One Baptist church in Russia has been prohibited from holding activities, and at least three other churches are facing a similar situation, sources say.
According to rights group Forum 18, Russian courts have banned activities for some Council of Churches Baptists congregations, supposedly because of their lack of state registration.
RELATED: Check out more stories on the persecuted church.
A Council of Churches Baptists congregation in Kurganinsk has met for three months outside its building, which government authorities sealed May 16, reported Forum 18. The church’s appeal on this matter comes before the Supreme Court of Russia on Aug. 28.
Council of Churches Baptists congregations do not seek state permission to exist, said Forum 18. Some congregations meet “in private homes or prayer houses built on private land.”
Referencing Aug. 12 information from Novaya Gazeta Europe, Forum 18 reported the Council of Churches Baptists has 2,500 congregations.
In June, a bill was introduced in the State Duma in Moscow to “outlaw public worship services and religious rites and ceremonies on residential premises and in the nonresidential parts of blocks of flats,” said Forum 18.
Novaya Gazeta Europe noted such a measure would affect most prayer rooms of the Council of Churches Baptists, explains Forum 18.
The bill may be considered in the fall.
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