ABSTRACT
Several years after the founding of urban churches, the Party-state in 2009 moved to repress a few of these large unregistered congregations that had publicly challenged the state’s policies or its monopolization of Protestant Christianity. The rapid disbandment of the largest unregistered congregation in all of China, Shanghai Wanbang Church, reveals its weak resistance, due to its leadership capacity, organizational structure, and the Shanghai context. Paired with the analysis of Beijing Shouwang Church’s resistance in Chapter 8, these two chapters point out that more than collective traits such as social capital are necessary to sustain resistance; leadership, too, is needed.
