The Universal Church of the Kingdom of God in Australia

Abstract

The Brazilian megachurch, the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God (UCKG), has a global network of branches. Its Australian headquarters is a dynamic spiritual space where ideas, people, material culture and spirits are exchanged from across the globe. This article follows the journey of a single vial of oil to illustrate the global flows that take place through the UCKG Australia. With each stop the vial accrues spiritual capital before its final destination. Drawing on two years of ethnographic research, I argue that the UCKG’s global networks allow congregants access to, and enables them to pass on, spiritual capital thus providing personal agency to overcome life difficulties via supernatural means. Through this vial’s journey, I will show how global religious practices are locally lived and highlight the local spiritual significance of globally mobile religious material culture.

Global Megachurch Studies: The State, Evolution, and Maturation of a Field

“…3 Making a similar point from a fascinating ethnographic vantage point, Kathleen Openshaw traces the international path of a single blessed vial of oil connecting a Christian in Australia, through UCKG networks, to Brazil, Kenya, the holy lands, and beyond. 4 Multiple authors offer insight into the transnational growth and connections of Nigeria's Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) in Britain, the Netherlands, Germany, the United States, Hong Kong, India, Haiti, Jamaica, South Africa, and elsewhere. Adogame terms the RCCG case an example of "transnationalization from below, " enabled as it is by the increasing global mobility of Nigerians and African Pentecostal preachers more generally.…”

The Universal Church of the Kingdom of God in Australia: A church of non-Brazilian migrants

“…6 For instance, during my fieldwork, consecrated oil was used as a powerful spiritual panacea for all life ailments. I witnessed consecrated oil being ingested or anointed to address a vast array of issues ranging from a couple’s inability to conceive a child, to financial instability and terminal illness (Openshaw, 2019).…”