Reborn in Christ Church (Portuguese: ''Igreja Renascer em Cristo''), is a

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

Christian denomination A Christian denomination is a distinct religious body within Christianity that comprises all church congregations of the same kind, identifiable by traits such as a name, particular history, organization, leadership, theological doctrine, worsh ...

headquartered in

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. The church was founded in 1986 by the couple Apostle Estevam Hernandes and Bishop Sônia Hernandes.

History

It was founded in

in 1986 by Estevam Hernandes and Sônia Hernandes. As of 2007, the church has over 2,000,000 members and more than 1,500 temples in

and around the world. As of 2011, the number of church temples dropped to 315, the vast majority in the Brazilian state of

, in addition to a tiny presence in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

. Despite not being among the largest Protestant denominations in Brazil, the church attracts a large evangelical audience of large denominations at major events such as the

March for Jesus March for Jesus is an annual interdenominational event in which Christians march through towns and cities. History The March for Jesus began as a ''City March'' in London, United Kingdom, in 1987. It emerged from the friendship of three churc ...

, which has been held annually in São Paulo since 1993. The Church Renascer em Cristo also has several media outlets, such as the television network Rede Gospel, the radio network Gospel FM, the publisher Editora Gospel, the clothing brand Gospel Wear and the record label Gospel Records. The founding couple, Estevam Hernandes and Sônia Hernandes, and their organization are under investigation on the basis of money laundering, perjury, libel, exploitation of non-profit status, tax evasion and a number of other criminal actions. In January 2007, both founders were arrested at

Miami International Airport Miami International Airport , also known as MIA and historically as Wilcox Field, is the primary airport serving the greater Miami metropolitan area with over 1,000 daily flights to 167 domestic and international destinations, including most co ...

by the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and its principal Federal law enforcement in the United States, federal law enforcement age ...

for failure to declare over $56,000 in cash brought into the United States. The couple were sentenced to five months in prison. Sonia and Estevam Hernandes lived temporarily under court order in their own house in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. After leaving the American prison, the couple returned to

. On January 18, 2009, the main temple of Reborn in Christ Church, in Cambuci,

, collapsed. The

roof A roof ( : roofs or rooves) is the top covering of a building, including all materials and constructions necessary to support it on the walls of the building or on uprights, providing protection against rain, snow, sunlight, extremes of temper ...

fell down, killing 9 people and injuring over 115.

Donation by Kaká

In September 2007, prosecutor Marcelo Mendroni announced that he was investigating Brazilian football star

Kaká Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite (; born 22 April 1982), commonly known as Kaká () or Ricardo Kaká, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. In his prime as a playmaker at AC Milan, a period marke ...

's relationship with the imprisoned founding couple. On January 3, 2008, Kaká announced that his 2007

FIFA World Player of the Year The FIFA World Player of the Year was an association football award presented annually by the sport's governing body, FIFA, between 1991 and 2015 at the FIFA World Player Gala. Coaches and captains of international teams and media representativ ...

trophy would be held for display in the church's main temple in Cambuci,

. On January 14, 2008, the church released a statement expressing its intent to sue prosecutor Marcelo Mendroni for "persecution" in relation to his attempts to question Kaká. Kaká, a member of the church, has allegedly made

donation A donation is a gift for charity, humanitarian aid, or to benefit a cause. A donation may take various forms, including money, alms, services, or goods such as clothing, toys, food, or vehicles. A donation may satisfy medical needs such as blo ...

s of 2 million

reais The Brazilian real ( pl. '; sign: R$; code: BRL) is the official currency of Brazil. It is subdivided into 100 centavos. The Central Bank of Brazil is the central bank and the issuing authority. The real replaced the cruzeiro real in 1994. ...

to the church. He is respected throughout the world as a Christian sporting role model who has been invited to read the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

along with

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

and other celebrities in the 2008 24-hour Bible reading marathon. In December 2010 Kaká and his wife left the Renascer Church because of the leadership mishandling of money.Kaka and wife leave Renascer
/ref>

References

External links

Official page
(in Portuguese) {{DEFAULTSORT:Igreja Renascer Em Cristo Protestantism in Brazil Christian new religious movements Evangelical megachurches in Brazil Christian organizations established in 1986 1986 establishments in Brazil Pentecostal denominations

History

Donation by Kaká

See also

References

External links