Universal Church of the Kingdom of God

==Activities==
===Humanitarian and charitable===

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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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uckg.org.za/news/save-a-life-%E2%80%A6-donate-blood/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160322192218/http://www.uckg.org.za/news/save-a-life-%e2%80%a6-donate-blood/|title=Save a life - Donate blood|archive-date=22 March 2016|website=UCKG South Africa|date=30 March 2011}} A blood drive in Soweto in 2011, encouraging UCKG members to donate blood</ref><ref name=bloodmadagascar/><ref>{{Cite press release|url=http://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/422/80834.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923191551/http://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/422/80834.html|archive-date=23 September 2015|title=UCKG members in the Pretoria area commit to becoming regular blood donors|publisher=Universal Church of the Kingdom of God|via=CSI News|date=30 August 2012|quote=The number of active blood donors has increased by 28% since the first blood drive held at the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG) in the Pretoria region. This year the churches in Pretoria, Mamelodi and Soshanguve invited members to donate life-saving blood and more than six hundred people attended the three blood drives.}}</ref>

The UCKG said that in 2018 its American branch opened a church inside a  jail in [[Houston]], [[Texas]], U.S.<ref>{{cite web |title=The First Universal Church inside U.S. Prison |url=https://web.universal.org/usa/grand-opening-inside-texas-prison/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190429091605/https://web.universal.org/usa/grand-opening-inside-texas-prison/|archive-date=29 April 2019|website=Universal USA|date=3 May 2018}}</ref>

===Political===
Macedo has said he wants to "create a [[theocracy|theocratic]] state" by participating in elections.<ref name=frayssinet>{{cite web|url=http://www.ipsnews.net/2009/07/religion-brazil-intolerance-denounced-at-un/|title=RELIGION-BRAZIL: Intolerance Denounced At UN|last=Frayssinet|first=Fabiana|publisher=Interpress Service|date=3 July 2009}}</ref> In 2002, Crivella was elected a member of the [[Brazilian Senate|Federal Senate]] as a candidate for the Liberal Party. In 2005, he switched his affiliation to the [[Brazilian Republican Party]], a social conservative party he had co-founded. The party has been described as a vehicle to run candidates for the UCKG.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://oglobo.globo.com/brasil/a-igreja-universal-o-custo-da-megalomania-14302329|title=A Igreja Universal e o custo da megalomania|date=20 October 2014|website=Oglobo.globo.com|access-date=13 September 2018}}</ref> {{As of|2015}} Marcos Pereira was head of the party. Other prominent members are Bishop Marcelo Crivella of the UCKG, former vice-president [[José Alencar]], and journalist Celso Russomanno.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jb.com.br/eleicoes-2012/noticias/2012/05/08/longe-do-pp-celso-russomanno-diz-que-eleitorado-de-maluf-e-bem-vindo/|title=Longe do PP, Celso Russomanno diz que eleitorado de Maluf é bem-vindo|website=Jb.com.br|date= 8 May 2012}}</ref> Crivella also ran for mayor of Rio de Janeiro in 2004 and 2008, both times unsuccessfully, before finally winning election in 2016; and for governor of the [[Rio de Janeiro (state)|state of Rio de Janeiro]] in 2006 and 2014.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/oct/31/evangelical-bishops-mayoral-win-in-rio-shows-rise-of-brazils-religious-right|title=Brazil's religious right on the march as bishop elected mayor of Rio|last=Watts|first=Jonathan|date=2016-10-31|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|access-date=2016-11-01}}</ref>