Source: Ecumenical News International
http://www.eni.ch/featured/article.php?id=3951
The Chinese government's new head of religious affairs has downplayed the role of house churches during his first official visit to Hong Kong, but a dissenting Chinese Christian has disputed his comments.
Wang Zuo'an, the head of China's State Administration for Religious Affairs, met Hong Kong Protestant leaders at a Lutheran church on 27 March. He said that church communities must be registered in China for their own protection.
House churches do not register because some people want to take the church's money to earn a living under the name of a church. Others set up house churches after they leave an original church community with conflicts. In other cases, he said, a house church can spring up due to a theological disagreement.