to members of Jimmy Lai's legal team, authorities have denied him independent medical treatment for diabetes and limited his time outside his cell to approximately 50 minutes each day.
His daughter Claire Lai told attendees at the 2026 National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington that her father suffers from heart problems and infections and is being held in a small, dark cell without access to fresh air or sunlight.
