China's Unshaken: Church's Battered Cross Still Stands

A battered cross stands a the top of a one-roomed prayer hall in Zhejiang Province, China today. It's an act of defiance by a community of about 100 Christians.

Last month the Chinese government ordered demolition crews to bring the cross down from the top of the Wuxi Christian Church. The members voted to re-erect it at the new location.

"If they come again to take down the cross, or take it away, we have made another cross and we will put it up again" Pastor Tao Chongyin said.

The community is facing the consequences of their defiance. Authorities have cut off water and electricity and are now making veiled threats against church members jobs and their children's education.

The believers remain unshaken.

"From our perspective, the perspective of the believers, they don't just come here to tear down the churches or the crosses, they are after our religion," Xie Zuokua, pastor of Zengshan Church explained. "Why? Because everybody who believes in Jesus knows that, in the church, the cross is the most important Christian symbol, it's the  symbol of  the death of Jesus."

The local government said they're simply cracking down on building code violations. Church members argue that that excuse merely provides cover for the religious persecution.

So far the cross-toppling campaign has been limited to the one province, but it could spread to the rest of China.