VZCZCXRO9303
OO RUEHCN RUEHGH RUEHVC
DE RUEHGZ #0449 1000829
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 100829Z APR 07
FM AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 5966
INFO RUEHOO/CHINA POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHINGTON DC
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI

UNCLAS GUANGZHOU 000449 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/CM AND DRL 
USDA FOR FAS/ITP AND FAS/FAA 
USDOC FOR 4420/ITA/MAC/MCQUEEN 
USPACOM FOR FPA 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KIRF PGOV SOCI PHUM CH
SUBJECT: Fuzhou Church Thrives inside its Doors 
 
 
 (U) This document is sensitive but unclassified.  Please protect 
accordingly. 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Senior members of the Christian Association in 
Fuzhou are positive about local church development and expansion of 
community outreach despite limits on promoting religious activities 
outside of the church. END SUMMARY 
 
¶2. (U) On March 28, the Consul General and Consulate staff visited 
Fuzhou's Zhongzhou Protestant Church and met with representatives 
from the City's Christian Association.  The Zhongzhou Christian 
Church sits on Zhongzhou Island in Fuzhou.  The Church, originally 
constructed in 1947 but torn down and the site turned into a park, 
was rebuilt by a wealthy Christian businessman in 2003.  The church 
is a growing religious center that serves 1,600 worshippers each 
week.  It fills all three floors of its sanctuary on Sunday and 
offers other meetings during the week. 
 
¶3. (U) Zhongzhou church does not have a minister, though not all 
registered churches have full-time ministers.  Volunteers support 
the Zhongzhou Christian Church's operations, which include daily 
morning services, bible study in the evening, a Sunday school for 
attendees to learn about Christianity and small group meetings.  The 
church has built eight senior citizen centers that accommodate over 
1,000 elderly people in Fuzhou City.  It is also looking into 
building another new and bigger center that can serve about 800 
people.  Church officials said the community encourages small group 
bible and prayer group meetings at a dozen other sites, probably in 
homes, though we were not told specifically where.  The church 
finances its activities through collections during services and from 
member donations. 
 
¶4. (U) Zhongzhou Christian Church also arranges specific activities 
for young people.  Chen Zengping, one young member of the 
congregation present during the tour, remarked how she came from a 
religious family, but had not been religious herself for much of her 
life; however, one of the church-sponsored activities had attracted 
her to the congregation and ultimately converted her to 
Christianity.  In Chen Zengping's case, before she was accepted for 
baptism, she needed to engage the local Christianity Association 
officials to prove that she had a correct understanding of 
Christianity and could "bear witness to an authentic need to follow 
the Lord."  According to the church's director, most of the 
believers who are involved in the Zhongzhou church are teachers and 
business people, though during the visit, most of the volunteers we 
met with were elderly or retired. 
 
¶5. (U) While the church appears to be an island of religious freedom 
- free to worship and hold various religious activities - it does 
face local government constraints.  All religious activities must be 
held on property owned by the church, thereby limiting the church's 
influence and outreach.  Purchasing property and registering it with 
the Religious Affairs Bureau (RAB) is a lengthy and costly process. 
In addition, the RAB meets with the church staff regularly to 
instruct on religious policy and support the RAB expects from the 
church, as well as to warn the church of any impropriety.  Church 
leaders said that they have close relations with many of the 
Protestant churches in Fuzhou but do have cooperative activities. 
Overall, they were very positive throughout the visit, perhaps, in 
part, due to the presence of a local foreign affairs official.  They 
concluded the visit by proudly showing off a new electronic marquee 
on a busy thoroughfare which featured several religious messages 
that would not be approved by the RAB in Guangzhou. 
 
GOLDBERG