Universal Church of the Kingdom of God

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Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG, from Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus, IURD) is a rapidly growing Brazilian Pentecostal church; a registered charity also known by the name 'UCKG HelpCentre'.

Contents 1 History 2 Doctrines 3 Controversies 3.1 Charges of Fraud 3.2 Tax evasion 3.3 Victoria Climbié's death 3.4 Belgian Parliament Inquiry 3.5 The "Kicking of the Saint" 4 References 5 External links

[edit] History

The Universal Church of the Kingdom of God was formed in 1977, in Brazil. It owes its origins to an evangelistic programme conducted by Bishop Robert McAlister, a Canadian missionary in the Pentecostal tradition.

Edir Macedo, who went on to found UCKG, was one of its early converts. He started to hold services under a small park shelter in Rio de Janeiro. He used cinemas and local halls to drawn in congregation. Shortly afterwards the UCKG officially opened its first church inside a funeral parlour.

Further church openings followed and the movement expanded nationally across Brazil. today there are approximately 5,000 UCKG Churches in Brazil, with the headquarters in Rio de Janerio holding up to 12,000 people at a time.

Following an exploratory visit to the USA, the UCKG was established in New York in 1986. Today there are churches in Brooklyn, Manhattan, Miami, Los Angeles, and many other US cities. UCKG then developed its presence in Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Paraguay, Venezuela, Colombia, Bolivia, Chile, Guatemala, and Ecuador. There are also churches in Jamaica, Trinidad, and Guyana.

In Europe, it is established in England, Portugal, Spain, France, Holland, Belgium, Luxemburg, Italy, Switzerland, Poland and Latvia.

The first UCKG church in Africa opened in Angola in 1992. It is now active in South Africa, Mozambique, Cape Verde, Kenya, Lesotho, Ivory Coast, Malawi, Uganda and many other countries on the continent. In Asia, the UCKG is established in India, China, the Philippines and Japan, where the first 24-hour Church is based.

[edit] Doctrines

The vast majority of the UCKG doctrines are the same as most conservative pentecostal doctrines. Specific doctrines include belief:

• In the baptism of the Holy Spirit, empowering believers for service, with accompanying supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit and in fellowship with the Holy Spirit.
• In the divinely ordained ministers of apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor, and teacher.
• That the Lord Jesus Christ appointed two ordinances: baptism in water and the Lord's Supper, to be observed as acts of obedience and as a continual witness to the facts of the Christian faith; that baptism is the immersion of the believer in water as a confession of the Lord Jesus in burial and resurrection and that the Lord's supper is the partaking of the body and blood of Jesus in remembrance of His sacrifice until He comes.
• The divine healing seen in the Old testament and the New is an integral part of the Gospel.
• In the sanctification as a definite, yet progressive work of grace, commencing at the time of the new birth and continuing until the end of one's life.

[edit] Controversies

[edit] Charges of Fraud

Along its history, the Church was often confronted with disparate accusations of illegal or immoral deeds, including, but not limited to money laundering, charlatanism, and racial prejudice against afro-american religions (like Umbanda and Candomblé). Accusations of charlatanism are the most frequent^[1],^[2],^[3]. As a consequence of such charges the Church has been often under investigation in Belgium^[4] and elsewhere^[5].

According to Brazilian press a judge has accepted prosecutors claims that the founder of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God and other nine leaders took advantage of their position to commit fraud against the church and its followers. Prosecutors accuse the leader of the church, Bishop Edir Macedo, and 9 other leaders church leaders of laundering more than $2 billion in donations from 2001 to 2009.^[6]

[edit] Tax evasion

Bishop Macedo, the founder and leader of the Church was prosecuted for tax evasion in the state of São Paulo and imprisoned for 11 days in 1992.

[edit] Victoria Climbié's death

Victoria Climbié was a child murder victim whose death led to major changes in child protection policies in the UK. The eight-year-old died from abuse and neglect while living with her aunt Marie-Therese Kouao and her boyfriend Carl Manning. Victoria was seen by dozens of social workers, nurses, doctors and police officers before she died but all failed to spot and stop the abuse as she was slowly tortured to death. Marie Thérèse Kouao and Carl Manning were charged with child cruelty and murder. During police interviews, both claimed that Victoria was possessed. Their trial ran from November 2000 to January 12, 2001. Both were found guilty, and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Victoria's murder led to a public inquiry, chaired by Lord Laming, which investigated the role of social services, the National Health Service, the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God and the police in her death.

Shortly before her death, Victoria was taken to the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, where the pastor, Alvaro Lima, suspected she was being abused, but took no further action. He said in the inquiry that Victoria told him that Satan had told her to burn herself. The pastor did not believe her, but he still believed that a person could be "possessed".^[7]

On 24 February 2000, Victoria was taken semi-conscious and suffering from hypothermia, multiple organ failure and malnutrition, to the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God. The taxi driver was horrified at Victoria's condition and took her straight to the accident-and-emergency department at North Middlesex Hospital; she was then transferred to the intensive-care unit at St Mary's Hospital.^[8]

Victoria died the following day at 3:15pm local time – on the same day the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God church was planning to hold a service of deliverance for her to cast out the devil.^[9]

[edit] Belgian Parliament Inquiry

A 1997 Belgian Parliament Inquiry Committee on Sects ^[10] labeled the UCKG as a dangerous cult. The report further alleged that "[The Church] pretends that the Kingdom of God is down here and that it can offer a solution to every possible problem, depression, unemployment, family and financial problems. In fact, [the UCKG] apparently seems to be a truly criminal association, whose only purpose is enriching."^[11] The Belgian report itself generated controversy for varied reasons and the Parliament ultimately rejected most of it.^[12]

[edit] The "Kicking of the Saint"

The most serious controversy involving the UCKG in Brazil is the episode known as the "Kicking of the Saint."^[13] In the early hours of October 12, 1995 - a holiday in honor of national Catholic patron Our Lady of Aparecida - UCKG's bishop Sergio von Helde expressed his objection to icon worship on the UCKG-owned Record TV. Edir Macedo ultimately apologized for von Helde actions.^[14] See the main article for more on this issue.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• UCKG official English language website (United Kingdom)
• Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (in Portuguese)
• English language UCKG site
• Arca Universal (in Portuguese)
• IURD - Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus - Official website (in Portuguese)
• UCKG - South Africa - Official South African website (in English)
• News Article BBC - Church makes airwaves