Universal Church of the Kingdom of God
The Universal Church of the Kingdom of God is an international Evangelical Church with its headquarters at the Temple of Solomon in São Paulo, Brazil. The church was founded in 1977 in Rio de Janeiro by Bishop Edir Macedo, who is the owner of the multi-billion reais television company RecordTV. since 1989.
In 1999, the church claimed to have 8 million members in Brazil and was already considered a "commercial church". The church supported Jair Bolsonaro for president in the 2018 Brazilian general election, which he won.
The denomination had established temples in the United Kingdom, Caribbean, Africa and India, claiming a total of more than 12 million members worldwide that year. By 2013, the UCKG had congregations in New York City, and, according to the UCKG's website in the United States, had congregations in over 35 U.S. states.
The UCKG has been accused of cult-like illegal activities and corruption, including money laundering, charlatanism, and witchcraft, as well as intolerance towards other religions. There have also been accusations that the church extracts money from poor members for the benefit of its leaders. In 2000, a London-based UCKG pastor arranged an exorcism which resulted in the death of a child and the conviction of her guardians for murder. The UCKG has been subject to [|bans in several African countries]. In 2017 it was alleged to have been adopting children in Portugal and taking them abroad illegally.
In 2022, complaints by ex-UCKG members in the UK led to criticism, an investigation interviewing more than 30 former members published in The Guardian, and the opening of an investigation by the Charity Commission into the UCKG's registration as a charity. The BBC reported in 2023 that it recorded London-based UCKG Bishop James Marques claiming mental health conditions could be helped by casting out demons and that epilepsy is a "spiritual problem". They also reported that a member underwent "strong prayers" at age 13 to make him heterosexual. The BBC broadcast a 30-minute documentary titled "The Billionaire Bishop and the Global Megachurch" as part of the BBC's Panorama series.
History
Beginning and split with R. R. Soares
In the late 1960s, Edir Macedo converted to evangelical Christianity at the Igreja Cristã de Nova Vida, a Pentecostal church founded by the Canadian bishop Walter Robert McAlister. Macedo wanted to become a minister for McAlister's church, but since he was not accepted by its leaders, he and his brother-in-law, R. R. Soares, decided to change to another denomination. Macedo and Soares joined another church called Casa da Bênção, where they claim to have seen possession by and deliverance from demons for the first time, but only Soares was consecrated as a pastor.In 1975, Soares and another pastor invited Macedo, who still wanted to start his ministry, to inaugurate the Cruzada do Caminho Eterno, a precursor of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God. The services were held in some cinemas they rented for a few hours. In order to increase the number of members, Macedo began to preach in a gazebo at the main square of the Méier neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro. In 1977, the UCKG was officially founded when Macedo and Soares rented a former funeral home, which became their church's first temple.
File:Eglise universelle new york.jpeg|thumb|left|Universal Church in New York, United States
By the time that the UCKG was founded tensions had begun to build between Macedo and Soares, with Soares thinking the rent to their temple building was too high. In 1980, Macedo went to New York State to start a ministry in the U.S., but soon returned to Brazil to solve administrative problems with Soares. Some of Macedo's principles clashed with those of Soares such as, according to Macedo, financial management, the hiring of pastors from other denominations while Macedo was planning a completely fresh denomination, and the centralization of the image of the "Missionary R. R. Soares". Macedo and Soares decided to call a vote for the leadership among the fifteen pastors the UCKG had at the time; Macedo won by twelve votes to three. Soares resigned from the UCKG and founded the International Grace of God Church, using the copyright of the books of T. L. Osborn.
From 1989
In 1989, the UCKG expanded to Portugal. The church's style of proselytism was aggressive, and they were accused of charlatanism and commercial interests that put into question their claims to be a religious organisation. During the 1990s, the UCKG were very visible and energetic, attacked the Catholic Church, and amassed contributions sufficient to build a "gigantic" temple in Porto. In 1995, a scandal ensued after the attempted purchase of the well-known theatre Coliseu do Porto to transform it into a UCKG temple. The church then began expanding into eastern Europe.In 1989, the UCKG purchased TV Record, which by 2013 was Brazil's second-largest television network. In 2009, the Workers' Party government in Brazil bought advertising from RecordTV, which it had formerly limited to Catholic publications, in new venues, and paid for public service messages in UCKG media outlets.
The UCKG preached prosperity theology, which asserts that faith and commitment to God are rewarded with salvation first, but also monetary wealth. In the late 1990s, the church started trying to change its image of being associated with only the poorest people. In 1998, Macedo appointed his nephew, Marcelo Crivella, as a bishop. Crivella said, "We want to win the middle class." In 1992, Crivella began a mission in Africa, resulting in the creation of multiple UCKG temples. He returned to Brazil in 1998, where he lived in a four-bedroom condominium in an exclusive development. Crivella is married to Sylvia Jane, with three children who attend a Methodist school in Río de Janeiro.
Some observers at the time thought that Crivella was being promoted as a competitor to the popular Catholic priest-singer, Marcelo Rossi, who had sold over 4 million albums. In 1999, Crivella was reported to have signed a contract with Sony Music to make three albums, one in Spanish. The first CD, The Messenger of Solidarity, reportedly sold 1.3 million copies that year.
Crivella was the only pastor whom Macedo authorized to hold large events in stadiums. He has been effective at attracting crowds: the first time appearing at the Nilson Nelson gymnasium in Brasília, with a capacity for 25,000 people, and also in the Estádio Fonte Nova in Salvador and the Mineiro in Belo Horizonte. In October 1999, Crivella packed the Maracanã football stadium in Río de Janeiro. By the end of that year, he planned to have sung "in the largest football stadiums in the country" according to weekly news magazine Veja.
In July 2014, the Temple of Solomon, with 10,000 seats, was inaugurated in the Brás district in São Paulo.
Activities
Humanitarian and charitable
By the 2010s, the UCKG was reportedly encouraging blood donation by its members; in various regions, hundreds of donations were made, with numbers 28% higher than before the church's involvement.The UCKG said that in 2018 its American branch opened a church inside a jail in Houston, Texas, U.S.
The UCKG says that its British HelpCentres "operate a weekly Food Bank and Soup Kitchen for those who may need support... providing, hot beverages, tin food, fresh fruit, vegetables and much more".
Youth engagement and crime prevention
A primary focus of the UCKG's community work involves projects aimed at supporting young people and addressing knife and gang-related violence.In April 2017, the UCKG's Victory Youth Group in Kilburn organised a major awareness event on the dangers of gun and knife crime. The event, attended by approximately 130 young people, featured presentations from officers of the Metropolitan Police Trident command, which tackles gang and violent crime. Similar simultaneous events were held at UCKG HelpCentres in Finsbury Park, Brixton, Catford, and Plaistow, supported by police and local councillors.
In June 2018, volunteers from the UCKG's Finsbury Park HelpCentre joined a community "knife sweep" in Wray Crescent Park, Islington, working alongside local residents and police officers to proactively search for and safely dispose of hidden weapons. The church has also supported youth marches against violent crime, such as one from Canning Town to Stratford Park in Newham.
Beyond direct crime-prevention initiatives, youth engagement programmes linked to the UCKG have included educational and civic activities. Local media have reported on structured debates hosted at HelpCentres, where young people were encouraged to discuss social issues, personal development, and future opportunities, presenting these initiatives as forums for constructive dialogue and community participation.
The impact of this youth work has received civic recognition. In October 2021, the Mayor of Islington, Troy Gallagher, praised the UCKG's youth programs during a community open day, stating the volunteers' "authentic voices can only be transformational" in helping young people move away from gangs and drugs.
Food poverty relief
The church operates regular food support services, the earliest record of such work was in 2017 which saw a significant increase in demand during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Finsbury Park HelpCentre runs a weekly soup kitchen. In June 2020, a 200 kg food donation from the national food redistribution charity FareShare enabled volunteers to triple their usual output, distributing 169 food packages with double helpings to individuals and families in need. Similarly, a soup kitchen at the Kilburn HelpCentre reported a substantial rise in demand during the national lockdowns reflecting wider economic pressures on local communities.From 2020 onwards, UCKG HelpCentres across the UK continued the provision of hot meals, food parcels, and essential groceries in areas including London, Manchester, Leeds, Liverpool, and Peterborough.
The food bank operations of the UCKG HelpCentre in the UK are regulated under national food safety laws. As with all food premises, their branches are subject to unannounced inspections by local authority officers, with the results—a food hygiene rating—published by the Food Standards Agency. Public records show that the charity's branches in Woolwich, Stamford Hill, Finsbury Park, Tooting, Newcastle, and Hackney have received these official ratings.
Seasoned campaigns like "Tackling Hunger" and "Cook out to reach out" are made in partnership with local restaurants in the UK, where meals are donated by the restaurants to their food bank and served to the beneficiaries. These events have been reported in Peterborough, Liverpool, Leeds, London and Manchester