There are actually a fairly large number of churches for expats in Beijing, I used to work at one of them. Most of them do not allow local Chinese people to attend, because the Chinese government only allows them to attend one of the state sanctioned Three Self Churches. If an expat church has Chinese people in attendance they risk being shut down.
Like I said there are many churches in Beijing, but there is not place that lists them all. Below is a list of all the churches/congregations/fellowships that I know about and a short description to accompany.
BICF
BICF is actually a family of 20+ evangelical/protestant congregations. The main BICF campus is located at 21st Century Hotel and Theater and if people refer to “BICF” that’s what they are usually talking about. There are English services at 9:00am, 11:00am. They are larger congregations (400 & 800 people respectively), and are not unlike any number of services I’ve attended in America. There is also a Mandarin service at 9am and a Cantonese at 11am, but again are only open to foreign passport holders. There are also small language or culture based groups that meet each Sunday: French, Indonesian, Filipino, African, and Japanese,
Refuge is an intimate (60-100 people) Sunday night service that is a bit more open-worship/charismatic. They meet at 6pm at the 21st Century Hotel.
NeXt is a laid back community-based fellowship that meets in the Sky Fortune Restaurant near the American Embassy on Sundays at 10:30am. They are a very laid back group with small discussion time during their service and a focus on community.
3-Cords is a newer, small, CBD based group.
Urban Chapel meets inSanlitunand has a focus on expository preaching based somewhat in the Reformed tradition.
BICF ZGC is located on the west side of Beijing. Their English service meets at 10am Sundays and a small service at 6pm. ZGC is made up of mostly students and teachers, but there is a good group of long-term families there too. It’s also one of the larger groups (350 people).
There are also some language/culture congregations that meet there: Russian, Korean, African, Pacific Islands, and Indonesian.
Other Protestant Churches
Capital Community Church is the second largest church in Beijing. They meet in Shunyi and their main service is at 10am on Sundays. CCC has a focus on ministering to families and being a family to each other, and because of it’s location in Shunyi where many of the international schools are located CCC has many families and kids but not very many young adults. There service is similar to most non-denominational churches in the US.
Congregation of the Good Shepherd is a small fellowship with liturgical worship, meets Sundays at 10am at Capital Mansion near Liangmaqiao. Lutherans and Anglicans would probably feel most at home here.
Beijing Baptist meets near Sanyuanqiao on Sundays at 10am. Like the name says, they’re baptists.
River of Grace meets in north WangJing just inside 5th ring road. They have more of a charismatic or “spirit-filled” expression of worship.
Haidian Church is a Chinese church that is officially registered with government and also has an English service at 11:30am on Sundays. Both foreigners and Chinese locals can attend this service. Haidian Church is located nearZhongguancun.
Catholic Churches
There is a Catholic congregation the meets in Shunyi in the same building as Capital Community Church on Saturday nights and the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception has an English and French mass at 10am on Sundays.
