Universal Church of the Kingdom of God

=== Beginning and split with R. R. Soares ===
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In the late 1960s, [[Edir Macedo]] converted to [[evangelical Christianity]] at the ''Igreja Cristã de Nova Vida'' ("Christian Church of New Life"), a [[Pentecostalism|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'' ("House of Blessing"), where they claim to have seen [[Spirit possession|possession]] by and [[deliverance ministry|deliverance]] from demons for the first time, but only Soares was consecrated as a pastor.<ref>{{harvnb|Macedo|2012|pp=159–164}}</ref>

In 1975, Soares and another pastor invited Macedo, who still wanted to start his ministry, to inaugurate the ''Cruzada do Caminho Eterno'' ("Crusade of the Eternal Way"), a precursor of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God. The services were held in some cinemas they rented for a few hours.<ref>{{harvnb|Macedo|2012|pp=187–189}}</ref> 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]].<ref>{{harvnb|Macedo|2012|pp=200–202}}</ref> In 1977, the UCKG was officially founded when Macedo and Soares rented a former [[funeral home]], which became their church's first temple.<ref>Mark A. Lamport, ''Encyclopedia of Christianity in the Global South, Volume 2'', Rowman & Littlefield, USA, 2018, p. 495</ref><ref>Patrice de Plunkett, ''Les évangéliques à la conquête du monde'', Éditions Perrin, France, 2009, p. 110</ref>

[[File:Eglise universelle new york.jpeg|thumb|left|Universal Church in [[New York City|New York]], [[United States]].]]
[[File:Jesus_Christ_is_the_Lord_Simbahang_Universal1.jpg|150px|thumbnail|right|UCKG church at [[Quezon City|Cubao, Philippines<ref>{{cite web | title=Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (Quezon City)| publisher=Wikimapia | url=http://wikimapia.org/6477098/UCKG-Universal-Church-of-the-Kingdom-of-God | access-date=22 January 2024}}</ref>]]]]

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.<ref>{{harvnb|Macedo|2012|pp=210–214}}</ref> In 1980, Macedo went to [[New York (state)|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]].<ref>{{harvnb|Macedo|2012|pp=214–217}}</ref>