The Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG) (Portuguese: Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus, IURD) is an evangelical charismatic Christian denomination 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, owner (since 1989) of the multi-billion television company RecordTV.
In 1999 the UCKG claimed to have 8 million members in Brazil and was already considered a "commercial church". The denomination had established temples in the United Kingdom and in 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—as of 2019 had more than 300 congregations in 33 U.S. states. The church supported Jair Bolsonaro for president in the 2018 Brazilian general election, won by Bolsonaro.
In 2017 the UCKG faced allegations of adopting children in Portugal and taking them abroad illegally. It has also 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 of murder. The UCKG has been subject to bans in several African countries.
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