The Harvest Church of St Petersburg, Russia, was closed by the Russian government without warning, it was reported on March 19.
Government officials reported that the church was conducting unregistered educational activities, namely holding Sunday school classes during the week without explicit permission.
Wade Kusack, the project manager for Russian Ministries with his speciality being religious issues in Russia, explained: ‘In Russia, the church is supposed to have registration. Without registration, no one has the right to practice their religion. The church was stripped of its legal registration’.