The Christian Council of Hangzhou in East China's Zhejiang Province on Thursday slammed accusations that a recent change in a church's leadership was revenge for protests of church demolitions in the province.
A notice on the replacement of the senior pastor of Chongyi Protestant Church - the biggest church in Hangzhou - was issued by the Christian Council of Hangzhou on Monday. It stated that senior pastor Joseph Gu would be replaced by Zhang Zhongcheng, permanent deputy chairman of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement of the Protestant Churches of Hangzhou.
"It is a normal personnel adjustment. It is not because [the pastor has] made any mistakes," an anonymous official at the council told the Global Times on Thursday, stressing that Gu - who is also president of the Christian Council of Zhejiang - will work full time at the provincial council in the future.
The response came amid speculation among church followers, especially those in Zhejiang, where a number of churches have been demolished or have had their crosses removed. Some questioned whether the replacement was an act of revenge against Gu, who has allegedly voiced opposition to the province's relocation of church crosses.
The "three revise and one demolition" campaign, which aims to "revise" old neighborhoods and old industrial sites and remove "illegal" structures by 2015, began to attract public attention in 2014 when religious structures - especially churches - were targeted.
Photos of an alleged open letter from the Zhejiang Christian Council in July 2015 said that the province has relocated over 1,200 crosses, including those at licensed churches, and that the campaign has "severely harmed" the feelings of millions of believers in the province.
In April 2014, hundreds of church faithful protested a demolition order against the Sanjiang Church in Yongjia county, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, but the church was ultimately torn down. A number of churches in Wenzhou allegedly had crosses removed from their rooftops in 2015, while in Wenling, Zhejiang, some 15 churches were told to demolish their "illegal structures" before September 1, 2015.
China bans the construction of buildings without the prior acquisition of necessary documents and approval from local authorities.
