Universal Church of the Kingdom of God

The Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG; Portuguese: Igreja Universal do Reino de Deus; Spanish: Iglesia Universal del Reino de Dios, IURD) is an international Evangelical Neo-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, who is the 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, which he won.

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 of 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 hundreds of ex-UCKG members in the UK led to criticism, an investigation 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 Panorama series.