How it all began
It all started in a small gazebo in the Meier neighborhood of Rio de Janeiro with a portable speaker, microphone, and Bible. Bishop Edir Macedo Bezerra would climb up the seven steps of the gazebo to preach to the few gathered people at the park every Saturday afternoon. This was the first step in the growth of The Universal Church, whose main supporter was Mrs. Eugênia Bezerra, mother of Bishop Edir Macedo.
The first church building was an old funeral parlor in the neighborhood of Abolição in Rio de Janeiro. Albino da Silva found the property, and his wife Lindalva donated the fan to provide ventilation in the place. That was where the first meeting was held on July 9, 1977, after the pastors and volunteers did simple renovations. The help of those first members was crucial.
The founder of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, Bishop Edir Macedo, was born on February 18, 1945, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He was the fourth child of Henry Bezerra and Eugenia de Macedo Bezerra. He married Ester Bezerra and later had two daughters of their own, Cristiane and Viviane, and an adopted son, Moises.
He became a civil servant in 1963, organizing the operations of the State Lottery of Rio de Janeiro (Loterj), and worked at the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) as a researcher in the economic census of 1970. He resigned from his 16-year career as a civil servant to dedicate himself to doing the Work of God full-time, which many of those who persecuted him saw as reckless and irresponsible at the time.
Bishop Edir Macedo’s educational background consists of a Master’s degree in Theology from the seminary of the United Evangelical University of Theology and the University of Theological Education in the State of São Paulo (Fatebom) “Faculdade de Teologia e Missiologia’’. An honorary doctorate in theology and Christian philosophy in divinity, in addition to a Master’s degree in Theological Sciences at the Federation of Evangelical Religious Entities of Spain (FEREDE) in Madrid, Spain.
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Bishop Macedo has authored over 50 books on faith, doctrine, and biblical studies that have all focused on teaching a practical faith meant to be lived in an intimate relationship with God. His first published work directed his ministry to thousands of members as people were amazed to learn about the biblical truths behind the demonic practices of witchcraft and the occult that were (and still are) so common in Brazil. After the printing of “Orixas, Caboclos and Guides,” the doors of the Universal Church gathered with many people day and night, eager for deliverance from evil spirits and healing from sicknesses, and many new churches had to be opened, and pastors needed to be trained. From that point on, Bishop Macedo saw the need for more teaching to help unbelievers find salvation and grow strong in faith, and new books were written steadily over the years. Each of his books has been translated into various languages where the Universal Church is established worldwide. The release of the three books of his memoir trilogy created a revolution in the publishing industry in Brazil, where they were first published in the Portuguese language from 2012 until 2015. “Nothing to Lose,” by the Planeta Publishing Company, is based on extensive interviews with journalist Douglas Tavolaro.
The autobiography covers the many controversial issues surrounding his life, his struggles during persecution, him being in prison for eleven days under a corrupt justice system in 1992, and how he overcame impossible cases through his faith. He reveals secrets that had been kept for decades and details of his personal life. He recounts the miraculous turn of events that allowed for the purchase of the Brazilian Record TV network during an outbreak financial crisis in the country, and the constant attacks against his character and the church itself, proving that whatever God opens, no one can close. Volumes 2 and 3 of “Nothing to Lose” repeated the first book’s success. They cover the subjects of the purchases of the first radio and TV Record, the expansion of the Universal Church to countries around the world, and the unique struggles found in each place. The final book mentions the construction of the new Universal Church headquarters, the replica of the Temple of Solomon in São Paulo in 2014. The story recounts the beginning of the once humiliated Bishop Macedo finally preaching to a packed sanctuary filled with leaders of the same political, legal, and media institutions that once hated him yet were now respecting him. God proves Himself faithful to those who are faithful.
Today...
...this work has spread throughout Brazil with 5,000 churches in various parts of the country and has also reached more than 130 countries around the world, including the Philippines, which began on November 9, 1995 and continues to expand.