A Pentecostal church repeatedly targeted by the Minsk regime has now been demolished on order of the city government.
Forum 18 News Service reports that a construction management company that Minsk City Executive Committee owns destroyed the building of New Life Pentecostal Church on June 20.
Minsk officials will not say why the church was destroyed.
Past challenges
In 2021, city officials evicted the congregation from the church building. Later, members were prohibited from holding worship services in New Life’s parking lot and two pastors were fined for conducting outdoor meetings.
Subsequently, the congregation has not been allowed to rent a venue for worship services, reports Forum 18. The church has either had to conduct services online or use God’s Grace Church, a Protestant church in Minsk.
In 2002, the New Life congregation purchased a cowshed, renovated it and sought to have it reclassified as a place of worship. However, several times the city government has denied the building’s redesignation, states Forum 18.
